Adolescent Fiction: Social Transgression throughout the book

Friday, March 9, 2012

Social Transgression throughout the book

I hit on alot of social transgression in the last post but I can touch on it a little more in this post. Whenever you talk about gay/lesbian/homosexual actions, people are going to be a little tentative. Thats where our society is at right now. You have the backers for it who are expressing their feelings about how they support it and think there is nothing wrong with it. You have the crowd that opposes it for what could be several different reasons. Very rarely, do we find people in the middle or those they just dont care. Some think it is a decesion, others think its natural. Some think its a decesion based on what God gave you. Others think "gay actions" are a sin in Gods eyes and those who partake in it should be punished. This book hits on all these actions and more.
The two teens make a decesion, not entirely sure why, but they make it. That decesion is to be lovers. From the reading, it seems like a natural decesion. They go through all the steps of love, that all undergo. They are confused, naturally about what they're feeling. Also weighing down on them is how some in this society view them and their actions.
I think the author has a positive feel towards the plot of the story. Really, there is not to much downgrading in the book, although some don't support Annie and Liza's actions. Not shocking is that some back it, others dont. Like the abortion topic in our previous book, this problem isnt getting anywhere because we "as a society" are so set in our certain opinions. We develop these opinions in various different ways throughout our life but they are strong and they're what we are as human beings. The quesion is is should these girls be punished at all? Really, it depends on who you are and what your opinions are. I think most around them handled it pretty well. I think the real issues is whether or not we're going to see this as a normal thing in our society one day. How will it get solved? Will it ever be ok to love someone who is the same gender as you?

1 comment:

JenMarch 22, 2012 at 10:25 PM
You make a good point that the book identifies many beliefs about sexual orientation. I particularly appreciate your final question. It's a good one. What do you think is the answer to the question you pose?
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Post #9 Shakespeare Bats Cleanup (due MONDAY, 4/30 by class time)

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup explores a number of themes, among them grief, identity, coming of age (Bildungsroman), friendship, love, and others. Kevin, our adolescent narrator, shares his story with us as a poetic narrative which includes poems written in conventional forms and free-form poems. Choose one theme which the book develops, and show its development through the text. As you do so, be sure to consider and articulate how the book's structure (as poems) affects whatever theme you discuss.

Post #7 Warriors Don't Cry (due Sunday 4/15 by 8 pm)

Choices for responses:

1. The title of this text refers to warriors. How are the characters warriors? Are you comfortable with that depiction? Why or why not? Be sure to offer specific description as you explore characterization.

2. While it could certainly be argued that the author of our last novel does place himself in the text, that book is fiction. This text is not; rather, it's a memoir. How does knowing that the book is non-fiction shape your reading of it? Does it cause you to respond differently? If so, how? If not, why not? Consider characters, events, and the historical context carefully as you respond.

Post #6 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (due Sunday, 3/25 by 8 pm)

Post #5 Annie on My Mind (part 2) due Sun 3/11 by 8 pm

You have several different options for your response:

1. How is social transgression framed and treated in the novel? Do you as a reader find that the characters are affirmed or punished for stepping outside of social conventions?

2. We've talked a bit about parallel spaces in texts, spaces in which characters encounter very different experiences. After reading this novel, can we argue that those parallel spaces never intersect? What function might those separate (or not so separate) spaces serve?

3. The story is written in the epistolary (letter writing) tradition. How does that framing affect your reading? Your interaction with characters? Your response?

Post #3 Due by Monday's class (2/20)

For this post, you have three options:

1. Respond to some theme you identify in the novel. Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the book.

2. Apply the article's claims to the novel. Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the article and the book.

3. Examine the novel as science fiction. How is it both utopic and dystopic in its function? What might it be warning us as a society against? Be sure that you make a claim and support it using specific examples from the text.

Post #1 Due by Thursday's class (1/26)

Ellen Raskin's novel The Westing Game is a detective novel, yes, but we can tease out many themes as we examine the text. A few we introduced and explored briefly in class today:

the Cinderella effect

the roles of women

identity construction

gaming and strategy

trust (as it relates to other themes or on its own)

oppressive/repressive (think Trites) parents

Choose from a theme on this list or choose a theme you've noted in the text, and write about the way the theme is introduced and developed through the novel. As you show how the theme works throughout the book, be sure to offer specific examples to support your ideas.