Emerging Scholars Summer Reading

I feel that the best book to present to these Emerging Scholars would be Black and White. First, my reasoning is academic. The other books that we have read and discussed in our Adolescent Literature class seem to be on a late elementary school and middle school reading level. Black and White seems like, while not necessarily a challenging read, but a more appropriate one. It would be insulting to dumb down the reading for these students would are ready to be challenged and enlightened.

Secondly, the topic is one the students will probably be able to relate to. Whether they've been in similar situations or a friend or family member has, they will probably be able to understand the bias that is targeted toward financially struggling households and prominently African American neighborhoods. My only worry is that they might be TOO biased toward Marcus's side, and wouldn't be able to appreciate Eddie's side of the story as well. This is perfectly understandable, and it would just have to be taught in with the curriculum with maybe another book for preventative action. The goal should be to recognize these biases and overcome them.

In the Ballad of Hua Mulan, I don't get a true sense of who Mulan is--as a girl or as a Chinese citizen--with the exception of what we see in her actions, which to me, except for the end when she purposely unveils herself as a female to her war comrades, doesn't seem too different than the Disney portrayal.

To me, Mulan is exceptionally similar to Ailin. Both are a bit silly in nature, and are probably both as close to a tomboy as China gets. Mulan tries to get out of her chores but likes to run around and spend time outside; Ailin also yearns to run free even as she grows into a young women. However, both are willing to step to maturity when duty calls. Both leave their family to do the right thing; Mulan hopes to bring honor to her family (as she couldn't seem to bring them honor as a female) by becoming an esteemed warrior, though if she was found out, she risked dishonoring them. In an almost opposite viewpoint, Ailin's actions initially brought dishonor to her family, however, her overall revolutionary character could cause her to be a hero. Thus, Mulan and Ailin seem very alike to me in how they are portrayed to a Western audience.

Honestly, I felt that male stereotypes were the most blatantly Westernized in Disney's Mulan. For instance, guy should be macho, so much so that if you punch one, you might cause a ridiculously exaggerated fight between all males in the area. The men are dirty, clumsy, and silly. I would think that a Chinese male would rather represent honor and humility. I feel though that these Western stereotypes weren't as much to get viewers to truly relate to Mulan's story, but rather for humor. These characters provided laughter through jokes that an American audience would understand and appreciate. They do take away somewhat from the culture of the film, but I don't think that this is at the fault of Mulan herself.

I wouldn't say at all that Black and White exploits any real-life experiences. I think it's good for this particular story to help readers fully understand the racial connotations involved with such a crime and the different perspectives of both Marcus and Eddie and their families.

My opinion might have been different if it weren't for the fact that Marcus and Eddie are completely equal in their guilt. If one had been more guilty than the other, I might have felt differently. Thus, no one race is targeted initially.

I do hate that Eddie and his family are so targeted later on in the book, but perhaps this is a sad but true circumstance. At least his sister, Rose, is presented as a fair and honest Caucasian character, so that it is not necessarily that white people are discriminated against. I am grateful though to see the side of Marcus and his family, and how he is so unfairly targeted and treated. It would have been so painful for him to watch his future go down the drain and Eddie's dreams come true and still not say a word, but his strength and loyalty are so admirable. It was also good to see Eddie's inner struggle as to what to do in such a case. His struggles were not only racial, but also concerned friendship and ethics.

Wealth vs Race

In reference to Question 17 of the Black and White PowerPoint, it's difficult to determine whether or not Eddie's wealth helped him more or less than his race, because it seems that wealth and race seem to be work, unfortunately, hand-in-hand. While of course, as in any situation, there are many exceptions, there is quite a heavy poverty percentage in African American families. The stereotype is so strong that unfortunately, it's hard to separate Eddie's race and his financial situation. It just seems natural for his character to have both in his "favor."

I think if we could separate the two, it would be Eddie's wealth that was prominent. If minority races and poverty weren't so often paired together, race would perhaps not so much be a factor. I think that it's poverty that biases the portrayal of African Americans--the idea that they steal and act up because they grew up in a poor household and don't have a chance to better themselves. We are beyond thinking that any non-White race is beneath us because God deemed it so. It's a financial battle now; it's a matter of respect and disrespect because our culture is so hung up on money.

Thompson and Sealey's article is an interesting example of analyzing English in a scientific way. Analyzed as a lab and presented in a lab report format, the two experiment to conclude the frequency between parts of speech in children's literature and adult literature, and the context of these frequencies.

Unfortunately, I found the report hard to read and pretty much useless. Words on the frequency lists were essentially identical, and were far too basic to make any true conclusions: the, of, man, etc etc.

Their main conclusion--that the two types of literature use essentially the same basic words but that they take on more abstract meanings in adult literature--is, at least to me, an obvious statement. The technical writing and tables/lists were convoluted and redundant, and the report lacked brevity. Just to count the frequency of such basic words and sequence structures without context do nothing to examine the difference in message between child and adult literature, or at least that's my opinion.

Fairy Tales

As I'm sure is the same with many other girls my age, my experience with fairy tales came primarily through the film medium. I learned about princesses and their prince charmings, toads and trolls, dragons and wolves, all through Disney films or other kids' movies. Every once in a while, being a child who frequented the library, I would pick up a book version of a story I was well acquainted with, however this versions haven't stuck with me.

Like I mentioned in class, the one fairy tale that has stuck with me most is that of Thumbelina. I suppose the reason why I esteem this story more so than Disney adaptations is because of her troubling journey for home and her Prince Charming.

All heroines in such tales have a journey to complete, but Thumbelina's differs somewhat. To begin with, Thumbelina had a home and a mother she loved; she wasn't orphaned or stuck with a step-parent that hated her. She met Prince Charming very close to the beginning of the tale. She thinks her happy ending has occurred, and then BAM--she is kidnapped by a toad with a crush, and her world comes crumbling down.

Instead of journeying for happiness, she is attempting to return to happiness. All the while, she deals with tough challenges that are actually awesome metaphors for real life troubles. We aren't dealing with poison apples here. Thumbelina is kidnapped by a jealous frog, showing the troubles in love and relationships when there are more factors than just two people who are perfect for one another. She is later picked up by a Beetle who has her perform in his club as eye-candy (for once, a heroine is openly objectified) until the bugs who attend the club realize she isn't actually of their kind and call her ugly (the heroine being considered ugly? What?). Later, she finds shelter with a field mouse who wants her to marry a blind mole who is financially successful; the pressures of giving up the hope of true love and settling for security are argued.

With Thumbelina, we see a true heartbreak; one that is believable, even if it does involve a Prince Charming (this at least keeps the story in the fairy tale realm).

I suppose the reason why I enjoyed the fairy tales so much was not so much for the love story involved, but for the inclusion of personified animals and out-of-this-world situations that differed from the more reality-based books and stories. Fairy tales help us remember stories and morals using metaphors and imagery, just like anything else with literary merit.

Celebrity Authors & The Quality of Children's Lit

I must admit, I'm a bit stumped as to how to relate Linda Sue Park's article "Star Quality" can be discussed in terms of our previous readings. This is because none of our books were written by celebrities; thus, I will turn my attention to the care and detail with which these adolescent lit books were written.

Park claims in her article that the children's publishing industry edits their manuscript with care, and it should be so. To present children with sub par writing just because they wouldn't notice is an insult to their intelligence. Authors and publishers should provide high quality books to children so that they learn what good writing is.

On a general level, I'd say that the books we have read as a class fulfill this requirement. The quality of writing is good and acceptable; while not all of them could perhaps be considered great pieces of art, they do follow good grammar, syntax, and structure. They do not shy away from tough topics, as we see in Amari's rape in Copper Sun or the death of Gillian's mother due to AIDS in Something Terrible Happened.

There are certain things that could be fixed to improve the quality. One thing is something that I griped about in earlier blogs--Amari's mother's obvious show of theme: "We would never judge someone by the color of their skin." Lines should not be dumbed down force the child to understand what they're reading. If they are presented with a challenge, their analytical minds will grow deeper. Additionally, I think that these books could have offered more challenging vocabulary. Given the multi-cultural focus on much of these books, readers are given several words to consider from other languages--Spanish in Esperanza's Rising and Creole in Fresh Girl--but I do think more challenging vocabulary in the English language would be appropriate.

Overall though, I do think that quality of these books is proven through the fact that we, as a college class, can read and appreciate them (with the exception of Twilight and Harry Potter, which I do believe we read just to critique popular reading).

The element of the "High School Students' Responses to Alternative Value Stances Associated with the Study of Multicultural Literature" that distinguishes it from other articles on teaching multi-cultural literature is that of decentralizing the ideology of white dominance in the school setting and in analyses of literary characters.

Allow me to connect the article with Fresh Girl: a high school classroom would need to discard their socially "white" ideas of behavior because the classroom depicted in the novel is consists primarily of African American, Haitian, and other minority characters. For a classroom that is highly segregated, but is inherently based on a social/racial hierarchy of the orderly, competitive White social type on the top, it would take some new thinking to understand a minority classroom such as the one in Fresh Girl. Conversely, it can be considered that given the absence of white students, other cultures take on the dominant social role, such as the more financially successful African American students, who top the social hierarchy, often looking down on those like Mardi who are "fresh off the boat." White students discussing this book may relate to these equally dominant characters, despite the different in race, because they relate in certain areas of their social roles and behaviors.

However, socially dominant White students may also relate most to Mardi because of her academic competitiveness; despite the disadvantage of coming to New York speaking Creole, she teaches herself English at an intensely impressive rate and scores top grades on all of her English assignments. This article showed to us that White students tend to value competitiveness when they don't fully consider the institutional frames that affect how characters act above an individual level, feeling that all races should compete on an equal level.

A teacher teaching this book would have to understand these limitations of analytical thought, even if the classroom in question is racially diverse. The teacher would have to realize how each race would analyze and judge a character and his/her behaviors, and work to make the students take a step back and consider things outside of this fixed and racially-blind discourse of how adequate characters should act.

Research proposal

Upon reading Ann M. Martin's A Corner of the Universe for our literary circle book reviews, I became intrigued with how Hattie Owen, the 13-year-old protagonist, looked upon her uncle Adam who was suffering from either Autism or Schizophrenia. Unlike her parents and grandparents who were afraid of him and what others might perceive of him, Hattie was more open-minded; she wanted to show him off. She wanted him to have the same rights as any other adult. And more interestingly, she even related to him, and questioned her own mental health.

Hattie's perspective has inspired me to take a deeper look at how mental illnesses are portrayed in child and adolescent literature. Hattie was accepting and curious, willing to learn more. But this is not always the case. Mental illness, being a stigma in society, can scare children. For instance, the children in To Kill a Mockingbird feared Boo Radley because of rumors of his insanity.

A step further from studying how adolescent characters perceive the mentally ill is looking at how many young characters are in fact mentally ill themselves. This can range from autism to self-esteem illnesses, such as anorexia or the tendency to cut oneself (both of which are unfortunately quite relevant to teenage life).

The handling of mental illness and the treatment of characters who are victimized must be difficult for the authors who decide to take on the challenge. But this difficulty is only increased when the author must consider how a young audience will react, and how their parents will feel about the material that their kids are reading. Additionally, such an element as mental illness must carry along with it particular themes that the author hopes that the reader will take away from the work, and I believe it would be interesting to research the methods in which different adolescent literature authors approach and construct these characters, stories, and themes.

When Students Become the Teachers

It seems to me that the content of Yu Ren Dong's article "Bridging the Cultural Gap by Teaching Multicultural Literature" applies mostly to Esperanza Rising, if we are considering the books we have read thus far.

My reasoning is this: Dong's article, like the article we had read previously, conveys the importance of the teacher not only instructing students in the way of multicultural literature, but also opening up themselves to make room for their own learning. The students in Dong's course learned that the best way to teach such literature was to strip away a reader-response attitude, so that students did not merely discuss what they had read in terms of their own individual perspectives. Instead, they agreed that a cultural-response discussion was best. Students should read in terms of the separate cultures conveyed in the book. However, the teacher or facilitator of the discussion might not always know about the cultural at hand. Sometimes, it might be more than beneficial to reach out to a minority student who might better understand, and might be able to explain more thoroughly what the characters in the book are experiencing. Thus, the student becomes the teacher.

I think that it would be difficult for a minority student to inform a class on the struggles of the African slaves, as in Copper Sun. While it is more than beneficial for the students to reach out and attempt to understand Amari's cultural, I don't think that any of the students or the teacher, if he or she is a minority, could give first hand experience. Harry Potter and Twilight are excluded from such discussions; we could claim that wizards and vampires are different cultures, but my bet is that no one has any experience on that either, and the only cultural lessons that could be taught are those of tolerance.

However, I do believe that a lot could be learned from Esperanza Rising. While the story takes place during the Great Depression, many minority students could probably contribute to Esperanza's perspective, especially if they had immigrated themselves. In today's America, Mexicans are quickly building up our population, and it is very likely that many immigrants or children of immigrants are present in most of today's classrooms. By teaching Esperanza Rising, teachers are not only providing a stretch away from the same old European-American literature for the minority students, but are giving these students a chance to teach their fellow classmates.

Copper Sun, Harry Potter, and Twilight: are these texts beneficial for students in a classroom?

To begin, I will reiterate a tad bit my thoughts on Sharon Draper's Copper Sun, as it relates to the article "But, is it Good Enough to Teach?" As I mused before, Draper's depiction seemed unrealistic and without a full knowledge and understanding of the Africans that were kidnapped into slavery. I stated, with the hope that no one would misinterpret my feelings as being cold-hearted, that while we saw the victimization of the mistreated Africans, we, as an audience looking for a new perspective, were not provided with an accurate depiction of another race from another country, another culture, another spirituality. The characters in Copper Sun, it seemed to me, had thought processes and understandings of situations that seemed to similar to my own, when I feel that Amari and her fellow kidnappees would probably see the world (and America) as something much different. Additionally, I felt that I had learned very little about Amari's (and thus Africans') lifestyle and culture.

For these reasons, I'd argue that this book is NOT good enough to teach, unless maybe if it were taught to a much younger audience that perhaps would have trouble seeing the world from a perspective completely different than their own (and the ethicality of teaching young students from multi-cultural perspectives is a completely different argument). The article from the Brannon and Greene argues digging deeper into a diverse reading selection for students; while teachers should be comfortable with what they are teaching, they should be able to take risks and perhaps learn new things about the material. They should choose literature for their students that perhaps cannot be easily substituted by a more apt work; they should teach literature that can truly enhance a student's understanding of the world around them. Even more importantly, a teacher should worry about teaching all races and all cultures about each other. A teacher should not teach Copper Sun simply because there is an African American student in the class. Additionally though, the teacher must also understand that not only are the white students in the class to learn about the horrors of slavery, but African Americans must also get something out of the book; and perhaps they should get something out of it more than the cruelty of white Americans, but something about their history, about the culture of their ancestors. And, in my opinion, Copper Sun does not offer that.

I've ranted about Copper Sun's pragmatism in the classroom for quite a while now, and unfortunately I don't feel as opinionated about Harry Potter or Twilight. To me, these books are strictly entertaining. I don't feel that there are any overpresent themes to discuss or analyze. I think that many adolescents are attracted to these books because they can relate to new parental problems of Harry and Bella; they can understand the pressures of tranferring to a new school, whether it be more fantastical like Hogwarts or a regular ole' high school in the rainy town of Forks. They can understand an annoying bully like Draco, or having a crush on someone who seems out of your league, like Edward. So, obviously, there are themes and lessons to be learned in these books. But, they seem more personal and less academic.

Relating this to chapter 12, though these books are popular, they are easily replacable if these are the types of stories that we are interested in teaching to our students. But, I see nothing new to teach. They are easy. The feminist arguments that can be addressed in discussing are almost too easy. If the article suggests that we take risks, shouldn't a teacher who perhaps wants to argue feminism with her students through literature choose a novel that is more beneficial and better written? The teacher should introduce a novel that the student perhaps wouldn't have read otherwise (it is very likely that an adolescent student would have already read Twilight), and should choose one that digs a bit deeper in the issue at hand. In the case of Twilight, the text doesn't help to facilitate discussion. An analytical discussion would only be a critical response to the almost sickening, lovey-dovey dependence of the otherwise stubborn Bella. It would be more insulting the book and its characters than appreciating it. There just seems to be better options.

Copper Sun

My feelings for Copper Sun were quite mixed. I'm not sure that it is what I consider to be an accurate depiction of the scenario; I must question its authenticity. My reason is similar to problems I've had with many other multi-cultural books. The relationship between the cultures seems unfair in that the white man is always cruel-hearted and the victims are perfect. Now, I understand this sounds quite harsh, especially as I am a white American. But don't get me wrong-- slave supporting white Americans deserve all the blame and disgust that was targeted toward them in Copper Sun. And the Africans were completely victimized and treated unfairly to the most extreme extent.

The reason, then, that I'm somewhat turned off is by the almost-cheesy and unrealistic depiction of Africans that I saw in Copper Sun and often times see in other works of literature depicting any kind of racial cruelty, whether it be the African slave trade or the mistreatment of Native Americans. Let me explain myself with a paraphrasing of a line that threw me somewhat out of the story and made me laugh. When Amari first tells her mother of the white men that had been spotted, her mother speaks something along the lines of, "Now, we would never judge anyone by the color of their skin."

This is not to say that Amari's mother WOULD judge someone by the color of their skin. But that line was so cheesy and so targeted. It was like a moral lesson force fed to the adolescent audience saying, "Racism is wrong." Which, I think the book tells that story on its own. I just didn't think that the line was well-written in its lack of subtly, and I think it unrealistically depicts not just Africans, but absolutely any human being.

To remedy this, I'm not saying Draper had to include the faults of the Africans, but they could have been better portrayed. Adding to this lack of realism, I don't feel like I learned anything about African culture at all. With the exception of Amari's spirituality and the knowledge that she lived in a tribe, the Africans' personalities and thought processes didn't seem too far off from characters that we as readers are already accustomed to. For this book to have been truly multi-cultural, the audience should have finished the book having learned more about the African lifestyle. Instead, I felt as though I had just read about a girl who had already assimilated into an American life, albeit a slave life. She didn't know a thing about our country and our people--shouldn't she have been a little more confused about the most minute details?

That being said, I did enjoy the book for its entertainment value. It was a quick and easy read; I had no problem keeping the book in my hand for most of a day. However, I don't believe, for the reasons stated above, that it is the best book for a school setting when cultural studies is the goal on the curriculum.