Should young adult literature used in an English curriculum have some inherent educational value or should it just be purely entertaining?
This seems like a tough question to answer as it contains several parts. I believe that the novel should, first and foremost, be entertaining. The average student seems to have a hard time appreciating literature, especially in a classroom setting. The more entertaining a novel is the more a student will enjoy and accept it. That being said, I also believe that a novel should hold some type of educational value. There are many young adult novels that have historical, philosophical, scientific, and psychological elements. These novels will only enhance the students worldview and provide them with not only higher reading levels but also insight on whatever topic the novel is on.
An example of this can be seen by comparing of two completely different novels in the young adult literature genre. The American Library Association released the results for the Teens' Top Ten, which is the top ten young adult literature books as voted on by teens. The number one book on this list was Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. This novel is a fantasy sci-fi novel set in an alternate universe with very few ties to our own reality. While I am not saying there is no value in reading this book I do not believe that this book is suitable for any sort of English curriculum regardless of grade. Compare this book to the novel Fallen Angels, which is a gritty account of soldiers in Vietnam. While this book is not only entertaining, it provides the student with insight to an important time in our nations history. While this book does contain subversive content I believe this only enhances the reading experience for the student reader. War, unfortunately, seems to be a constant in our lives and this book exposes the reader to the horrors of it. Unlike the other novel, the reader can draw ties between this novel and his or her own life.
Also Beth Colon sent me a link for this great video.
Although I agree that young adult novels should be educational and enjoyable, I don't see why nothing can be gained from reading a novel like CLOCKWORK ANGEL. Not only has it been voted as the number one book by teens according to the ALA, but it is a period piece that takes place during the Victorian era. This could inspire students to take interest and research in this time period. Although it is a fantasy novel, the students can still learn new vocabulary and analyze the author's writing style; this would be good practice for them to compare literary classics to popular, contemporary works.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how so many of your questions have resulted in two-sided responses. I think that it speaks to the complexity of including young adult literature in the English curriculum. It is not a cut and dry issue with only positives or only negatives, and I appreciate that you show both schools of thought. It is easy to let our personal opinion interfere when answering a question, but you do not fall victim to that when you approach this topic. Glad to see you were able to use the link!
ReplyDeleteI feel as though books should be both entertaining and educational. It would be hard to find the blance in both, but seems important to our students. Ultimatly, students want to read literature that is capturing. The book lists in curriculum seems to be more educational than entertaing. Looking back at literature I read in school there are not many books I can say that were so entertaing that I remembered them.
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