Adolescence: a time of angst, emotional instability, and hormones running rampant. Or is that merely an assumption that has been labeled as fact? The dominant discourse among American society is to view adolescents as under-developed young adults who are ruled by biological factors, rather than rational thought. Many educators utilize this discourse on adolescence as the basis for building their curriculum and Young Adult novel selections. But in Sophia Sarigianides’s article, “Tensions In Teaching Adolescence/Ts: Analyzing Resistances In A Young Adult Literature Course”, she makes the case that to effectively teach Young Adult Literature, one must first begin by asking what adolescence is and by analyzing the scope in which one views this stage of life.
Many teachers often find themselves viewing the adolescence stage of life as a time of change and emotional turbulence. But have the educators ever stopped to consider how much bias they’re bringing to the table in making these assumptions? Many of the ideas that Americans hold about adolescences are preconceived notions that were d...
Adolescence that exists in "Generation X" varies from that which existed during the baby boomers years. Children grow up so quickly nowadays, parents sigh. Now as always, most adolescents are looked down upon by adults and people of authority. Most teenagers are uncontrollable and they are a problem to society. The teenage years are supposed to be the years of discovery, responsibility, and maturing. The majority of ...
Adolescence a period of life when a child develops from a child into an adult. It is the stage of development in which psychological changes occur and efforts towards creating an identity begin. Clearly, it is an emotionally straining and stressful period. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger we are introduce to an adolescence boy. From first impressions would let one to believe Holden Caulfield is just any other teenager going through a phase of rebellion. The truth of the matter is that Holden’s angst arises from a deeper problem. He detains himself from accepting adulthood and latches on to a perfection that results from child-like innocence. By gripping on to the idea of maintaining permanent innocence Holden becomes a more than a rebellious teenager, he becomes lost and further problems emerge.
Aristotle once said, “Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.” This “condition,” as Aristotle says, is adolescence. Adolescence is much like jumping in a lake. One must walk out to the dock and once he or she is at the end, one cannot turn back. If one is to turn back they will be ridiculed as a coward, like a child. The water is ice cold, a freezing ice bath, so one does not want to jump in, but he or she can’t turn back for fear of jeer from friends. Therefore one is in a dilemma of confusion and tension between “chickening out” and braving the polar water of the lake. The land is childhood, safe and comfortable, but gone forever; and the artic water is unknown, unpleasant, and threatening like adulthood. Just like the awkward stage of being in between jumping in and abandonment, adolescence contains the strains and tension between childhood and adulthood. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield, experiences these tensions of adolescence. Holden’s quandary is he is deadlocked in adolescence, unable to go return to childhood but unwilling to progress forward to adulthood. Because Holden is consumed with the impossible task of preserving the innocence of childhood, so he delays the inevitability of becoming an adult. This leaves Holden stranded on the dock, stuck in adolescence; the center of Holden’s problems.
Adolescence is filled with confusion, struggle, existential crises and questions; a time of transition that defines our future identity. Published in the 1950s and 1960s respectively, The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar sparked controversy with their themes of sexuality, mental illness, commentary on culture, and their reflection of adolescence. Their protagonists seventeen year-old Holden Caulfield and nineteen year-old Esther Greenwood both undergo severe breakdowns in adolescence, causing them to question the moral values of the society they live in. Metaphors, characterisation, symbolism, repetition and structure are utilised by J. D. Salinger and Sylvia Plath to emphasise the inner conflict adolescents undergo to relate to their peers
Psychologists usually agree that the teenage years are among the most difficult periods in one’s life. Most teens are trying to figure who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970’s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of- age literature, emerged and serves, at least for many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspects of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial book because of its subject matter – rape--, is a worthwhile endeavor in any middle school classroom and offers many valuable life lessons to young teens.
Francine Prose is a mother, a writer, a book reviewer, and most importantly, a massive critic of the type of literature that is demanded of children to read in American high schools. In a very defensive essay, Prose discusses a variety of books that she believes are a wast of actual literature. She uses a variety of rhetoric to attract the reader’s attention, and uses it to also persuade her readers to see things the way she does. Throughout the essay it becomes more apparent that the author makes multiple inferences of what she believes will happen to the generations that will entire a corrupt educational system. In the essay that Prose writes, she explains that the lack of eloquent literature is causing a demise to the education of teenagers
Around the age of 11 to 14, children are typically seen as no good preteens who do not need to be fed any more fuel to their anti authority behavior. Children within this age group are typically found on a confusing path of finding their own identity. From the time they were born, they had their parents, or guardian to be around the corner to help with any confusing moment. Around ages 11 to 14, children are seeking to become young adults, and they feel as if they have to do it on their own. With literature, educators and parents can still guide the children to the right path of being coming a proper young adult.
Nilson, Allen Pace & Kenneth L. Donelson. “Stages of Literary Appreciation” in Literature for Today’s Young Adults. Longman, 2001: pp. 35-42. [PDF in Blackboard]
Currie, Elliot. 2005. The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence. New York: Metropolitan Books.
All middle school students are at different developmental stages--some students have matured significantly, while others still have a long way to go. Hunt, Wiseman, and Bowden conclude that, in looking at attitudes and behaviors, some middle schoolers are “childlike,” while others are “deeply involved in the complex lifestyle characteristics of teenagers (1998, p. 57). They also establish that middle school students are in a time of “significant transition,” a time that some struggle with, while others thrive on this change. (Hunt, Wiseman, & Bowden, 1998, p. 60-61). The middle school age group is typically distinguished as children and teens ages 10 to 14. This age range was not distinguished until the 1980s (Hunt, Wiseman, & Bowden, 1998, p. 58), which coincides with further development in the middle school (in comparison to junior high school). These students are in a stage coined by Donald Eichhorn called “transesence” (Manning & Bucher, 2012, p. 5).
Everyone knows that growing up is not an easy thing to do. In fact, the teenage years can be one of the most tumultuous stages of a person’s life. Changes take place daily, making it seem as though a person has no control over his life. These years often are marked by feelings of insecurity, hostility, and uncertainty. Despite this, however, the fact remains that the teenage years also serve as a time of personal growth and maturation. Because these years are so important, it is my belief that schools would be wise to consider adding a unit devoted to the study of texts that chronicle this growth process. I believe that many students would benefit greatly from a curricular unit centered around the “coming of age” theme.
Keating, D. (1990): Adolescent thinking, in: S.S. Feldman and G.R. Elliott (eds.) At the threshold: The developing adolescent , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 54-–89.
1. What was your adolescence like? How would you describe it? Summarize your experiences as you made this passage through life.
Puberty is the time in one’s life in which there body prepares for their adult years. They change physically and emotionally. Google describes puberty as “the period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction”.
My physical development was not so difficult for me. I experienced the growth spurt when I was10 to 15-years old. I didn’t think it was difficult time for me because my range of growth spurt was not so large. Additionally, I did not belong to sports club, so I did not feel uncomfortable when I move my body. I think I am a late bloomer because I have never had boyfriend. But I think it is advantage for me because I am not a “boy-crazy”. I know some friends who are early bloomer and being “boy-crazy”, I do not want to be like them. I have my own interest and I have something what I want to do besides dating with boys. My physical developments have some effects on my character of today. I think it is because I was taller than others since very young, my friends often said to me “you are like my elder sister.” This phrase makes me think that I need to be like elder sister when I was child. It is related to more about psychological development, but this way of thinking came from my height. One of other physical development related issue that makes me struggle is my period. Every time I am in period, I have pain in stomach and back; I feel sleepy, hungry, and irritating; and I have skin problems. I think there are more people who have more heavy symptoms of period, however, sometimes I cannot endure these. My physical developments have some effects on me, but it was not so difficult for me to pass through.