L391 2098 DORSEY
Literature for Young Adults

2:30p-3:45p TR (30) 3 CR.

L391 is an upper division English literature course designed to introduce adult readers to young adult literature, literature often written for and read by people between 12 and 18 years old. We will read twelve adolescent and young adult novels from various genres as well as several short stories and supplementary materials together as a whole class, and students will read two additional novels from a selected list for the final paper. As we read this material we will formulate our own definition of young adult literature. Topics we will explore will revolve around the role of literacy and the imagination in adolescent life and development and will include notions of adolescence and young adulthood; the role of imagination and fantasy in the lives of adolescents and their relationship to literacy both textual and cultural; what it means to be literate in a free society; issues of representation including age, class, gender, race and sexuality; and censorship.

Probable texts include Speak; Ghostworld; The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Catcher in the Rye; Rats Saw God; Please Don’t Kill the Freshman; The House of the Scorpion; The Golden Compass; The Giver; To Kill a Mockingbird; Monster; Holes; Making Lemonade and True Believer.