Landt Response

1.    What is the central issue/problem/focus of the article? What are the solutions proposed?

“Teachers who incorporate multicultural literature into their curriculum expose students to viewpoints and experiences that can broaden young adolescents’ visions of self and the world.”

Too often are today’s young adult students taught about a life that is both real and pertaining to them.  Schools incorporate books that are out of date and convey a world that, while is the bases of today’s society, is not reflective of today’s issues. Landt acknowledges this issue within her article in some ways by attempting to affirm young adult literatures place in the class room. As stated in the previous quote, young adults need to be exposed to more views than their own upbringing. It is the responsibility of teachers and educators to accomplish just that: educate. “Adolescence is a time of questioning and searching as young people strive to comprehend who they are and how they fit in the world”. Of course, it is difficult to understand who we are, and how we fit, in relation to the rest of the world without acknowledging where we come from. That in mind, I would be remiss to suggest that the classic novels being taught today are not important, and I feel Landt agrees. But, young students need to be able to relate in order to understand the severity of these subjects. Young Adult Literature is that bridge.

“Teachers may not feel that they are sufficiently knowledge- able to select appropriate multicultural literature for their students.” This is another of Landts focuses. Of course, this is a natural concern for any instructor. The best option, in this case, is simple: the instructor should educate themselves on the subject. Read the novels yourself, brush up on current events and how they relate to the classroom, etc. Literature studies is about understanding, discussing, and analyzing the concepts within the pages. The best way to do this in the classroom is to do it yourself.

“Teachers may decide it is better to avoid integrating multicultural literature with their curriculum rather than take the chance of including inappropriate choices.” I feel that this relates back to the original idea of the article; students needing a real world view to comprehend with concepts that relate to them. If instructors are afraid to broaden horizons then nothing changes and we create the same generations over and over, creating exponential distance between social realities and beliefs. This is a dangerous game to play.

2.    How does this affect the way you think about teaching YA lit?

As you can most likely assume, this piece mostly reinforced my beliefs on YA literature. It would be redundant of me to answer this question in depth as I, inadvertently, incorporated it into my first response. I think Landt makes decent points about the importance of Young Adult literature but I don’t believe she adds much to the existing discussion.

“The idea of voluntary segregation went against every value I had been taught. What did being born black have to do with excellence?”

For 100 pages thus far, this book is a pretty short read. I am not sure how i feel about it at this point, actually.  I really enjoy the pre-civil rights setting in Harlem, I think it is such a detrimental time period that needs to be looked at, and this book paints a decent image of what it may have been like.  I also enjoy the, so far, overall tone of the book.  Myers use of humor is pretty on point and has fair timing which definitely keeps me interested.

I also think he does a fair job of characterizing himself. Naturally, I do not read him as too much of a reliable implied-author because when writing of oneself, we often amend the historic past to how we viewed it, which may be slightly different than what actually happened. That being noted, I do believe certain dialogues between him and other characters, such as his adoptive parents, did happen; maybe just not quite how it was in this book.  I also enjoyed how his younger-self enjoyed things different than the kids around him, like his books.  Explaining how he puts them into a paper bag to hide them from other kids really spoke to me.  That era is similar to the era's after it, where kids are bullied for intelligence, or for simply enjoying a good read. 

His need to be an author and writer is powerful to me, as well.  I think a young boy his age, in that time era, and being a person of color, what a feat it must have been to even have that dream.  

I am curious to see where this book goes and what it's climax will be, despite my slight less interest in it in comparison to the others we have read in class. 

So far, I give it a C+

I found Wintergirls to be both captivating and difficult to read.  Looking back to my high school days, the topic of anorexia and self-harm seems all too familiar. Having a once good friend who became anorexic over time, this book hit a lot of notes that I felt resembled the situation I had been a part of.

This book, more than anything -I feel, deals with guilt and control as main drives for its story.  The aspect of guilt is obvious as Lia must deal with the loss of her friend, especially if the possibility of Lia saving her at one time existed. But, control... that's where the reality lays. My friend from high school had the same issue. Parents divorced, everyone telling her she was unhealthy, everyone telling her what she should do, how she should study, etc.  I think being able to control her weight was a way to break that cycle of control.  It was a way for her to still be in charge of something in her life. Unfortunately, anorexia is just as much a mental illness as it is a physical (or so my understanding).  It is a helpless way of seeking some kind of resolution, some kind of way out of the bullshit that is life as a young adult.  Lia feels out of control emotionally, and Cassies death spirals that out of control.

This being said, I'll admit the ghost aspect came out of no where for me.  It is arguable whether or not it was actually Cassies ghost or Lia hallucinating due to the lack of substance to her body as well as loss of blood time and time again by the cutting.  Either way, that was a very unique element for me when reading this book. I thought that giving a physical embodiment or representation to Lia's constant struggle with emotion, Cassie, and her weight was a brilliant way to convey the internal struggle that Lia must adhere to constantly.

Additionally, it was nice to see a nice ending for the lead character (albeit a difficult one).  I think her spiraling to the brink of death and, once face to face with it, realizing she wants to live, is both great and fundamental when dealing with such issues. I believe most people when they say they don't fear death because I don't think we as humans necessarily do.  We fear what comes after, or lack there of. We fear it because we don't understand it, we don't know it. And you always fear what you don't understand.  Lia realized she wanted to live. She wanted to be better and stop the suffering.  She fought her urges, and she fought the inner problems. This is what makes the book worth the read.

I would teach this book in class. I feel the themes are strong and relevant in todays classrooms. I also feel that the "ghost" element makes it more of a fiction which may help students when reading.

I give this book a B.

Legend

“Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time." -Day.

Thus far I have enjoyed this story despite certain undesired plot points.  I find Day to be an intriguing enough character, especially as a sort of anti-hero, for all intended purposes of the book. I think his character is better used as a plot driver for the over all story concerning the Republic and their goals, over development as him as a character. The "imperfection" in his eye being the main point there.  Despite, arguably, being the main character, I find I am more interested in Day than I am June.  There is obviously something to be said about her privilege in the Republic and how that affects her view of it all, but her reasoning for asking the right questions stem from an overdone, somewhat redundant story line concerning parental death, "mysterious" parental death that is.  Overdone story is what brings me to Thomas. I don't care for Thomas at this point. We get it, you like your friend. Your friend likes the bad boy; life sucks homie. 

I think there is also something to be said about June and Day's relationship and how it relies, early on, on there unknown identities towards each other.  It brings in the argument of can two people love each other despite not even knowing each other?  This seems to be the drive of their character dichotomy. 

I will say that the scene in which Day and his family are surrounded by Republic officials was particularity good.  Such a heavy seen and with Thomas killing Day's Mother?? Holy crap, can you say tipping point? I knew I didn't like Thomas. Of course, none of that would have even of happened had June not betrayed Day by turning him over. Super messed up. 

My biggest issue is with the similarities to so many other stories. "The Republic" keeps making me think that, while reading, I should be reading this in a galaxy far, far away.  Not to mention the dystopian arch is tough to do and not be redundant. Different classes, imperial officers working for a dictating government, class warfare, etc. all fairly similar to Hunger Games or even Handmaidens Tale. 

Thus far, I give this story a solid C for effort. 

Picking up this book gave me an unsettling feeling after learning the subject matter.  I had heard prior to this class that the novel was something like a beautiful heartbreak.  Once learning that it was about a girl post-suicide, I was reluctant to open it, to say the least.

This book, even only halfway done, is heavy. It's heavy in it's topic, it's heavy in its portrayal, it's heavy in it's language and it's delivery.  I found myself having to put it down every so often, quite the opposite of a novel like Eleanor and Park, where I found it hard to stop reading.  This story had the opposite affect on me.  That being said, I did my best to persuade myself in thinking that this story was just over the top. I mean, suicide is a heavy subject and an important problem that is often hushed, but i thought that the whole idea of the girl leaving the tapes behind was a bit too much.  I still do. But, that being the tool with which the author uses to progress the story is, in itself, fairly brilliant.

In this way, the author is practically slamming the message in the readers face with every paragraph.  And, although I may only be halfway through it, it is clear (unless the author throws a curve-ball that inevitably blows my mind, which I am open to) that the message is about the daily issue in young teen lives of bullying, hatred, fitting in and failing, sexual harassment, and overall true friendship and what happens when that falls short.  This girl was bullied, harassed, her friends were sexually harassed as well, she was betrayed,etc. Now, these things can drive anyone downhill. But having the main character already passed and in what seems like (in a certain light) her getting revenge or justice post-death through these tape seems like a very bad message to young, troubled minds.

My senior year in high school we had 3 students commit suicide within a single week from two schools, including mine.  I am not a stranger to the subject and reading this story seems troubling.  It almost seems as if it is portraying justice through her tapes and death and I don't think that is the kind of message I would want to give students.  I am not saying in anyway that that is what is going to happen to everyone whom reads the story, but having a student(s) that may have these kind of troubles as well may see some kind of justice in this, and I am not sure that is very safe. Keeping that in mind, I do believe that if it is discussed properly by the students and instructor than it can be avoided, but we must be weary of it.

Thus far, I would give this story a C+ to B- grade.

Fresh Pain

First; damn this short story was well done.  To say that it did not take a bit for me to become invested would be dishonest, though.  After the first two pages or so (which is a healthy amount for a short story) I found myself becoming increasingly curious about the characters of Susie and Mamie.  If nothing else, the author did wonders with character development concerning how little pages there were to progressively display any kind of character habits, traits, and so fourth.

I feel that this story played more with character arch than it did any other elements of literature.  There was obvious foreshadowing, such as Susie's humming, or her Grammy's arthritis, etc., and those elements came into play concerning the story in a very smooth way.  I, at one point, definitely caught myself trying to reason that Mamie was related to Susie.  I thought I had it in the bag! And the BAM, totally wrong.  But what a way to be wrong! The story was so cleverly done and the characters that only had small roles had such impacts and such personalities (the Great-Aunts, anyone?). I also enjoyed the fact that only the female characters had any true power within the story.  The nurses were female, the members of the family that knew everything and ran the shows were female, not to mention the main character. I enjoyed that.

As far as the story's relation to the Young Adult genre/ demographic, I feel that there would be no reason not to show this story to students.  That being said, I do not feel there would be any need to delve into it any more than discussing themes and plot, and so forth.  I feel it can be relate-able to some students. I mean, every family has their secrets but that is not necessarily the point of the story.  Self acceptance, growth, forgiveness.  That is the point of this story and I feel that that is important to students within that age-group.

It's difficult to judge this short story in a way that would properly convey its cleverly-written plot and at the same time justify its contemporary theme. I would highly recommend it be used for certain teachings and in that area I would give it a B. As far as the story itself, I would settle with a B+ to A-.  So, overall, let's give it a sold B+.

Halfway Between Shades of Grey

First and foremost I feel it is necessary to address the novels mixing tones. This book, thus far, is very dark in its nature due to the time period it is based within and the encompassing realistic situations it deals with. That being said, I feel that -at least within its beginning- it is very calm (as odd as that sounds). I'm not sure if the calmness is there in the sense that the characters are calm, but it is written calmly, to me. 

Start with its opening. It opens up somewhat in media-rest.  We know nothing of the characters in nature and before we can even put who is who to each other, the plot just starts moving. But the main character is really unaware of what is occurring and the severity of it, the true severity. But the language is not panicked and I believe that is because the characters are not written panicked, really. Her mother is obviously distraught but is hiding it as parents would. But that calmness is underlined with gritty, apocalyptic language (such as the bald mans plea for death while in the back of the truck). We can only take the plot in as our main character does, and as her feelings grow, so do we.

While reading the story, though, I find it difficult to handle as far as emotions go. Similar to Eleanor & Park, I find it is extremely difficult for me to not skip ahead and find out just what in the hell happens. And while some young adult readers, high schoolers in particular, may struggle with the language and themes and overall mood of the book, I think it is a powerful and necessary story to delve in to, similar to the novel Night. It provides an intimate level of understanding concerning the severity of the time; reflecting on a young girls role in a society stricken with terrible doings. Generally speaking, teachers often underestimate what young teens can and cannot handle within the realm of books. And more often than not, that drives students away because they end up being stuck with the same old stories that most can't even relate to (Romeo and Juliette anyone?). Which is why students should absolutely read this book. I'm not in anyway saying that students will be able to relate to a young girl living during the early Soviet era, being stolen from her home and family, etc. But it is the emotions that they can derive understanding from. Its the idea of being stuck in a cruel world with no certainty or understanding of how or why it came to be like that and what in the he'll they are supposed to do about it. 

It is difficult for me to break down a story without knowing it fully. But, so far, I would give it a B-.