Adolescent Egocentrism and Reader Preferences

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Adolescent Egocentrism and Reader Preferences

• TLWYA Inquiry Project
• Katy Wilson
• ECI521Spring 2005

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Adolescence

• Erik Erikson believes that adolescents face a
  phase of development that he calls identity vs.
  identity confusion.
• During adolescence, individuals are faced with
  finding out who they are, what they are all
  about, and where they are going in life.
  (Santrock, 2001 p. 43)
• All of this focus on the self leads adolescents
  to become egocentric as each adolescent assumes
  that everyone pays as much attention to him/her
  as he/she does to him/herself.

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Egocentrism and Adolescence

• How does adolescent egocentrism affect my
  students reading preferences and interests?
  Will their egocentric nature lead them to prefer
  Young Adult literature to the classic texts
  because they are, in effect, getting to read only
  about themselves?
• How can YA literature help my students through
  this phase of development?

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Adolescent Egocentrism and Reader Preferences

• I wanted to design a project which would
• -evaluate the connections between egocentrism
  and my students reading preferences
• -evaluate the potential uses of YA literature
  for enriching my 10th graders learning
  experiences
• -give me insight into motivating my kids to
  become lifelong readers

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The CHOICE project

• Students were required to
• Choose 1 novel from the following list
• Vegan Virgin Valentine
• The Fire Eaters
• Godless
• How I live now
• See You Down the Road
• The Blue Mirror
• Annie John
• As they completed each 1/3 of the novel, students
  were required to journal about that portion.
• Upon completion of the novel, each student had to
  respond, in writing, to 11 reflective questions.

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CHOICE reading project

• CHOICE Reflective Questions
• Of all of the novels you have ever read, which
  one is your favorite and why?
• How do you feel about your reading experience
  with your YA novel? Did you enjoy or dislike it?
  Why?
• What differences do you detect in your YA novel
  when comparing it to most of the texts that you
  usually read in school? How do these differences
  affect your reading experience?
• Based on all of the major works that you have
  encountered in 10th grade English including your
  YA novel, which one appeals to you most? Why?
• How did you feel about the narrator in your YA
  novel? Why?

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CHOICE reading project

• Did you feel like your narrator was realistic and
  believable? Why? If not, what made him/her seem
  unrealistic?
• What, if any, similarities do you find between
  yourself and your narrator? Have you had similar
  experiences, events or people in your own life
  that compare to those of this narrator?
• How did these similarities, or the lack of them,
  contribute to your reading experience?
• What do you see as your YA novels authors
  intended message? What did he/she want young
  people to gain or consider from this text? Was
  he/she effective in conveying that message?
  Why/why not?
• Did your reading experience make you think
  critically about your own opinions or views
  regarding any controversial issues? Which ones?
  How did it influence those opinions?
• Would you like to see more YA literature in your
  English classes? Why or why not?

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CHOICE reading project

• Final phase
• Students had to evaluate the project by
  responding to these 5 questions with an online
  forum.
• What did you learn about YA literature from the
  CHOICE project?
• What did you learn about yourself from the CHOICE
  project?
• What you learn about yourself as a reader from
  the CHOICE project?
• How could this project be changed to make it more
  effective or enjoyable?
• How could technology be incorporated to make it
  more effective and enjoyable?

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CHOICE project Results

• As expected, most of my students found the young
  adult novel that they chose to be more appealing
  than the classic texts we have read thus far.
  These classics include Things Fall Apart,
  Oedipus the King, Antigone, and The Lord of the
  Flies.
• 8 of 12 students chose their YA novel as their
  favorite 10th grade text
• Though their reasons varied, many themes appeared
  in their responses as to why they liked these YA
  novels better.
• These themes included
• -the contemporary nature of the novels
• -the overwhelming similarities present among
  themselves and their narrators

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CHOICE project Results

• Exploring their opinions on the contemporary
  nature of YA novels
• Its definitely more currentIt was refreshing
  to not feel like Im seeing the world through my
  grandmothers eyes
• it is much more relevant to my life than
  something random like an African tribe
• this book applies to a time period we are living
  in nowthe events are relevant to our lifestyle
  as we are living them now
• Clearly, the setting, especially in terms of time
  period, plays a role in determining the level of
  connection that will occur between an adolescent
  reader and a literary work
• S.E. Hinton was absolutely correct when he said,
  Adolescents today want to read about adolescents
  today (Fitzgerald, 2004, p.2)

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CHOICE project Results

• The contemporary nature of the language in YA
  novels is necessary in creating a realistic
  adolescent narrator
• this novel VVV did not seem to be a burden to
  read because it was written like someone normally
  talks
• The language and overall vibe of this book VVV
  is not something that would necessarily be
  accepted in school and it is more laid back than
  most of the authors we read in class

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CHOICE project Results

• Due to the abundance of similarities that the
  adolescent reader finds between him/herself and
  the narrator, his/her reading experience is
  richer and more enjoyable as he/she feels as if
  he/she is reading about his/her own life.
• My students noted the similarities in the
  following areas
• -age
• -lifestyle
• -parental disagreements and expectations
• -pressure from school, parents, and religion
• AND MORE
• To begin he is a Caucasian male, age sixteen.
  Along with that he has strict parents and some
  very odd friends. To top it off, he is
  struggling with religious beliefsAll of these
  things have led me to really connect with the
  narrator and connect into the story (refers to
  narrator from Godless)
• The connections one student found with Mara from
  VVV added depth and meaning to the story for
  her as a reader

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CHOICE project Results

• How can YA literature help my students?
• Adolescents can use YA novels to explore problems
  and situations that are relevant to their own
  lives as opposed to the problems and situations
  in classic novels that teens find less relevant.
• YA literature helps students to establish
  understanding and opinions of situations that may
  not yet have been forced to face but may one day
  have to face in the real world.
• According to Chris Crutchman, a writer and former
  counselor, the intimacy a reader has with a
  character is a hugely healing thing. The
  understanding I am not alone opens new
  possibilities (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 7).
• While reading this novel, there were many
  aspects I could relate to, and it is a comforting
  feeling to know that there are other teenagers
  going through some of the same sort of things
  that so many people experience in life.
• I think it is necessary for students to
  understand things that they might not be going
  through themselves, and I feel that YA novels
  bring out situations that maybe some teenagers
  have not faced before in their life.

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CHOICE project Results

• My students recognize that they are in an awkward
  phase of life where they struggle to fit in
  between the adult world and the responsibility-
  free zone known as childhood. They understand
  that they are in control of determining the kind
  of person they will grow to become.
• YA literature can help them with this challenging
  task.
• Bobby was a young male adult who was trying to
  find his way through life. I am at the same
  stage Bobby is in. I am still trying to find out
  who I am and what I will be like in life. And
  all the adversity he faces is just another part
  of growing upkids can relate with their own
  experiences and grow from it

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CHOICE project Results

• Findings of particular interest
• -One 15 year old Asian male read Godless and
  Vegan Virgin Valentine.
• -Because of the increased amount of connections
  that he found between himself and the narrator in
  Godless and the lack of connections he found with
  Mara in VVV, his opinions of the novels varied
  tremendously.
• -He adored Godless and felt that it reaffirmed
  his own opinions about religion. He called the
  narrator his favorite character ever and ranked
  Godless as a book just as good as Hatchet, the
  novel he recognized as his all-time favorite.

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CHOICE project Results

• Based on my students comments, I concluded
• -Adolescents do find novels with which they find
  connections more enjoyable and more enlightening
  as a result of their adolescent egocentrism.
• -Adolescent readers can use YA literature as a
  guide in their search for self, as a means of
  support, as a means of exploring controversial
  issues and topics, and as a means of growing as
  critical thinkers and readers.

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CHOICE project Technology

• Reflecting on the online survey
• I anticipated that my students would want to
  improve the project by requiring less writing and
  letting them do more work online.
• Surprising results Their responses, however,
  did not request less work, and they did not
  reflect any knowledge of the use of classroom
  technology beyond the use of videos.

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CHOICE project Reflections

• What did I learn about my students?
• My students CAN analyze without me!
• My students were more mature thinkers than I
  anticipated as they were able to evaluate the
  novels in terms of the effectiveness of the
  author and the quality of the message even when
  they did not like them. Further, they were
  willing to point out that those classic texts
  that they whine about really are worthwhile.
• Their responses reflected maturity, scholarship
  and a respect for literature and knowledge. I
  was thrilled!
• They are egocentric and they definitely love
  reading themselves through YA literature.

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CHOICE project Reflections

• What did I learn about myself as a teacher?
• I need to have more faith in my students as
  independent learners and critical thinkers.
• My students need and deserve more opportunities
  for free choice reading and reading without my
  touching their understanding.
• I must always cover my bases with parents,
  particularly when I am working with literature
  outside of the Wake Co. Curriculum.
• Because YA literature offers my students
  tremendous opportunities for growth I need to
  stop being an elitist snob who considers the
  classics as the only real pieces of literature
  that belong in my classroom.
• I can develop a website with links that actually
  works!

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CHOICE project Reflections

• What did I learn about teaching literature with
  young adults?
• YA literature will allow my students to find
  comfort and support, to explore issues and
  situations which they may or may not experience
  but will benefit from thinking critically about,
  and to try on multiple selves during the awkward
  years of adolescence.
• YA literature has the potential to inspire my
  students to read for the sake of enjoyment and
  self-exploration therefore, it motivates them to
  become life-long readers and learners.
• YA literature does include controversial content,
  but so do adolescent lives, so that content is
  worth any complaints or criticisms I may receive.
• YA novels contain messages and themes that far
  outweigh explicit content or the lack of
  precise/complex adult language.

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Works Cited

• Fitzgerald, Frances. (2004 September) The
  Influence of Anxiety whats the problem with
  young adult novels? Harpers Magazine, September
  2004. magazine. Retrieved January 29, 2005
  from the World Wide Web http
  www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1111/is_1852_3
  09/ai_n.html
• Santrock, John W. (2001) Adolescence. New
  York McGraw Hill.