Persepolis

Hello all,

Again thank you so much for fallowing my blog! Last week we talked about the novel The Outsiders. This week we are going to be talking about a different genre of Adolescent Literature: Graphic Novels. We will be discussing the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This book discusses a story of a child growing up during the war between Iran and Iraq. As in my other blogs, I will be evaluating this book on three things: if the book is educational, if the book sends a message, and if the book makes student’s want to read.

Firstly, this book is very educational. Like Funny Boy, this book is showing us what life is like for a young adolescent in a different culture. I feel like many people, youth especially, play into stereotypes of Iran and Iraq based on what we see on television today. I believe that this graphic novel gives a harsh true description of what life is like growing up in a culture that is so heavily controlled, like the one Marji is in and what happens when people speak out against it. From the first page of the graphic novel we are immediately hit with what the culture is like for women in the chapter called “The Veil” this shows us that women did not have a voice and were mostly hidden. This book also shows the cruel things that can happen in the Iranian prison. This also gives us the reality about young boys growing up in Iran. The books shows us that young women were supposed to stay hidden and not have a voice while the young men from the young age of thirteen were expected to join the army and fight for their country. The vivid details of Iranians not being able to leave their country without a fake passport is a great example of what the culture was like. Another insight into what the Iranian culture was like is the description of anyone going to jail that didn’t want to fallow the regime.

Secondly, I believe that this book does send some type of message to youth. Even if it is the message that life is different everywhere and is hard even for people at a young age. This book also sends the message of how lucky we are to have the freedoms that we have in America and that even today harsh governments such as communism and dictatorships still exist.

Lastly, I believe that this book will make student’s want to read. I believe that presenting this book in the style of a graphic novel will only make the students want to read it. Majority of youth today have proven to be visual learners. I believe that as teachers, providing students with a novel tat provides vivid visual detail of what is happening in the book can only help our students.

I hate for this to be my last blog but I hope you have enjoyed my analysis of Adolescent Literature. Remember Teachers, keep your students reading and allow them to never be afraid to ask questions.

Best,

Ben Jones

Word Count: 500 

The Outsiders

Hey there everyone!

Glad that you are back to read another blog of mine. This week I want to talk about The Outsiders. Once again I will be evaluating this book on the aspects of if the book is educational, if the book sends a message, and if the book makes students want to read.

I read this book years ago when I was in high school and enjoyed it then. I found it very interesting to get to go back and read it again as an adult and analyze it on a different level.

This book is about two different types of gangs, The Greasers and The Socs. The Greasers are the poor kids and the Socs are the rich kids. Ponyboy is the main character of the book. He is the youngest and most educated of the group. He meets Cherry who is one of the Socs girlfriends. Cherry and Ponyboy talk and connect on the level of that they don’t feel like they belong in the group they are in. the book also has major themes of brotherhood, loyalty, and staying gold and being the best you can be.

Firstly, I believe that this book is very educational. It tells us about teenagers who are not from the best neighborhood and don’t have a typical or glamorous life. Ponyboy shows us that it is okay to be different. Ponyboy seems different to the rest of his friends and family because he is smart and likes to learn. Another educational aspect of the book is that it shows the harsh realities of what goes on in the gang world between the Greasers and the Socs.

During the time that I read this book I thought that it sent a strong message to youth. The Outsiders sends a message to youth that it is okay to be smart and want to learn. I also believe that it sends a message that family isn’t always a typical picture of a mom and dad with their kids. The book shows that Ponyboy’s family is his brothers and the friends he lives with. I believe that this book is one of those books that discourage any harsh type of gang life. I believe that when students read the emotional parts such as Johnny and Bob’s death, they will not want to get mixed up in any type of gang. This book also sends a deep message about friendship and loyalty. Ponyboy stays by Johnny all the way up until this death. It also enforces the aspect of “staying gold.”

I also believe that this book will make students want to read. Similar to my experience with Funny Boy, I found myself wanting to keep reading. This is one of those books that you connect with and find yourself cheering on certain characters. I personally found myself crushed when Johnny dies. Above all, this book is entertaining. It is fast paced and has something for everyone.

Well that’s all for now. I’ll see you next week.

Best,

Ben

Word count: 500 

"You've got a Funny Boy there"

Hey there Fallowers!

Glad you’re back and can join me again! This week I am going to be discussing the book Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai. This book is a coming out novel of a young boy growing up gay in Sri Lanka. As always, I evaluate these books as a teacher. When I evaluate a book, I first ask myself if this books is educational and would benefit my students on an educational level. I believe that Funny Boy is very educational. This book not only will teach my students about different kinds of people and a culture of a sexuality that they may not be familiar with but, it also teaches them about the Sri Lankan culture which we learn is very different from our American culture today. Also through reading this book with my students, I hope to open their minds to a lot of the misconceptions and stereotypes of the gay culture. A lot of people, especially youth, believe that the gay culture (especially among men) is just about partying and anonymous sex with strangers. In this story we see a young gay man have strong feelings of love for another man and they do not become intimate on a sexual level until they share that love equally. Selvaduri even describes their sexual experience as “making love” and not “sex.”

In reading and evaluating this book I also ask myself the question, does this book send a message to youth? I believe that this book does send a strong message to the youth. This book shows teenagers that there are many different types of people all over the world and that you shouldn’t be afraid to be who you really are. Also that you shouldn’t be afraid to love who you really love. This books does also show the harsh reality that being who you really are does sometimes come with a struggle. The theme and message of loving who you really want to love is displayed throughout the book not only with the encounters of homosexuality but with culture as well. We see the struggle with loving who you really want to with Arjie and Shehan, Mom and Uncle Daryl, and also with Dad and the English Girl. These three relationships either deal with the element of their love being taboo because of same sex, interethnic, or both.

The final question that I ask myself is does this book make students want to read? I believe that this book will make students want to read. I found myself wanting to keep reading when I was reading the book. I think that my students will want to keep reading this book because it is a story about someone their age going through real everyday problems.

Well, that’s all for today followers. Thank you so much for fallowing my blog. I hope you are finding my blogs helpful in evaluating books for your child, students, or even yourself to read.

Best,

Ben

Word count: 500

Speak

Hello fellow blog followers, this week I would like to talk about the book Speak by Laurie Hasle Anderson. As a teacher, I feel like I should evaluate these books on a different level rather than as an avid reader or a parent. This book is no exception to how I would evaluate other books. My main point of concern when I evaluate a book is if the book is educational, sends a message, and makes the students want to read. I really did enjoy this book and I think it is a great book to share with students. I would present this book to an advanced junior or senior English class.

Firstly, I believe that Speak by Laurie Hasle Anderson is a very educational book. I believe that this book gives us a non-sugar coated version of about what high school can be like for someone who is in the “non-popular” crowd. Even though I believe that this book is an educational book, I would not throw this kind of material at a group of freshmen who are already scared out of their mind about coming to high school. Rather, I would share it with my juniors and seniors and have them think about what high school was like for them when they first started. Then having them think about what high school would be like having a tragic event happen to them right before high school started. Not necessarily rape, but possibly something else tragic. This book is also a great example of some literary terms being used at their finest. Hasle really focuses on motifs of trees, mirrors, and mouths in the book. At one point in the novel, Melinda uses a piece of a broken mirror to ward off the boy who raped her.

I truly believe that Speak is a book that sends a message. The realism that Hasle uses is one that I feel students want when they are reading books. I also believe that this book really paints a picture of what some of the problems and struggles that kids their age can go through. It also gives some students things to relate to throughout the novel. I know I personally related to some of the “Top 10 Lies They Tell You at the Beginning of High School.” Hasle also does a great job of characterizing a lot of the characters. Which in turn, I feel allows the students to be able to relate to at least one character in the book.

Lastly, I feel that this book will make students want to read. I found myself very engaged in the book. I fully believe that the classics like Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice are valuable books for students to read. However, I also feel that students and adolescents should be reading books that they can relate to and that are about problems that they could possibly be going through. This book, and reading in general, could be a form of therapy for them. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next week!

Best,

Ben

Word count: 510

Literacy History

Greetings everybody! Thanks for fallowing my blog. Now, lets talk about literacy history. Personally, from a very young age I always had a huge imagination. I would love when my mom or dad would read to me and I would get to imagine what the story was like when I wasn’t provided with pictures. To be honest, when I was younger I didn’t really like to read aloud because I wasn’t very good at it. From a young age, I struggled with a form of dyslexia, I didn’t see words backwards, some of the words just didn’t seem to make sense. I had an extreme support system and was determined not to let dyslexia set me back. I began reading aloud a lot and practicing and began to see major improvements. As I got older and progressed in my education, I found myself turning to books that had elements of fantasy to them. I would love sitting down with a book and being taken away to a far off kingdom that was full of kings, dragons, witches, and magic spells. In middle school and at the beginning of high school I was hooked on the Harry Potter series. I loved all the characters and the writing style of J. K. Rowling. When I read the series, I felt like I was studying myself at Hogwarts.

As I got older, I began to really enjoy books that talked about teenagers going through real life problems. Books like, The Outsiders and Stargirl were my favorites. Being a lover of theatre, I was often reading any script that I could get my hands on. This is where my biggest educational influence came into the picture: Ms. Cory. Ms. Cory was my tenth grade English teacher and junior year etymology teacher. She was also the head of the theatre department. In addition to giving me some great books to read, she would also often hand me a stack of plays for me to read. Ms.Cory helped me understand Shakespeare. We would often sit in her classroom during her prep period or after school talking about certain Shakespeare shows and what he means when he says certain things. This came extremely helpful when we would have to do a Shakespeare unit in an English class. I found that I was succeeding and able to understand everything that was being said.

As a future English, Theatre, and Speech teacher, I really hope to impact my students as Ms. Cory did I. I really want to show my students that there is a book for everyone. I believe that encouraging my students to just read anything that interests them and to read for fun, not just when its assigned and being graded on. It’s important to share with the students what some of the valuable lessons they can learn from reading some books. I want to be able to share some of my favorite stories and books with my students and be able to discuss the books with them. I think its important to share with them both the classics and the modern books.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll see you soon!

Best,

Ben