Literary Devices-Ch. 6 Reading

Authors uses a variety of words, phrases, and devices to create theme, images, and mood in their stories.   Some basic elements used in stories are setting, characters, and conflict.  The setting is the backdrop for a story.  It can create different moods in the story, a time in history or the future, or a particular place, either real or imaginary, as well as helping to create images for the reader.  Characters are the "actors" of the story, and usually  the plot of the story revolves around the main character.  The protagonist, or main character, is usually involved in some type of conflict they are trying to resolve.  The antagonist is usually the protagonist's opponent, and is likely to create more problems for the protagonist.  The mood and tone are the feelings created through the words and details the author writes.  The reader can infer the mood through the author's words as happy, scary, sad, etc.  Authors use a variety of devices in their stories such as imagery, symbolism, point of view, allegory, and allusion to create mood.

Theme is the message the author is trying to convey to the reader.  This message is stated or suggested by the author through the events that happen in the story.

Some things to note about theme:

1. Theme must be stated in a complete sentence. 

EX:  A mother's love is forever.  

2. Theme is a truism.  It is true in both stories and real life. It is a message that is universal.

3. Theme must be demonstrated in the text.  It can be proved by text evidence.

4. Theme can happen in real life. 

When reading literature, it is important to recognize the theme or author's message in order to make connections to the text, characters, and problems presented in the text.  As librarians, knowing the theme in books can help librarians match readers to books. 

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces

Quintero, I. (2014). Gabi, A Girl in Pieces.  El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Gabi is a Hispanic teen about to start her senior year of high school.  In this book, she writes about her year as a senior in diary form.  Her best friend Cindy is pregnant, her friend Sebastian is gay and has finally told his parents, and  her father has a serious drug habit.  Gabi is also over-weight and very self-conscious about it.  But she is also intelligent, a very talented writer, and writes poetry.   Throughout the book, she shares her views on her father's meth addition.  She writes letters to him about the pain she feels about his habit.  Gabi also writes about her love life, her first kiss, and her first boyfriend, Eric.  She shares about her complicated life of being a Hispanic girl and the expectations her mother has for her.  Gabi wants to go to college, but her mother wants her to stay home and not leave the family.  To complicate matters, Gabi's mother is also pregnant.  She discovers that poetry is therapeutic as she goes through the problems of her life.  After she breaks up with Eric, she begins writing poetry with her classmate, Martin, who also enjoys writing poetry.   Their teacher, Ms.Abernard encourages them to go to a poetry reading at a coffee house and read their poetry.  After they do, Gabi kisses him and they begin dating.  Then Gabi's dad dies of an overdose and she is broken and depressed.  Her teacher Ms. Abernard encourages her to write about her feelings.  As her senior year progresses, she is accepted to Berkeley and has sex  for the first time with her boyfriend Martin.  Though her mother is not happy at first that Gabi is going away for college, she accepts it and gives her permission to go.

This book discusses many issues that teens face such as body issues, sex, and teen pregnancy.  So many teenage girls can relate to Gabi and her body issues.  Gabi discusses her weight issues throughout the story and is self-conscious about clothes and bathing suits.  So many teenage girls feel exactly the same way.  This book also deals with having sex for the first time and teen pregnancy. Gabi also has the added pressure of trying to please her mother and trying to be a good Hispanic girl, yet wanting to go to college and become something more than a wife and mother.  Many girls from all different cultures and backgrounds can relate with trying to please their families, yet wanting a better life for  themselves.  This book is written for all girls, not just Hispanic girls, that are trying to cope with all the pressures of growing up and getting ready for college.  Young adults will relate to so many of Gabi's trials and heartaches throughout this book.

Annie on My Mind

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on My Mind. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.

This is story about two young women who fell in love, Lisa Winthrop and Annie Kenyon.  Lisa is a student at a private school, Foster Academy,  and serves as  the student council president. She also loves architecture and wants to become an architect.  Annie attends public school in a rougher part of town, who loves music and singing.  The young women meet one day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and become friends instantly.  As they spend more time with one another, they become more than just friends.  They begin to fall in love with one another.  At Christmas time, they give each other rings and declare their love for one another.  They keep their love a secret from their family and friends, and even are hesitant to be intimate with one another out of shyness.  Then during spring break, Lisa agrees to watch her teacher's cats, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson, who both work at Foster Academy and live together.   The house gives Lisa and Annie a place to be alone together.  The two girls begin to spend the days there together during spring break and have their first intimate encounter with one another.  While they are in the house, they discover that Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson are more than just roommates, they are a gay couple. Towards the end of the break, Lisa forgets to go to a student council meeting.  They are caught together by a classmate and the school secretary, Ms. Baxter in an awkward situation.  At the same time, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson arrive home.  The girls have been caught and must face consequences.  Lisa is confronted in an expulsion trial with her parents because of the situation.  She is found not guilty and can continue attending Foster Academy.  However, the two teachers, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson are fired because they are considered bad influences on students.  The girls then go off to separate colleges, but at the last chapter, Lisa calls Annie and declares her love for her again and they plan to see each other at Christmas break. 

Who is to say what love is and is not?  Many people assume because a couple is gay, they may not have the same feelings as a heterosexual couple does.  This book shares the deep love the girls have for one another, and that many gay couples have for each other.   This book may give teens who are in a similar situation a connection and reassurance that their feelings are true and that it's ok to love another person of the same sex.  When the author wrote this book in the early eighties, there were not many books written about gay teens in love.  This was a controversial book when it came out and was censored and even burned in Kansas. 

This book also explores not just a love story, but the way some people view gay couples.  In this book, we see the hatred others have for gay couples.   In this story, the gay teachers are viewed as immoral and even lose their jobs as teachers.  Lisa also faces a school trial due to her involvement with Annie.   In this day and age, that would be considered discrimination and a violation of rights.   The rights of gay people have come a long way since the eighties, and now same sex marriages are even legal and they have the same rights as heterosexual couples.  A teachable idea could be how laws have changed for gay couples. 

Still Life with Tornado

King, A.S. (2016). Still Life with Tornado. New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Sarah is having an existential crisis at the age of sixteen.  She is an artist, but can no longer create or draw art.  Something happened at school that has made her  incapable of creating art.   She decides to quit school and begins seeing other versions of herself at 10 years old, 23 years  old, and 40 years old around the city she lives in, Philadelphia.  Sarah also begins to follow around a homeless man named Earl.  Earl creates art with chalk and other supplies art students leave for him on the street.  While walking around the streets of Philadelphia, she begins to talk to 10 year old Sarah.  Ten year old Sarah brings back memories of a trip to Mexico six years ago that brings to light a family secret.  Throughout the book, little flashbacks of Sarah's past vacation are intertwined with the present. As the past unfolds, Sarah contacts her brother Bruce, who moved out at age 19, and Sarah has not seen since the Mexico vacation.   Interlaced with the past and present, Sarah's mother, Helen tells her story of a loveless, abusive  marriage she wishes she would have escaped years ago.  As the story progresses with flashbacks of the Mexico trip and present, we learn of the physical and emotional abuse Helen and Bruce endured by Sarah's father Chet, before Sarah was born.  Sarah finally remembers the night from Mexico where Chet punches Bruce and knocks his tooth out.  Bruce comes to see Sarah, and Sarah now knows the family secret of abuse.  When Bruce comes to see his mother, the father begins to tear the house apart, screaming and yelling. Helen has finally asked Chet for a divorce after all the years of abuse.  Sarah is also able to tell Bruce about what happened to her at school and how other students, and possibly her art teacher, destroyed her art piece for the art show.  At the end, Sarah knows her life will go on, and a new, clean slate in life gives her hope.  All of the versions of Sarah help her see that she can go on with her life.   All of the lies and family secrets that were finally revealed to her helps her deal with the loneliness and pain in her life.  Her and her mother have a fresh start in life.

This book addresses the contemporary issue of abusive family relationships. Other YA books that address abusive family relationships are Baygirl by Heather Smith, What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen, and Dirty Liar by Brian James.  Dirty Liar also has a male protagonist.  All of these books deal with abusive adults and the effect it has on the young adult protagonist's life.  

Connections for young adults: The topics in this book are dysfunctional family relationships and abuse.  We as readers see the impact this has on Sarah's character.  Even though she doesn't know the entire story of her family's past, she emotionally feels the impact and this effects her life.  Young adult readers can learn empathy for others in this story, along with discussing the moral lesson of family violence and emotional abuse.  Teens going through this same type of situation could see themselves in this book.  Seeing Sarah's hope for the future and her fresh start, could give others hope for a better future as well.  

Textbook Reading: Adolescent Development ( Ch. 5)

Librarians need to know their readers in order to help them make choices about books to read.  Helping students choose books can help them work out difficult issues they maybe facing or to live vicariously through the protagonist.  Knowing how adolescences develop is important to librarians and teachers in helping with book choice.

1. Physical Development: 

As adolescence go through puberty, their bodies are making rapid physical changes that effect how they feel about their appearance.

These young people worry about how they look, are they normal, and are often self-critical about their appearance.  Many are not happy about their looks and feel self-conscience about themselves.

2. Intellectual Development:

Adolescence are usually transitioning from Piaget's concrete stage to the abstract stage around this time.  This change can happen from ages 10-14.  They are beginning to think critically about events and things around them. 

Librarians can think about the questions we are asking these students and how we can help scaffold our questions to help them critically think about books and characters.

Librarians should also think about the student's intellectual development when helping a student choose a book.

Developmental Stages ( Havinghurst)

*Librarians and teachers need to remember that kids develop at different rates.

Students are learning:

1. How to get along with peers and form friendships.  In adolescences, kids begin to look for others like themselves with the same interests and likes.  Friendships from elementary may fade due to changes in interests.

2. Relationships with the opposite sex.  Kids are learning how to interact and form friendships with the opposite sex, sometimes for the first time.

3. Working for pay.  Kids may begin their first paying job such as babysitting, mowing lawns, doing extra chores for money.  This creates independence for the child.

4. Changing relationships with parents.  Kids begin to pull-away from their parents and begin thinking differently from their parents.  They may challenge and question ideas, morals, and values taught by their parents.

5. Morals and values.  Kids begin to form their own opinions and thoughts about what they believe and hold true.

6. Vocation.  Kids begin to develop an interest in what they may want to do when they grow up based on their talents and interests. 

7. Adapting to changing bodies.  Kids deal with and learn to adapt to their physical changes such as bigger hands and feet, etc.

8. Sex roles.  Kids learn most sex roles based on society.  They learn the expectations for the way we act.  Some kids may challenge these roles and may act differently. 

Morals and Values-Kohlberg's Theory

1. Pre-conventional:  most common stage of children which is based on rewards and punishment. Children are focused on the consequences they may receive based on right or wrong choices.  Adults will sometimes fall into this category as well. 

2. Conventional: this stage is typical of adolescences and adults.  Individuals in this stage follow societies rules of what is right or wrong.

3. Post-conventional: these individuals recognize the rules, but know that human beings can rise above society's views. These individuals feel that liberty and justice are above the laws ( civil disobedience). These individuals fight for what they believe is the right thing ( EX: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ghandi)

*These developmental stages can help librarians find books that speak to kids in their particular stage of development.

Maslow: Needs Hierarchy

According to Maslow, each stage's needs must be met in order to proceed to the next level.
1. Physiological:  kids must have their basic needs of food, water, shelter, clothing met first and foremost.
2. Safety: kids must feel safe both physically and emotionally. Librarians and teachers play an important role in setting up the classroom/library in order that kids feel safe emotionally and physically, as well as free from any type of bullying.
3. Love/belonging: kids must feel they are loved and liked by others and have a sense of belonging to a group.
4. Esteem: kids need to feel that their thoughts, ideas, and opinions are valued and respected by others.  Teachers and librarians can create an atmosphere of respect in the classroom/library where other's thoughts, ideas, and opinions are respected.
5. Self-actualization: kids feel like they can be anything they want and they have no limits when the previous four stages are met.

Developing as Readers

1. Developing Empathy: reading can create empathy for others when reading about a variety of situations.
2. Unconscious Delight: this is when one gets "lost in a book".  Readers may read series books, a particular genre, or reading books by the same author.
3. Reading Autobiographically: reading books about characters like you and experiences/situations like your own. (mirror reading)
4. Reading Vicariously: reading about other people's lives or situations ( looking through the window). Students can experience situations without actually going through with the actual event/process.  Readers can experience different times, places, and experiences in a book. 
5. Philosophical Speculation:  readers are developing morals and values through their reading life.  They may ask hard questions, may question society, or events in a book that form their own values.
6. Aesthetic Experiences:  this is where readers enjoy the beauty of the story, care and connect to characters, experiences the beauty of the language, and become emotionally connected to the book.

Our jobs as librarians is to develop collections in which kids can find books where they can see themselves in the book, relate to the book and make connections, read for pleasure, and learn about life in a book.  It's our jobs to make them fall in love with reading and grow as readers.

Textbook Reading: Chapters 1-4

Textbook Reading: Why do we share literature with children? (Ch. 1)

1. For the pure joy and fun of reading.  Young children love to be read to.  They love books that are repetitive, have patterns, and enjoyable pictures.  School age children also enjoy a variety of books and begin to find what they enjoy reading.  Finally, adolescence enjoy reading, finding themselves in a book, and reading for enjoyment.

2.   Adds in language and vocabulary development. Children's vocabulary and language development has the largest growth from birth to five years old.  However, children still develop vocabulary and language  throughout their school time through books. 

3. To develop empathy.  Children empathize with characters and situations through literature. 

4. Share literature with children while they are young supports and develops life-long readers.

5. To share experiences we are going through as well, or autobiographical reading.  Kids can see themselves in the book.

6. To experiences things vicariously. Kids may read about places or characters different from their own experiences, which helps them grow and develop.  They can live vicariously through a book.

7.  Develops imagination.   Children that read fiction and fantasy have better imaginations.

8. To develop cultural awareness.  Diverse books should be shared throughout the year to develop cultural sensitivity to people, cultures, and groups different from our own. 

9. Aesthetic experiences.  To develop the beauty of the written word and books. 

Textbook Reading: Division of Young People's Literature (Ch. 2)

1. Children's Literature ( birth-8 years old) : this is where children learn about books, story line, basic plot, and characters through read-aloud.  This is also the stage where children are learning to read and beginning to read books on their own.

Examples:

• wordless picture books
• picture books
• beginning readers ( Henry and Mudge, Frog and Toad, Mr. Putter and Tabby)
• illustrated/ beginning chapter books ( Geronimo Stilton, Flat Stanley, Magic Treehouse, Ivy and Bean)

2. Middle/Tween ( 8-12 years old)-children already know how to read.  Here is where they develop a preference for what they like to read.

Examples:

• graphic novels ( for this age range)
• chapter books for this age range ( Because of Winn Dixie, Charlotte's Web, Bluebonnet books , etc.)
• non-fiction

3. Middle School Books ( 6th, 7th, 8th grade)

*not to be confused with Middle/Tween

* be careful not to give these books to middle/tween readers, since the topics and  situations may be too advanced for the 8-12 year old readers.

These books deal with:

• middle school age characters
• middle school settings
• romance
• beginning puberty
• tougher, deeper issues facing this group of readers

4.  Young  Adult ( 13-18 years old)

• tough topics, situations, and problems teens face
• may deal with young romance and even first sexual encounters
• adult language
• may contain violence
• protagonists are young adults themselves ( teens)
• high school settings/experiences

5. New Adult (18-30 year old; older teens and early 20's primarily)

Written for readers who are slightly older than YA readers and appeals to an adult audience.

• protagonists are slightly older than YA protagonists
• appeals to an adult audience
• first college experiences
• living away from home for the first time
• first romance
• first sexual relationship

Textbook Reading: Genres and Formats (Ch. 3)

2 True Genres:  Fiction and Non-Fiction

Fiction has sub-genres: realism and fantasy

Realism

• realistic fiction
• historical fiction

Fantasy

• traditional fantasy: folktales, tall tales, fables, legends, myths, fairy tales, ballads
• modern fantasy: hard science fiction, soft science fiction, high fantasy, and low fantasy

Nonfiction includes:

• informational books
• biography
• autobiography
• narrative non-fiction
• expository non-fiction
• memoirs

Formats ( these are not genres):

• poetry
• drama
• novels
• chapter books
• short stories
• picture books
• graphic novels

Textbook Reading:  YA Literature (Ch. 4)

Young adult literature is written for teens ages 13-18 years old.  Though many young adults can identify with YA and enjoy reading it as well.  Authors draw upon their knowledge of adolescent development in order to make the characters more relatable to the reader.   The protagonist is usually in this age range (13-18 years old).  The story is written in the point of view of the adolescent protagonist. The events and story line is told by the protagonist over a brief time period of events of the protagonist's life. The protagonist is usually independent.  Throughout the story, the reader witnesses gradual changes in the protagonist as he/she works out difficult issues.  The result is usually a significant life change to the protagonist.  The stories are usually written with contemporary issues that teens face such as young love/romance, first sexual experiences, drug use, school or family problems, relationships, etc.   Adolescences can relate to the protagonist and can either identify with the protagonist or live vicariously through the character. 

Stand Off

Smith, A. ( 2015). Stand Off. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Ryan Dean is a senior at Pine Mountain Academy, but he is only fifteen-years old.  He is returning to school after the summer and after the year where his best friend Joey died.  He is rooming with a twelve-year old freshman, Sam,  who is a cooking genius.   Their room is tiny, and Sam is claustrophobic and has to sleep with the window open.  Rooming with Sam reminds Ryan of his rough time and feelings of being a young freshman.  He complains of having to room with a freshman and feels it's unfair.   During the year, Ryan is haunted by his best friend's death and has night terrors.   He stops eating regularly and feels like he's having a breakdown.  He feels lots of pressure from being named the rugby captain, as well as taking the position of his dead best-friend, Joey.  His girl friend Annie is worried about his panic attacks and suggests he visits the school psychologist, which he does.   Ryan also tries to become friends with Nico, Joey's little brother.  Eventually, they do become friends, and while staying with Nico one weekend, this helps him get over his friend's death.  He also has his first sexual experience with his girlfriend. In the spring, Ryan matures and grows to appreciate his growing friendship with Sam, and realizes what a great friend Sam has been to him.  He realizes how important friendship is when going through a difficult time in your life.

This book would be good to use to teach character development.  In the beginning of the book, Ryan is constantly complaining about his roommate, Sam.  Sam is young and needs a friend, just like Ryan did when he was a freshman.  At the beginning of the book, it is clear that Ryan is selfish and immature about the situation he is in.  As the reader, it feels like Ryan is spoiled and self-absorbed. But Ryan grows and matures during his senior year.   He learns to deal with his feelings and eventually becomes a good friend to Sam and Nico.  

Connections for young adults: Stand Off is written from a young man's point of view.  This book discusses first sexual encounters, first loves, losing a friend, dealing with strong feelings, and adjusting to new situations.   Since the setting is at a prep-school, it also deals with independence and making decisions on your own.