Blog Two

 Adolescent Literature

            According to Dunlevy-Scheerer (2009), Adolescent Literature or Young Adult Literature is literature that ‘has been specifically written for and marketed to young adolescents’ as well as ‘anything young adults are reading of their own free will’.  She continues by stating that this umbrella term describes all forms of fiction (e.g. short stories) and also nonfiction forms (e.g. biographies). In order to understand Young Adult Literature (YAL), I will use the novel ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ to bring its characteristics to life.

            ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’, by Harper Lee, is an example of a YAL novel. Dunlevy-Scheerer (2009) states that one of the characteristics YAL is the protagonist in the novel is a young adult or teenager. In the novel, Scout Finch is the protagonist, reflecting on a set of progressive events that occurred in her earlier years. Another characteristic of YAL is that it is normally written in the first-person perspective (Dunlevy-Scheerer, 2009). Scout is the character who narrates the story in the novel. This opens the possibility for the views presented by Scout in the novel to be seen as subjective because the reader does not get to know the viewpoints of other characters in the story.

            Another characteristic of YAL presented by Dunlevy-Sheerer (2009), is that the adults are usually in the ‘background’ rather than at the forefront of the story. This is evident in ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’, as the characters who are most pronounced in the novel are Scout, Jem and Dill, who are all young children. A limited number of characters is also found in YAL (Dunlevy-Scheerer, 2009). This characteristic reflects in the chosen novel, for only relevant characters that assist us in understanding the society are included in the story. A ‘compressed time span and familiar setting’ is yet another characteristic of YAL (Dunlevy-Scheerer, 2009) which can also be seen in ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’. The story is episodic and allows the reader to get to understand the characters and the county, before presenting the main issue of the story.

            According to Dunlevy-Scheerer (2009), the use of current slang is found within YAL. This can be seen materializing in the novel through the dialogues that occur between Scout and Jem. Detailed descriptions of appearance and dress is also a characteristic of YAL (Dunlevy-Scheerer, 2009). Scout gives a detailed description of Burris Ewell in chapter three, stating that ‘his neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick’.

The novel also ends with a positive resolution, another characteristic of YAL according to Dunlevy- Scheerer(2009). The novel left the reader with a sense of hope that, with people like Attitcus Finch and Boo Radley working against racism in the society, change in the future was possible. The novel gave the impression that with the new generation of youth (Scout and Jem), change would be more likely to occur in years to come.

The number of pages on which the novel is written may also determine whether a book is YAL. Dunlevy-Scheerer ( 2009), noted that an approximate length of one hundred and twenty-five pages to two hundred and fifty pages is a characteristic of YAL. The novel ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ contained two hundred and seventy-eight pages. The number of pages can be a deterrent for students to read literature if there are too many pages in novel for example, or the font used for the novel is too small.

In selecting literature for students, one must consider the characteristics of YAL. One would make better choices when deciding on literature for the classroom. Students would actually enjoy reading and simultaneously gain meaningful experiences from having contact with the YAL.

Source:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2158371/what_are_the_defining_characteristics_pg10.html?cat=38