Welcome to our class! I am looking forward to an interesting and enjoyable semester.
This course will explore the connections between literature written for young adults and contemporary teen identity. Questions to be addressed include:
• Do YA novels accurately portray the complex challenges of teenage life, or do they simply commodify these challenges for mass consumption and marketing?
• To what extent do representations of teens in literature affect how teens see themselves and how others see them?
• To what extent does imaginative narrative literature affect identity development?
• Do gender, age, sexual orientation, race, and social class affect how YA narratives influence teens? If so, how?
• What should teachers and scholars of YA literature understand about its connection to adolescent identity and culture?
• What does it mean to teach literature?
Class discussions include at least one “posting” per week on this blog associated with the class. This post can begin a new discussion thread, or it can respond to a classmate’s post. Postings may address the critical essays, the novels, the larger political context of literature teaching, or intersections among these various texts and topics. I hope that this blog will allow us to continue class discussions electronically in between "live" class meetings.
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