ENG 133 - 20th Century Literature

Semester Hours: 4

Young Adult Literature has often been subsumed by Children’s Literature. Its history and development, however, are important enough to merit individual treatment. We’ll trace the history and development of YA by reading and watching old and new texts, looking for similarities and differences. Long a controversial genre, a recent New York Times poll places Young Adult books on the list of most often banned books in the United States. We’ll read to discover why these books cause such “conversation.” Are they sensational? How are they suited for young adult readers? How do they present young adults? We will also test the notion presented in a more recent column, also in the NYT, that books for adolescents “take the approach that maturity can be attained only through a severe testing of soul and self, featuring some kind of shocking ‘rite of passage.’” We’ll consider the ways that literary scholars present “evidence” about those rebellious teen years and about the teen search for identity. We’ll practice methods of research and analysis, and, most importantly, we’ll examine the ways these works of literature provide a mirror of culture.

Intellectual Perspective: HC