Students will be able to develop critical reading and analytical skills by examining how coming-of-age narratives respond to historical change. They will learn to connect themes in literature to broader cultural movements, analyze how youth voices grow and change over time, and articulate how adolescence functions as both a personal and political space. By the end of this course, students will be able to trace and explain patterns of generational tension, identity formation, and resistance across the decades while developing stronger interpretive, discussion, and writing skills.
We will move through the course chronologically, beginning with post-war youth culture and progressing through the civil rights era, counterculture movements, late-20th century suburban narratives, and contemporary stories shaped by both globalization and digital life. Readings will involve student choice and may include several YA novels, excerpts from canonical coming-of-age literature, short stories, film clips, music lyrics, and cultural commentary (including social media!) Naturally, the goal is not for students to memorize historical facts or focus on "giving the right answer" to any specific discussion or writing prompts. The goal for for students to understand how historical moments influence the stories young people tell...and the stories people tell about them.
This hybrid course will blend discussion-based seminars with short reflective writing, small-group analysis if enrollment allows, media comparisons, and creative response options. Students will engage in discussions, collaborative theme-mapping, and occasional multimedia exploration, given their natural love and affinity for social media in particular. Assignments will emphasize thoughtful participation and applied analysis to hopefully contrast from the high-stakes testing courses most students have come to know. Curiosity, interest, and intellectual risk-taking will be front and center in this classroom!
I bring 35 years of teaching experience at the 7-12 level, including literature and teacher-education courses at the college level. My passion lies in YA literature and I bring deep expertise in literary analysis, curriculum design and student engagement. Moreover, I designed an entirely interdisciplinary Humanities course for 7th and 8th grade which was comprised totally of YA novels and Joy Hakim's A History of Us series, as well as brought in Science, Art, Math, Physical Education and Health. Having taught for three decades, I have also observed firsthand how youth identity shifts with cultural change. This course reflects both my professional background and my continued passion for literature, (but particularly all things YA! ;) my love of igniting the life of the mind in all my students, regardless of their age, and my desire to help students see literature as not "something I have to read" but as something which not only speaks to them, but also as a viable lens through which they can understand themselves and our society.
