Literature is Dead?
http://www.geekologie.com/2010/10/well_folks_its_official_litera.php
I've got 45 minutes till Pilates, so I'm going to take a moment hear to address this. I probably should have addressed it some time ago, with the release of the Twilight series, but I'd just finished reading it myself, so I felt like I was a little 'too close' to the book to make a comment.
As a teacher, I was required to take a YA literature class in college. Yeah, three credits of my undergraduate work was earned reading YA literature taught by this shrewd little Jewish prof. named Dr. Fishman. I didn't get along with her either. For the record, I only got a B in the class because I spent a lot of time arguing over meaningless projects. Now that a teach, I utilize many of those meaningless projects in my own class... oops.
Anyway, YA Literature is meant for YOUNG ADULTS. It wasn't written for adults, so let us start there. The intention of this literary genre is to entertain teens. The Mickey Mouse Club, Salute Your Shorts, Fresh Prince of BelAir, and Saved By the Bell had the same goal in mind. Quite frankly, I look back on those shows fondly. Anyway, that's the purpose of YA - entertainment.
I get frustrated with people who think this is the future of America's Youth - just YA literature. YA Literature makes a great supplement for reluctant readers. Why? Most of those reluctant readers don't read because they're bored, or it's just too hard for them. Hand them YA book suited to their tastes (Lupica and Crutcher for athletes, LHA for History buffs, and Dressen for the romantic girls), and often they find a way to enjoy reading, so when you hand them something on the literary canon later in the year, you've built up enough confidence that the kid doesn't immediately shutdown knowing they have to read a book written by a dead old white guy.
Alright, secondly, not everyone wants to read the likes of Hemmingway, Twain, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Chopin, Bronte, or Poe for entertainment. Yes, I do and so do many of my friends, but not everyone. Alright, let me be frank, I would never read Hemmingway for fun... I don't like the man's style. But I learned to appreciate literary style and so many other things by starting off with YA classics like the Goosebumps books by Stine, The Cay and Sounder and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh before Black Beauty and then who knows how many Star Wars novels. The first real literature I cut my teeth on was Ben Franklin's autobiography, and let me tell you, it was a bore! It's a wonder I kept reading after that and The Red Pony and The Pearl (though I'll give you Of Mice and Men was good reading in 8th grade). I kept reading because I found out early that you don't have to like every book, and you can read for FUN.
So that's it. I think it is a little crazy that YA now has another sub-genre. I don't know that breaking it into "Teen Paranormal Romance" is necessary. I do know why it's big - among other reasons, teens feel paranormal. Maybe nobody else remembers that stage, but I sure as hell felt like an oddball zombie on a Monday morning in 8th grade... I mean, when I wasn't dreading going to school, tripping on my shoelaces or being bullied by the 'in' crowd for reading... (GASP) books. But didn't we all have that?
Leave YA be. It's not going to replace Shakespeare or Toni Morrison or Sophocles. It's not. It's not there to replace anything. YA Lit is there for fun. Just let it be fun... let it be a guilty pleasure of a few adults, and something to look forward to by some teens. Quit mocking them for liking it because you've got "superior tastes." Doesn't make you much better than the bullies I knew in school, anyway.
Oh yeah, and as a teacher, I can say I haven't seen any 'dramatic decline' in literary abilities since the publishing of Harry Potter or Twilight. I've still got kids reading some Twain and some Poe, and Anne Frank. They're doing just fine. Find something else to panic over.
I've got 45 minutes till Pilates, so I'm going to take a moment hear to address this. I probably should have addressed it some time ago, with the release of the Twilight series, but I'd just finished reading it myself, so I felt like I was a little 'too close' to the book to make a comment.
As a teacher, I was required to take a YA literature class in college. Yeah, three credits of my undergraduate work was earned reading YA literature taught by this shrewd little Jewish prof. named Dr. Fishman. I didn't get along with her either. For the record, I only got a B in the class because I spent a lot of time arguing over meaningless projects. Now that a teach, I utilize many of those meaningless projects in my own class... oops.
Anyway, YA Literature is meant for YOUNG ADULTS. It wasn't written for adults, so let us start there. The intention of this literary genre is to entertain teens. The Mickey Mouse Club, Salute Your Shorts, Fresh Prince of BelAir, and Saved By the Bell had the same goal in mind. Quite frankly, I look back on those shows fondly. Anyway, that's the purpose of YA - entertainment.
I get frustrated with people who think this is the future of America's Youth - just YA literature. YA Literature makes a great supplement for reluctant readers. Why? Most of those reluctant readers don't read because they're bored, or it's just too hard for them. Hand them YA book suited to their tastes (Lupica and Crutcher for athletes, LHA for History buffs, and Dressen for the romantic girls), and often they find a way to enjoy reading, so when you hand them something on the literary canon later in the year, you've built up enough confidence that the kid doesn't immediately shutdown knowing they have to read a book written by a dead old white guy.
Alright, secondly, not everyone wants to read the likes of Hemmingway, Twain, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Chopin, Bronte, or Poe for entertainment. Yes, I do and so do many of my friends, but not everyone. Alright, let me be frank, I would never read Hemmingway for fun... I don't like the man's style. But I learned to appreciate literary style and so many other things by starting off with YA classics like the Goosebumps books by Stine, The Cay and Sounder and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh before Black Beauty and then who knows how many Star Wars novels. The first real literature I cut my teeth on was Ben Franklin's autobiography, and let me tell you, it was a bore! It's a wonder I kept reading after that and The Red Pony and The Pearl (though I'll give you Of Mice and Men was good reading in 8th grade). I kept reading because I found out early that you don't have to like every book, and you can read for FUN.
So that's it. I think it is a little crazy that YA now has another sub-genre. I don't know that breaking it into "Teen Paranormal Romance" is necessary. I do know why it's big - among other reasons, teens feel paranormal. Maybe nobody else remembers that stage, but I sure as hell felt like an oddball zombie on a Monday morning in 8th grade... I mean, when I wasn't dreading going to school, tripping on my shoelaces or being bullied by the 'in' crowd for reading... (GASP) books. But didn't we all have that?
Leave YA be. It's not going to replace Shakespeare or Toni Morrison or Sophocles. It's not. It's not there to replace anything. YA Lit is there for fun. Just let it be fun... let it be a guilty pleasure of a few adults, and something to look forward to by some teens. Quit mocking them for liking it because you've got "superior tastes." Doesn't make you much better than the bullies I knew in school, anyway.
Oh yeah, and as a teacher, I can say I haven't seen any 'dramatic decline' in literary abilities since the publishing of Harry Potter or Twilight. I've still got kids reading some Twain and some Poe, and Anne Frank. They're doing just fine. Find something else to panic over.