by Natalia Diquech
Choosing stories for adolescents has become a difficult task. Nowadays, teens have a variety of tastes and interests concerning literature. Books or stories that are appealing or interesting to some young adults may not be appealing or interesting for some others. Actually, the issue of choosing appropriate literature for teenagers has become fashionable in the last decades with the development of the concept of adolescence. According to Gail de Vos (2003), “adolescence is the term psycholinguistics an educator use to identify the developmental stage marked by the onset of puberty and the end of structural physical growth.” Concurrently, the term adolescence is synonymous with young adult. The latter is described by Pedak (1978, 45) as a “member of the public who is in the transition from childhood to adulthood; usually between the ages of thirteen to eighteen.” Consequently, all types of literary forms started to emerge in the last couple of years with the purpose of appealing young adults. Therefore, the idea of young adult literature (YAL) emerged. YAL has been considered by same authors, such as Ken Danelson and Alleen Nilsen (1987), as “anything that readers between the approximate ages of 12 and 20 choose to read”.
Nonetheless, Robert Small Jr, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Radford University, points out that many books attracted teenagers by default during the 1920s- 1950s, but nowadays YAL gained popularity among readers and there is a series of characteristics that are unique to young adult novels (Sarah Herz & Gallo, Donal, 1996). The most important characteristics Small points out in “The Literary Value of the Young Adult Novel” are that:
- The main character is a teenager.
- Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers.
- The main character is the centre of the plot.
- Dialogue reflects teenager speech, including slang.
- The point of view presents an adolescent’s interpretation of events and people.
- The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent.
- The novel is short, rarely more than 200 pages.
- The actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict.
- universal topics: alienation from one’s society or group; survival or meeting a
challenge; social and/or political concerns about racial or ethnic discrimination;
social concerns about AIDS, teenage pregnancy, divorce, substance abuse, family conflicts, dealing with death and political injustice.
Nevertheless, what happens when the story or the book chosen does not share all or some of these characteristics? Can they be considered a case of YAL?
The ghost story called “I´m all right”, written by S. E. Schlosser (2005), tells about a man called Johnny who enlists in the marine because he has always dreamt to become part of the Army. After serving for several years in different wars, the man is finally killed in action and he appears in his mother’s dream telling her that he is all right. The legend, retold from the point of view of Johnny´s mother, deals with topics such as love, patriotism, hope and dead.
Apparently, the story does not share many of the characteristics espoused by Small; even so, we might argue that the story contains topics of interest for teenagers. This essay will analyze if the ghost story I’m all right can attract young adult students.
As it has been pointed out above, I’m all right seems not to be a story directed to young adults because it does not share most of the characteristics stated by Small for instance the main character is not a teenager, events and problems in the plot are not related to teenagers and the story does not represent an adolescent´s interpretation of problems and events. Yet, teenagers may be attracted to the story because they can be the heroes in the story and they can live safely the experiences of the character. This is connected to Holly Koelling´s idealism (2004). Koelling points out that “teens often place themselves in the hero’s role and fantasize about it, which can produce an idealism that leads to positive actions in life or and idealism that mistakenly produces a sense of strength and immunity to the consequences of life.” In the legend, Johnny is a man how fights for his country with great bravery and passion. He is supported by his family and he has become a hero for them. However, his decision brought him a terrible end and he lost many important things. Following Koelling´s idealism, teenager can consider this fact as something glorious and inspiring for their life. But at the same time, the legend can serve them to think what they want to become in life knowing that there are certain chooses in life that can change their destinies:
“He was in danger many times, but somehow he always made it through unscathed, although he lost a few friends along the way. This deepened him and I saw a new maturity in my son that made an already proud mother even prouder.”
This extract shows how the main character, Johnny, is placed at the centre of the stage. Adolescents through analyzing and discussing the legend can fell connect with the character and feel connected to the story as well.
Moreover, the story deals with a universal theme such as death. The male character, through the story, is constantly facing death until he is killed in action. Throughout this legend, students can deal with the topic of death. Teen can discuss this topic among them and talk about their fears and concerns on the grounds that young adults feel more comfortable when discussing certain topics with people within their age. According to Small, this topic is one of the many universal themes that YAL deals with (Sarah Herz & Gallo, Donal, 1996) because through literature young adults can safely experience feelings and emotions. Additionally, “death” is a theme of particular interest to teenager because they are in a period in which they are afraid of losing their beloved ones and they also wonder about their own death.
Concerning genre, I’m all right has been label as a ghost story, which leads to another important topic of interest for teenagers. Adolescents like to read about the supernatural. They are constantly searching for new things. More precisely, they want to experience new things. This is the reason why adolescents are caught by the supernatural. Teenagers are interested in things that go beyond their understanding. In addition, literature about the supernatural has become popular among young adults in the last decade and this can be observed in the story:
“Johnny's words filled me with a great joy and a terrible fear. The military had sent him home, hadn't they? (Hadn't they?!?) Something in his beloved face told me that this was not an ordinary visit. That he hadn't come home the normal way. My heart thundered in my chest and I began to tremble, dread making my limbs feel heavy. Tears sprang to my eyes, and Johnny gently wiped one away with his finger. "I came to tell you that I am all right," he said quietly. "Take care of my girls for me."
This passage shows how Johnny´s mother realizes that the man who appears in her dream is not her son but the ghost of her son. She realizes that Johnny is dead since she notices that there is something odd in his face which makes her feel frighten. By adding this element, the story becomes more appealing to young adults because it is related to nowadays teen’s interests
Despite the fact that the story “I’m all right” does not contain a teenager as the main character and the events and problems in the plot are not related to adolescents, we might argue that the legend can be considered a case of young adult literature because it allows teenagers to place themselves as heroes in order to experience safely the characters problems or dilemmas. Additionally, the genre and the topic in the story may be appealing to adolescents because they lead to discussion. Adolescents are able to express their feelings and emotions by analyzing the story. Besides, both, the topic and the genre, are connected with today´s young adult’s interests and concerns.
References
- “Storytelling for Young Adults: A Guide to Tales for Teens”, Gail De Vos (2003).
- “Make Sense of teens as growing people and as readers”, Holly Koelling (2004).
- “From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics”, Sarah Herz & Gallo, Donal (1996).
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