The vampire craze has taken over what young teenagers today indulge themselves in regards to reading material. But has this new fad had a negative effect on teens? Some of theses books (for example the Twilight series written by Stephanie Meyer) have portrayed an example for teenagers and even adults that should be more closely examined. A hundred years ago, books for kids were dominated with stories about boys having adventures and girls finding husbands; then, from the 1950s to the 1970s, the themes were emerging sexuality and parental conflict. The current age of young adult literature contains a large chunk of stories of teenage girls falling in love with the supernatural. Multiple books about girls getting into relationships with vampires and werewolves have risen in the past 10 years. Maria Nikolajeva, a Cambridge University professor of literature stated that "We don't know exactly how literature affects the brain, but we know that it does; some new findings have identified spots in the brain that respond to literature and art." (Live Science) Knowing that literature affects the brain and how it develops, we should be cautious as to what we are giving to the younger generation to read. The youth of today are being overwhelmed with multiple messages on what to look for in a partner, and what constitutes as a “normal” relationship (Chang). If you use Twilight as an example for these messages that are being broadcasted, it is clear to see that the examples that have
In the article, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fangs: The Unwarranted Backlash Against Fans of the World's Most Popular Vampire," Sady Doyle argues and criticizes that the Twilight series is not one of the best reads. When thinking of romance a lot of teenagers think of Romeo and Juliet, but this time it's a vampire and a human being. She offers her insight on how important it is to cater to a particular audience and how successful it is.
Some might claim the YA genre has grown to be too dark for its target audience. Meghan Gurdon, a firm believer of this idea, explains why she believes this in her article, “Darkness Too Visible”. Gurdon describes the experience of a mother of three in a bookstore looking to purchase a YA novel for one of her children, when she found herself leaving the bookstore empty-handed due to the content of the teen books. While teen books decades ago contained less violent/corrupted material, times have changed along with the genre. She is concerned that these books could have an effect on these young readers’ brains as they are merely transferring from childhood to adulthood. Gurdon still has faith that YA books would sell just as well and connect with young readers today without all of the dark subject matters discussed in them these days.
Dark themes are on the rise in young adult literature, and parents can’t help but wonder if this is due to the abundance of these subjects in adult literature. Literary critic Meghan Cox Gurdon’s editorial “Darkness Too Visible” and author Sherman Alexie’s response “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood” have contrasting views on this subject. However, with the superior techniques Alexie Sherman is more effective. Both authors use themes and style in their writing, but with his superior use of persuasive techniques Alexie Sherman’s article is ultimately more effective.
The Vampire Diaries and Twilight really bring different things to the culture of young adult vampire stories
Dana Gioia persuades her audience through a mix of emotions. With a lack of reading, young adults are missing out on the joys and challenges of literature.They are bypassing the cultural, emotional, and historical benefits of books and works of literature. By doing this, they are damaging their civic, personal, and economic health.
This injunction to achieve maturity-synonymous in contemporary usage with 30-year mortgages, spreading waistlines, and monogamy-obviously finds its raison deter in modern love’s central anxiety, that structuring social contradiction the size of the San Andreas Fault: namely, the expectation that romance and sexual attraction can last a lifetime of coupled togetherness despite much hard evidence to the contrary. (403)
To begin the article, the author begins what one may call a rant. Discussing their inner thoughts of what they view as modern day romance. He exaggerates how the people in today's society can never seem to commit. There is a mindset that there is always something better out there for us and the idea of the new age ‘romance’ is not romance at all. To the new generation we believe that love is a long paragraph text message, or a snapchat from our significant other. There is so much of a dependence of
Cultural dating techniques and sexual practices among youth has changed drastically over the decades. From a postmodernist perspective, this is largely due to society, the morals, values and lessons that are taught in our social institutions. Dating practices have become less formal which is now considered the new norm, “we have moved into a “late-modern society” that is increasing anomic (or less normed) in certain respects” (Cote & Allahar, 2006, p. 28). There is no more ‘traditional roles’ of dating or even clear guidelines. How girls are supposed to behave is constantly changing and reinforced by various authority figures, society and our educational institutions. Dating and sexual practices have gone from the relationship first then, sexual activity, to sexual activity and then commitment. Media and society are now telling females to explore their sexuality before settling down except continue to look down upon the females who do so. Males continue to be taught to have multiple sexual partners and look for a female partner whom has only had very few sexual partners if any. Not only has institutions and other influences taken away the standards from dating, they are sending mixed messages. Encouraging females to have the best of the
Kimbler, D. E., Murphy, M., & Dhandapani, K. M. (2011). Concussion and the Adolescent Athlete. The Journal of Neuroscience Nursing : Journal of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, 43(6), 10.1097/JNN.0b013e31823858a6. http://doi.org/10.1097/JNN.0b013e31823858a6
Watch the classical film Grease and one can understand how relationships function in Western Society. The film tells a story of a boy (Danny) and a girl (Sandy) who falls in love. Through a series of misunderstandings they break up, but still somehow care for each other. Through ballads such as Summer Night’s that are still popular today, the film shows how differently males and females view relationships. Films like Grease are like a mirror, reflecting societal values and how it socializes its members. It makes it clear that in relationships, males are socialized to view relationships as mostly a physical, sexual endeavor, while females view it as a perpetual bond –a deeper connection between the two individuals within a relationship.
African kingdom were in war with each other,in Port loko( a river town) there were people that
Relationships are quite eccentric and interesting because relationships are full of ups, downs, twists and turns like roller coasters. Every little thing in a teen's life can affect as well as change the outcome of a relationship, making it either good or bad. The relationships teens have with other teens as well as other people of different age groups will always be with them and so it is important to have good relationships with everyone. It is important to be in a healthy relationship, meaning that the 2 people in the relationship are honest, trustworthy and respect one another. In April 2014, more than 4,900 teens were surveyed by Stageoflife.com, and it is said that 94% of teens believe in true love. This means that a lot of teens spend
A common misconception amongst teens is that love is simply saying “I love you” or buying gifts for their partners. However, our generation does not understand the the complexity of the depths of love. There’s reason to believe that teenagers can not experience true romantic feelings for one another, let alone love. Love has so many components to it that adolescents do not comprehend. True romantic feelings have depth and require a better understanding, which teens do not have.
The book is laced with emotionally and erotically boosted encounters. A person who would enjoy reading about vampires, the urge to keep reading comes within the first few chapters; in this story early as chapter three. The novel is a new vampire paradigm that casts a steady
Today, romance is one of the most popular genres to watch on television. Unlike most, romance is a genre where the plot revolves around the love between two main characters as they experience the highs and lows of love. “Common themes that revolve around romantic movies are kissing, love at first sight, tragic love, destructive love, and sentimental love” (Taylor). These themes appear in many historical films and the pattern still continues in modern films as well. Watching romantic movies has a giant negative influence on the viewer's analysis of what love and relationships should really be like. These films give the wrong impression of reality when it comes to dating, marriage, having children, and even how to manage a relationship in