L391 15891 LITERATURE FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Romaine Dorsey

1:25p-2:15p MWF (30 students) 3 cr., A&H.

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 ten to twelve texts from various genres as well supplementary materials, and students will read two additional texts from a selected list for the research 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 and forms of censorship; and issues of representation concerning age, class, gender, race and sexuality. There will be two course papers, a presentation, weekly discussion prompts, and two course exams on the readings.

Probable texts include Speak; Ghostworld; The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Please Don’t Kill the Freshman; The House of the Scorpion; The Golden Compass; The Giver; To Kill a Mockingbird; Monster; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,/i>; Making Lemonade and True Believer.