Teen readers’ choices: An analysis of teen students’ reading preferences within a pedagogical framework

by Angélica Santi and María Silvina Rago

Lord! When you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.  ~Christopher Morley

Students in general, particularly teenagers, undergo many changes during their process of maturation. This changes result in new preferences as regards literature as well. This paper will describe students’ preferences as regards different literary elements. According to Holly Koening,

“Teens like to explore the unfamiliar, they like to learn, they like to escape. Many teens like to challenge themselves to “read ahead” of their level-both technically and experientially.” 

To obtain data about students’ reading preferences we conducted a survey with two different focus groups. We chose students attending public schools in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires. Students of 11 or 12 years of age were part of one of the focus groups. The other focus group ages ranged from 15 to 17 years old. This survey deals with different literary elements or a variety of features concerning characters, genre, type of text and preferred story-endings. An analysis of the results will help teachers choose reading material when preparing their lessons. It will also add some understanding of teens as developing beings and save time to teachers who are planning to start a reading programme. 

Theoretical framework

What is your favourite ending in a story? What kind of genre do you like most? What about the main character? Do you prefer a human being or a talking animal? Any measurement tool has its own built-in biases, regardless of rigorous attempts on the parts of its creators to remain objective and the collected data can be interpreted in many ways.  But asking these questions to teens themselves we can determine their likes and preferences and from there, we can then look for books that deal with all aspects of adolescence. This is a tool of great help when trying to establish a connection with them.

According to psychologists and educators, the term adolescent has been defined as the stage that starts at the onset of puberty  and finishes at the end of physical growth. But this growth is not only physical, it is also emotional and intellectual and, even if changes are little noticeable on the outside, they might be dramatic in the inside. During this stage, concepts of personal identity and selfhood are formed in dialogue with society, with language and with other people, and while this dialogue is happening, ideas about and representations of subjectivity pervade and underpin adolescent fiction. 

Teens as growing people have particular interests and personal emotions. Of course, each individual develops at his or her own pace depending on many factors – genetics, cultural values, upbringing, socioeconomic status, etc. – but as this development takes place within a larger construct, they share a common workload in their growing-up process. 

Therefore, as future educators of young adults, the first thing we need to have in mind is the fact that teens have their own choices and preferences. Most importantly, their experiences need to be taken seriously. Only when able to understand they are in a constant process of maturation, can we benefit considerably from interacting with them. Taking into account their concerns will lead us to select the appropriate material for them. 

Methods

In order to analyse the preferences of young adults at the moment of reading we elaborated a short questionnaire to conduct a survey on two groups of students attending public schools situated in lower middle class suburbs in the western area of Greater Buenos Aires (See Appendix I). These students were from different schools, twenty students from primary school and twenty more from secondary level of education. Students’ age ranged from 11 to 17 years of age, being them separated into two focus groups. For the sake of clarity we will call them Focus group 1- students of 11-12 years old, and Focus group 2- from 15 to 17. Both focus groups were allowed to answer freely according to their reading experience. Each question in the survey was formulated in order to obtain data to be analysed both qualitatively and quantitavely. These questions refer to several literary features such as characters, genre, story-endings and main character’s personality. 

Results

Collected data can be interpreted in different ways. At this point, it is important to mention that using young adult readers within a classroom context do not truly turn teenagers into readers. They might be able to fulfil the task of reading any text if they are told to but avoid even the sight of a book during their leisure time. Even so, this research demonstrates that when it comes to reading, both focus groups have agreements and disagreements, similarities and differences.

Poems, newspapers and fables were the most widely chosen among focus group 1, being poems the most voted with 23%, 18% for newspapers and 14 for fables. Within the same topic, focus group 2 chose novels and short stories most, getting 26% each of them. Poems were the third choice, with a 22 %.  

Horror books were among the most voted by both focus groups. The interesting point in this case is that this genre got a 44% in focus group 1but only 22% in focus group 2.

Tragic and happy endings disputed the first place for preferred type of ending in focus group 1, with a 33% and 30% respectively whereas in focus group 2, 50% chose unexpected and 20% uncertain endings.

When it comes to type of character and their personality, both focus groups agreed, preferring a teenager protagonist, giving focus group 1 a 44% and focus group 2 a 69%. Focus group 1 also gave 28% to adults, and 24% to animals and focus group 2 put adults in the second place with a 31%. As to main character personality, both focus groups also placed the adventurer type in the first place, with a 21% in group 1 and 47% in group 2. The brave kind got also a 21% in group 1 but the reflexive got the second position in group 2 with a 41%. 

The graphs and charts that follow illustrate these findings:

11-12 years old

What do you like reading?

Fairy Tales 0

Fables 3

Novels 1

Short Stories 0

Poems 5

Magazines 2

Newspapers 4

Any of the above 1

Other 6

What type of books do you prefer reading?

Horror 14

Science Fiction 4

Romantic comedy 1

Comedy 5

Thriller 4

Historical Novel 0

Biographies 3

Any of the above 0

Other 1

What kind of ending do you prefer in a book?

Tragic 9

Happy 8

Uncertain 2

Disturbing 2

Unexpected 5

Any of the above 1

Other 0

¿What kind of main character do you prefer?

Animal 6

Teenager 11

Adult 7

Any of the above 1

Other 0

  

¿What type of personality do you like in a protagonist?

Heroe 5

Superheroe 1

Shy 3

Reflexive 3

Adventurer 9

Brave 9

Any of the above 1

Other 0

15-17 years old

What do you like reading?

Fairy Tales 0

Fables 1

Novels 6

Short Stories 6

Poems 5

Magazines 2

Newspapers 0

Any of the above 0

Other 3

  

What type of books do you prefer reading?

Horror 5

Science Fiction 2

Romantic comedy 6

Comedy 5

Thriller 3

Historical Novel 1

Biographies 1

Any of the above 0

Other 0

What kind of ending do you prefer in a book?

Tragic 1

Happy 1

Uncertain 4

Disturbing 1

Unexpected 10

Any of the above 3

Other 0

What kind of main character do you prefer?

Animal 0

Teenager 11

Adult 5

Any of the above 0

Other 0

¿What type of personality do you like in a protagonist?

Heroe 0

Superheroe 2

Shy 0

Reflexive 7

Adventurer 8

Brave 0

Any of the above 0

Other 0

Discussion 

Koelling (2004) concedes that at the onset of puberty, students’ identities are in a state of flux and they are in the process of forming close personal friendships, revolving around competitive comparisons in all areas of their lives. The data obtained throughout this survey confirms Koelling’s stance. In the first place, regarding type of reading and literary genre, results clearly show that 11-12 year-old students’ choices vary widely, from typical children’s preferences, such as fables or horror, to others more proper of the teenage stage, such as magazines or biographies . Secondly, when it comes to character features, many of them still choose animals and heroic or adventurous personalities. Finally, the type of ending students prefer most at this age period are either the tragic or the happy one. 

By the time students reach the last stages of teen development, their thought and reasoning are ready to deal with more abstract situations where logic can also be applied. They are more inclined to experience relationships within different social environments and they are no longer afraid of going beyond their known world. Humour is also a new component of their world, as well as romance. The results of the survey confirm this as students of 15 to 17 years old chose, for example, unexpected story endings. Concerning type of text and genre, short stories, novels, comedy and horror were the most preferred ones. The type of hero that students claim to prefer is the adventurer adolescent one. 

Taking these preferred characteristics into consideration, wise teachers will make their jobs easier by choosing material that will simultaneously teach them and amuse them, and perhaps encourage some of them to experiment with new features.

References

• Herz, Sarah (1996) What is young adult literature anyway? Can it be any good if students like it? From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Chapter 2. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Koelling, H. (2004) Make sense of teens as growing people and as readers. Classic Connections: Turning Teens onto Great Literature. Westport CT.
• McCallum, R. (1999) “Introduction: Subjectivity, humanism and children’s literature” Ideologies of Identity in Adolescent Fiction: The dialogic construction of subjectivity. New York: Garland.

Appendix I:

¿Qué te gusta leer?
 Cuentos de hadas
 Fábulas
 Novelas
 Historias cortas
 Poemas
 Revistas
 Diarios
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué género literario preferís?
 Terror
 Ciencia ficción
 Romántico
 Comedia
 Suspenso
 Novela histórica
 Biografías
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué tipo de final preferís?
 Trágico
 Feliz
 Incierto
 Perturbador
 Inesperado
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________


¿Qué tipo de personaje principal te gusta más?
 Animal
 Adolescente
 Adulto
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Qué personalidad te atrae más en un protagonista?
 Héroe
 Superhéroe
 Tímido
 Reflexivo
 Aventurero
 Valiente
 Cualquiera de los anteriores
 Otro
¿Cuál? ______________

¿Te acordás de un libro que te haya gustado mucho?
 Si
 No

¿Cuál?  Título: __________

Abortion in YAL: exploring its value among teenage readers and its pedagogical implications

Angélica Santi, María Silvina Rago

Teen pregnancy and abortion is becoming a serious concern in western societies. Although statistics about this matter are difficult to compile, the Guttmacher Institute has been dealing with this issue for four decades in order to advance sexual and reproductive health through an interrelated program of social science research, policy analysis and public education designed to generate new ideas, encourage debate and promote new policies . In 2009 this Institute used data collected during the 90’s to show comparatively how industrialized countries could reduce teen pregnancy and abortion by learning from other countries with lower rates. The study attributes the latter countries more parental and governmental support of teenagers by providing information about and access to effective contraception and adequate health services. These efforts are also reinforced through education as those countries with lower rates try to prevent teenage pregnancy through education about sexuality and contraception. 

In ‘‘Abortion among Young Women and Subsequent Life Outcomes’’ David M. Fergusson, Joseph M. Boden, and L. John Horwood support the assertion on educational outcomes noted in the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy fact sheet. They conclude, ‘‘In general,  there is a clear need for further study of the social, educational and related outcomes of the decision to terminate a pregnancy so that women may be properly informed of the potential consequences of this [abortion] decision for their life course.’’ 

From an educational perspective, teachers usually place their focus of attention in developing literacy skills and disregard the importance of students to understand themselves in relation to the complexities of their own world. One way of reversing this is by using adolescent literature as a means to meet their needs. Teens need a safe place where they can examine, through fictional characters, the choices they make and the lives they lead. They need to discover and formulate values and opinions and learn to tolerate others by discussing all sides of relevant issues. So, to help teenagers find themselves and improve their intellectual processing abilities it is necessary to study the need for treatment of abortion (among others) as a theme in YA fiction. Furthermore, it is important to mention that teachers should make use of literary resources that provide students with an honest view and address the realities of teenage life. 

In this respect, the story Sparks Fly Upwards deals specifically with this topic. Written by Lisa Morton, this story is about a woman who is forced to abort, her inner thoughts about that issue and the moral rules that govern her actions in accordance with the zombie –controlled society she is immersed in. Controversial as it may seem, this theme is pedagogically appropriate because students can benefit from reading and discussing it. Morton considers that many writers who have dealt with the theme of zombies overused sex as a taboo topic. So when she thought about writing a zombie story of her own, she asked herself what taboos were left that could be dealt with in a zombie tale. “My answer was political ones,” Morton said. “It’s hard to imagine a more heated political topic than abortion, and when I thought of combining that with a tale of survivors carefully rationing out their resources, it all fell into place.”  The theme has not received any greater representation in the last decade, leaving teens who hve abortions or are considering abortion without much literature to help them think the issue out. 

Similarly, the young protagonist of Sparks Fly Upwards faces a dilemma when she becomes pregnant. Knowing that the leader of her community will not allow the pregnancy to continue, she still expects some miracle to help her get through the situation without aborting. But as the community cannot afford an extra mouth to feed, she is forced to undertake a dangerous journey to an abandon clinic that is being guarded by a group of anti-abortion zombies. She tells us about this: 

“Afterwards, in our own bungalow, Tom and I argued for hours. We both got crazy, talking about leaving the Colony, building our own little fortress somewhere, even overthrowing Doc Freeman… but I think we both knew it was all fantasy. Doc Freeman had been right again-we did have Jessie, and maybe in a few more years the time would be right for another child.”

This quote clearly shows the main character and her partner do not desire an abortion. A study conducted for the Center for Population Options, Washington, D.C. (CPO) by authors Rebecca Stone and Cynthia Waszak, concentrated on adolescent knowledge and attitudes about abortion . They reported that negative attitudes toward abortion were balanced by the promotion of choice. Stone and Waszak also found out that teenagers lacked knowledge about abortion and related laws. They expressed erroneous and anecdotal evidence about abortion more often than sound knowledge, portraying the procedure as medically dangerous, emotionally damaging and widely illegal. This is also portrayed in Sparks Fly Upwards:

“I was thinking about the time I had to go to a different clinic with my friend Julie. It was before I started you, diary; in fact, I started you about the time Julie disappeared with most of the rest of the world. So I've never written any of this down before.
Julie had gotten pregnant from her boyfriend Sean, who split when she told him. Abortions were legal then (this was a long time ago), but could be costly, and Julie, who was still going to college (as I was), had no money. She went to her parents, but they threw her out of the house. She thought about having the baby and putting it up for adoption, but she had no health insurance, wouldn't be able to afford the actual birth, and regarded overpopulation as the end of the world. This, obviously, was before the deadheads arrived and clarified that issue.
So I'd lent her the money, and agreed to go with her to the clinic. She made the appointment, worried about it so much she didn't sleep the night before, almost backed out twice on the drive there and all so she could be confronted by the fine Christian citizens of Operation Soul Save.”

A strong sense of confusion is portrayed in these passages. The same confusion Stone and Waszak found in the teenagers they interviewed as well as a great amount of ignorance in medical and legal matters. This knowledge gap could easily be bridged by using stories like Sparks Fly Upwards as a triggering resource within a classroom context. Stone and Waszak also found that teenagers were eager to discuss abortion and wanted to learn all they could about the issue. However, they had not been given many opportunities to explore, discuss, and ask questions. Most importantly, Stone and Waszak found that they may have been the first adults to talk with these adolescents to discover their opinions, rather than to convince them of a particular point of view. They found adolescents' opinions about, and knowledge of, abortion had not been considered by adults. These and other responses by the young adults interviewed point to a serious lack of correct information about abortion. Instead, information often reflects anti-abortion sentiments or generally reinforces sexist attitudes. The responses also show the inability of these adolescents to consider outcomes of their sexual activity. However, doubting the intelligence of adolescents is a mistake. From the pedagogical point of view of education, teachers should make sense of teens as growing people and as readers. Each teen should be thought as a developing being, whose interests and skills are in constant process of change. Of course this development is dependent on many factors but it definitely takes place. They live in a real world, where they have been displaced, neglected, treated with suspicion and ignored as thinking, capable young people. Educators and writers have a responsibility to address even the toughest emotional and controversial issues in the lives of the young adult readers. Lisa Morton’s Sparks Fly Upwards is one example of this important task. Its responsible and professional use in the classroom can enrich the literature lesson as well as benefit those growing human beings we call teenagers.

• The Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2011, from http://www.guttmacher.org/about/index.html
• Alters, S. M. (2010). Teen pregnancy and abortion. .Abortion: an eternal social and moral issue (pp. 71-89). USA: Cengage.
• Ferguson, D.M. (2007). Abortion among young women and subsequent life outcomes. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 39(1). Retrieved from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/3900607.pdf. DOI: 10.1363/3900607
• Retrieved from http://www.johnjosephadams.com/the-living-dead/stories/sparks%20fly%20upward.pdf, July 18, 2011.
• Banker, D. Too Real for Fiction: Abortion Themes in YA Literature. The ALAN review. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall95/Banker.html, June 30, 2011.

Lazarus (review)

Leonid Andreyev

(Review by Silvina Rago)

Written by the Russian Leonid Nicolayevich Andreyev, this magnificent short story conveys pessimism to perfection. Having returned from death, Lazarus is welcomed by his relatives and friends who will soon notice he is no longer the same person.

Open to political and religious discussions, Lazarus’ content and writing style ensure a thorough and delightful reading. Andreyev has expertly personified death and will undoubtly engage those readers who love short fiction stories.

Worth every minute of it, I highly recommend it.

TT Show (TV show proposal)

Dear Sir / Madam,

We are pleased to write you in order to put under your consideration our new project, entitled “TT Show”. It has been developed taking into account teenager’s needs and interests.

The format of the show is based on a contest. The contestants will be casted several times according to their skills in different artistic categories. The prize will consist in a full scholarship to the best institution for artists. The assessment will be carried out by famous teenagers. The participants chosen by the jury will be exposed to the decision of the audience, who will cast their vote via mobile phones.

We are convinced that the combination of a stimulating competition for young people and the participation of the audience as a central figure in the destiny of the contestants will appeal to teenagers. “T.T Show” is a solid project which can be attractive for teenagers and young adults who want to express themselves artistically. We, as a group of young producers, see the necessity in the Argentinean television network to have an space to share our young people‘s artistic abilities. Therefore, we consider the best way for that to happen is by carrying T.T Show out.

With the purpose of providing you with detailed information about this project, we would like to have the opportunity to arrange a meeting.

At your disposal for further explanation and looking forward to favourable  response.

Yours faithfully.

Sexism in ‘Down the road’

by Silvina Rago

Have you paid attention to the people working with you at the office? Are they mainly women or men? Who drives the bus or taxi you take frequently? A woman maybe? The increasing presence of women in the labor market is certainly one of the most noticeable phenomenons of the last century. In the USA, women on the payroll employment grew from 31.6 percent in January 1964 to 49.9 percent in March 2010  and, in Latin America the percentage of households in which the contribution of women is the only income reaches important proportions.  ‘Down the road’ was written by Celia Berridge and published by Kingfisher Publications Plc. Having in mind genre roles in the labor market, I dare say ‘Down the road’ is sexist and discriminatory.

It was long ago when women's place was at home, taking care of the family and managing the domestic world. I have paid special attention to the drawings selected by the author of the book and, she explicitly depicts women as a house-wife, devoted only  to  bringing up children and taking them down the road. Surprisingly, women who don’t have children are doing shopping! Isn’t this discriminatory? Let us be realistic, decades ago it was seen as unfit for women to be in certain professions but nowadays, we can see with our own eyes that women’s labor force is equal to men in many fields.

Going back to the drawings in the book, man's figure is pictured as predominant on labour force. All situations of work are carried out by men, some are digging up the road, others driving a bus; there is no father taking his child down the road. Personally, I know many cases, even friends of mine who raise their children sometimes better than women do.

Despite statistics and everyday-life situations, some people still think of women only as housewives. Having in mind a labor force that has been historically dominated by males, it is hard to admit that women now spend more hours in their workplace than they do caring for their children as opposed to 20 years ago.

[1] http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C374.pdf
[2] http://www.cinterfor.org.uy/public/spanish/region/ampro/cinterfor/temas/gender/gestion/accempre/empre.pdf

Phineas and Ferb fight against holidays’ boredom and win audiences

By María Silvina Rago and Angélica Santi

“Hey Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today!” says Phineas Flynn, one of the main characters in the TV series Phineas and Ferb. This line, simple as it is, originated an achievement in children’s programming and caught the attention of 10.8 million viewers when it was first broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007. The series deals with the adventures of two stepbrothers, Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, who expect to get the most of their 104 days of summer vacation. Each episode depicts uncommon situations which occur in everyday contexts, performed by the intelligent yet sometimes impertinent stepbrothers. Combined with a great variety of musical rhythms, the result is a well-thought scheme, which can be the reason why this animated series has largely succeeded among children and adults. 

Every day, they start an eccentric new project, being closely watched by their teenage sister Candace. Her misadventures while trying to bust them constitute a parallel subplot in the show’s storyline. But towards the end, everything vanishes magically or ends up in destruction before their mother can find out what Phineas and Ferb have been up to.

To add even more spice to the story, the authors thought it necessary to include another subplot. In it, the boys’ pet, Perry the Platypus, has a life of its own. He’s a secret agent for an animal organization and fights against a lunatic scientist called Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, whose primary goal is to take up the tri-state area, which is the place where Phineas and Ferb live. 

Humour, as in most of cartoons, is the basic tool the series creators, Dan Povenmire and Jeff Marsh, use to make the story a success. Each episode is full of gags, jokes and repeated lines. Their intention is not to write for children exclusively. They also try to have fun themselves, and believe  that children can always have the opportunity to ask an adult when necessary[1].

One of the features that surely attract younger audiences is the visual aspect of the programme. The main brightly coloured characters are made up of geometrical shapes: Phineas’s head is a triangle, Ferb’s is a rectangle, and Candace and her friend Isabella are half circles. This has the clear purpose of facilitating the drawing of characters. 

Making it even more appealing, the episodes devote some minutes to singing and dancing as in a musical comedy. There is no defined music style but a wide variety, from 16th-century madrigals to Broadway show tunes[2] . The catchy music is a key feature that engages kids, teens and, why not, adults. 

What might have also made the show so popular among older audiences is the constant mentioning of old movies, TV shows or famous people from the past as well as endless pop cultural references – Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Frankenstein, James Bond and SpongeBob Squarepants, among the most mentioned. All inserted in the two eleven-minute segments of each episode.

“Hey, Phineas, What'cha doin?” is one of the running gags that provide a great deal of fun. The same fun the authors had when thinking about this project [3] and the same fun Phineas and Ferb look for when developing their extravagant ideas. This combination of comedy, mystery, mischief, wittiness, simple geometric graphics and lovely tunes is simply irresistible for children and the pop cultural comments definitely make adults look forward to joining them in watching it.

[1] Marjorie. "Phineas and Ferb: Music, Mischief, And The Endless Summer Vacation". 411 News. http://www.resource411.com/411Update/Issue/Articles/Story.cfm?StoryID=1020. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
 [2] Strike, Joe. (February 1, 2008). "From Swampy & Dan Emerges Phineas and Ferb", Page 2.". Animation World Magazine. http://www.awn.com/articles/production/swampy-dan-emerges-iphineas-and-ferbi/page/2. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
[3] Strike, Joe. (February 1, 2008). "From Swampy & Dan Emerges Phineas and Ferb", Page 2.". Animation World Magazine. http://www.awn.com/articles/production/swampy-dan-emerges-iphineas-and-ferbi/page/2. Retrieved September 5, 2010.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

(Review by Silvina Rago)

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This  story full of mystery and suspense was first published in 1886 and takes place in the city of London, when there were no cars and people wrote letters to communicate to each other. The main characters in the story are Mr Utterson and Dr Henry Jekyll. The latter is a very rich man devoted to study science and practise experiments in his laboratory and whose will is in charge of Mr Utterson who was a lawyer. They were very good friends but their relatioship will take an unexpected turn when Mr Edward Hyde interferes between them. I highly recommend this story, it keeps you uncertain until its end.