The
article “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and Starker” by William Porter is mainly
about the grim and ghastly themes of recent YA books, and the recent rise in
popularity for these novels. Porter gives examples of the disturbing topics in
YA novels, he says, “The stories range from grime to ghastly: A boy returns to
school from a mental hospital five years after setting his playmate on fire. An
anorexic girl watches her friend die from the same illness. A sexually abusive
dad is turned in by his daughter’s classmate. Headline News? No, plotlines from
recent novels that teen readers have sent soaring to the top of the best seller
list” He also says that $78.5 million worth of young adult books have been sold
in April alone. Also although Porter
talks about the dark stuff in YA books, he talks about how they could benefit
teens that read them. For example, he writes, “…even pitch-black books such as Wintergirls,
a chilling look at teen anorexia, have value.”
The author wants me to feel a little shocked at scared at
the dark things in YA books. The author says, “Topics include suicide,
disfigurement, mental illness, violence, and terrorism.” Although there are
many YA books about those things, he didn’t mention the less dark and
disturbing topics for YA. Porter claims, “Chaos in the world becomes chaos on
the page”. This is supposed to make me realize how chaotic and scary the themes
are in YA fiction. On the news, we hear about very scary, disturbing, and
extreme things happening to people. The author compared the chaos in the world
to what’s being written about to make the reader feel that YA fiction is as
dark as the real world is.
This article has not changed my opinion on YA books.
Although Porter uses examples to show how horrific these novels are, his
counter-evidence caused me to feel the same way as before. He quotes Jill
Adams, who says, “I think sometimes adults shortchange teens and their ability
to grasp complex material and make deeper connections. They’re not going to go
out and do the dark things they’re reading about”. I completely agree with this
and it’s what my opinion was throughout learning about young adult fiction. To
persuade me that YA books are too dark and stark, Porter would have to put in
more examples of dark things in YA fiction, and why it’s bad for teens to read.
heyy really long meaningful and thoughtful paragraphs.loved the way you stretched your thoughts out about the article.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you and how you say that this article didn't change your opinion on Young Adult fiction. You say " The author wants me to feel a little shocked at scared at the dark things in YA books. The author says, “Topics include suicide, disfigurement, mental illness, violence, and terrorism.” The author himself must of been scared about it. Did you feel that? I find it interesting that when I read that i was in complete shock. I was like "That's life. Teenagers now have to deal with those problems and it's a breathe after holding your breathe to read about them and know that your not alone." He must of been like "How do teenagers want to kill themselves? How do they just starve themselves just to be skinny?" What did you think? Do you agree?
ReplyDelete-Maya B.
I agree with you 100%. I think the author must have been shocked by the topics in YA fiction because maybe he hasn't personally experienced the things that happen to many of the characters in these types of books. He obviously faced hard times, everyone does, but I think maybe he hasn't gone through really dark stuff. Do you agree? For example, like you said "He must have been like "How do teenagers want to kill themselves? How do they starve themselves just to be skinny?", I agree because I think when people don't understand things, they question them and judge them. If they understood, maybe they would get why people can connect to these Young Adult novels so much. Also, when you said "I was like "That's life. Teenagers now have to deal with those problems and it's a breathe after holding your breathe to read about them and know that you're not alone", I agree with that because a lot of the time, when people are going through hard times, it helps a little bit to know you're not alone. Even if the people they are reading about ma be fictional, its easy to connect with those characters, and at a certain point, when you have a strong connection with characters you read about, you get comforted by them. Do you think so?
DeleteIt was really detailed. I could tell what your main idea is. I also really agree with you. The authors still don't think that we can read complex book. They still refer us as little "kids" that is not fair.
ReplyDelete