Analysis Of Brent Hartinger 's ' The '

I appreciate the author’s attempt to fully submerse herself back into an adolescent mindset in order to understand the complex issues of masculinity, sexuality and gender

Tyler, Anne. "Teenage Wasteland." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: Longman, 2012. 188-95. Print.

The moral message apparent in this coming-of-age novel questions each of the teenage boys, who in various ways show us what it's like to grow up in rural Australia if you are smart or poor or of a different race. This moral message makes me question the past of the Australia I have came to

Joyce Carol Oates’ “Life After High School” is a story of masked identity, which the one of the main characters, Zachary, experiences. Society’s views on sexuality and what was perceived as “right” or “wrong” influence how each character develops, but as the story progresses, the characters evolve and “shed” their masks. The descriptions Oates uses for each character’s persona are crucial in order to sway the reader’s perceptions on the evolution of the character. In Zachary’s case, he hides his true sexuality. This is shown through the use of diction, imagery and symbolism.

This novel “is a book that truly speaks to adolescents in contemporary language and with teenage characters about adolescent sexuality” (Kaplan 27). Katherine is learning about her sexuality in the novel.

John Green’s, Looking For Alaska, is a book about the lives of a group of teenagers and how their experience, alone and together, shape their lives as they grow towards adulthood. The main character, Miles Halter, lives a boring and lonely life. He has no friends and wonders what he is missing and decides to go to boarding school in Culver Creek to try to search for his “Great Perhaps” (5), what lies beyond his known, safe life. The reader follows Miles’ journey as he makes friends, falls in love, takes risks, has fun experiences and deals with immense grief at death of Alaska. Looking for Alaska has been the subject of much debate, controversy and complaints and has been banned numerous times due to the inclusion of sexual content, alcohol

Throughout the 1950’s, the United States belonged to the Leave It To Beaver era. Families were structured around a strong, hard working father and a wonderful homemaker mother. Children were brought up with solid ideologies on what society expects from them and were warned about living a different and dangerous life. Only one-year separates Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room from there publishing dates during this decade of unwavering beliefs. These texts were seen as extremely controversial during their time due to their themes of homosexuality. Sexual orientation was an awkward topic during such a “to the book” time period and these texts pushed the limits, making them remarkable and memorable works. Both Tennessee Williams and James Baldwin explore the panic men experience while trying to comprehend what sexual orientation they belong to and highlight the masculine gay man. These texts also examine the woman’s role in the mist of it all.

False identity can become so inherent to a person’s character, they can begin to forget where it stops and their true self begins. In Tobias Wolff’s novel Old School, the narrator and the literary review the Troubadour both are hiding behind a persona that is placed onto them by themselves or others. An aspirational vision of the characters is the basis of their personas. Wanting to be more then they already are, the characters end up believing in the lies told to persuade others of their importance. Placing the personas on themselves is a way to divert people from the true nature of their identity, which might not live up to their expectations. The identities taken on by the narrator and the Troubadour convey that what they are and what they want to be are not yet the same.

Sexuality and personal growth has and always will be a topic of conversation in real life and even in fiction short stories. The idea of sexuality has just recently not only became an open idea to discuss but one to also write and publish about. Both Alice Munro and John Updike both illustrate the idea of sexuality and personal growth in very different ways. “The Found Boat” by Alice Munro, deals with sexuality in an aggressive manner while “A&P” by John Updike, deals more with the idea of sexuality rather than sexuality itself. They also have very similar elements of fiction that include (but is not limited to) characters, theme and conflict. The characters relate in both

Psychologists usually agree that the teenage years are among the most difficult periods in one’s life. Most teens are trying to figure out who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970’s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of-age literature, emerged and serves, at least for many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspect of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial book

Within modern society when a character strays away from what society depicts as morally right, the individual is frowned upon as if he or she doesn't belong. In “Angels in America” a gay fantasia on National themes, characters struggle to be themselves upon fear of whether or not society will accept them as an individual. The characters not only struggles with whether or not society will accept them, but they also struggle with their inner demons, and ultimately the question of what is truly good or evil. In this paper several characters will be analyzed and discussed from several different viewpoints.

Written in 1951, J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye continues to be a popular book amongst Americans. Although The Catcher in the Rye has been banned in many public school settings in the United States it continues to stay atop some of the greatest books of all time lists. Whether people are in their teens or in their fifties they find themselves drawn to Holden Caulfield. At some point in their life they could relate to a sense of alienation, caused by money and wealth. Humans are wired to be jealous and want what others have. Holden Caulfield has the opposite problem, he has money and wealth which he inherited from his hard working parents. However, he himself is not motivated to work hard, graduate prep school and earn his own wealth. Instead he despises hard working students at the many prep schools he drops out of. Holden also has a big number of family complications. An area to explore is how wealth can contribute to feelings of alienation and despair. Holden Caulfield has a complex relationship with money, not wanting to associate from it, but benefiting from it. A further look into the 1950’s may give an insight into the troubled mind of Holden Caulfield.

Much like the accepting people of Whistlestop, Stephen’s father also shows a level of curiosity and acceptance for his child, by reading about inversion and listening to her concerns. Stephen’s mother’s rejection of her is a striking blow, especially after the death of her father. Stephen’s mother contends that she is “unnatural,” (63; 182) and “unbalanced” (183), in a scene very similar to the trial in Fried Green Tomatoes. Yet, when Stephen finds her father’s book on inversion and finally has a name to put to her experiences, it is a moment of clarity that makes her hopeful and also makes readers hopeful about the future of our understanding of LGBT identities. Stephen is able to move on and have a relationship with Mary, who she meets during

This non-fiction book was written by an economist at the University of Chicago, Steven Levitt, and a New York Times journalist, Stephen J. Dubner. The book is written in a manner of self-help in which readers themselves, who are after innovation in business and marketing, are able to incentivize and persuade the people.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson’s exploration of the teenage experience discusses the complexities of intersectional identity. At first I was mainly interested in exploring themes of depression and mental illness without going too in-depth into will’s sexuality, but as the course progressed it became apparent that the sexualities of both Wills, as well as Tiny Cooper, were closely linked with the discourses of mental illness. I also found that Tiny’s musical, Hold Me Closer, tied strongly into the character development of both main characters. I found two novels we read in class that connected well to the main topics I wanted to discuss in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. These were The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers and Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith. I will use these texts in conjunction with theoretical texts to examine Will Grayson, Will Grayson’s themes of depression, sexuality, and adolescent writing.