The Hunger

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Teaching Young Adult Literature: Acid-Washed Jeans, a Moussed-Out Mullet, and Eternity Cologne: The Challenges of Growing Up Author(s): Mike Roberts Source: The English Journal, Vol. 100, No. 6 (July 2011), pp. 103-107 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23047891 Accessed: 24-03-2015 04:44 UTC

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Mike Roberts, Editor

Teaching Young

Adult Literature

Acid-Washed Jeans, a

Moussed-Out Mullet, and Eternity Cologne: The Challenges of

Growing Up It was 1987.

I was in eighth grade, and the

Spring Fling dance was rocking the South Bonneville Junior High

gym like it had never been rocked

before.

My main objective up to that

point had been to simply look

good, and one glance in the mir

ror confirmed in my oh-so-tainted

mind that I had accomplished this (think acid-washed jeans, a

moussed-out mullet, and about

nine sprays too many of Eternity

cologne). But in the back of my

mind, I knew that night had the

chance to be something special,

so as I walked through the green

© Dynamic Graphics/ Photos.com

and-yellow balloon archway lead

ing into the gym, I challenged

myself to step up my game and do

something I never thought possi

ble: I was going to ask Sarah Hin

ton to slow dance.

And moments later, when

Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again"

erupted from the speakers, I knew

it was on.

Challenges.

They've always been around,

but it seems as if today's students

face more of them than ever before,

and unfortunately, they often are

much larger in scale than simply

deciding who they are going to

ask to dance.

The good news is that the lit

erature for today's adolescents has

evolved in a way that tackles these

issues head-on. Not only do they

expose the challenges of life, they

also provide teens with solutions

and coping strategies for these

inevitable "bumps in the road."

Three novels that effectively

address these tough-to-handle sit

uations are Suzanne Collins's The

Hunger Games, Sherman Alexie's

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part

Time Indian, and William Gold

ing's classic Lord of the Flies.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (grades 7+)

In this dystopian novel, Kat

niss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark

THE

HUNGER GAMES

SUZANNE COLLINS

are selected to participate in the

Hunger Games, a televised fight

to-the-death battle between geo

graphical districts. Beyond the

gripping storyline and action

filled plot, The Hunger Games uses

a strong female protagonist to

present a wide range of challenges,

including physical, emotional, and mental battles.

As an introductory activity,

bring in the weekly grocery ads

and, in groups, let students decide

what they would buy if given $100

right now. Next, have them share

their lists and the logic behind each

purchase. Then, after explaining

the concept of rationing and nutri

tion (two challenges within the

novel), have the students reevalu

ate and reshare their choices. Ide

ally (although not always) the list

changes from favorites such as

candy and soda to essentials such as

canned fruit and bottled water. This

activity is effective in that it forces

students to look at the same issue

English Journal 100.6 (2011): 103-107 103

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Acid-Washed Jeans, a Moussed-Out Mullet, and Eternity Cologne: The Challenges of Growing Up

(spending $100 on groceries) from

two different perspectives. The first

list they create serves as what they

want. The second list reflects what

they need. It's a simple activity, yet the challenge of understanding

want versus need is a crucial one,

especially with today's "I need the

latest and greatest" teen mentality.

Next, early in the novel, show

students a map of the United

States that you have divided into

13 "districts," reflecting the geo

graphical districts from the novel. From here, break the class up

into 13 groups, assigning each

group to a district. Once divided, have students research both the

strengths and weaknesses of their

district, including geographic location, population, and avail

able natural resources (to name a

few). This could also make a pro ductive link to a geography class,

and for those really looking for a

challenge, I'm sure there's a lesson

connecting the 13 districts in the

novel to the 13 original colonies

in the United States.

The Hunger Games also offers a

range of informal and formal writ

ing opportunities. Students could

write a chapter or letter from the

perspective of one of the other

minor characters at any point in

the novel. This will help students

reflect on unspoken challenges that

each character confronts. Students

could also write about the skills

they would bring to the Hunger

Games if they were selected. This

assignment has the unique feature

of allowing students the chance to

share a talent with their classmates

that they might not otherwise

talk about. Regarding more for

mal writing, a paper analyzing the

many similarities between today's

reality television and the Hunger

FIGURE 1. The Hunger Games Lesson

Lights! Camera! Action!

The Hunger Games. . . The Movie!

Tired of the same old directors creating the same old movies? Hollywood is looking for some fresh faces, and they just called you!

The Assignment

Your job is to create the lineup for the movie version of The Hunger Games. You must also select the five key scenes from the book that you insist be in the film version.

Character Actor

Katniss

Peeta

Haymitch Gale

Prim

President Snow

Effie

Cinna

Rue

Caesar Flickerman

Five key scenes and brief explanation of why they must be in the movie:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Games (and the consequences of

this form of "entertainment") is

ripe for the picking.

Finally, as a closing activity, allow students to have some fun

by asking them to serve as director

for the film version of the novel. In this role, students must decide

what actors will play each of the

major characters, which characters

will be left out, where the movie will be filmed, and what five key scenes must be included in the film

(see fig. 1). This activity can also be adapted to specific television shows where students link traits

of the characters in the book to

those on their favorite shows. You

can't tell me your students won't

be jumping over each other to

explain how Katniss resembles

Snooki or how Peeta has the same

traits as the Situation (for all you

Jersey Shore fans out there—you

know who you are!). You will be

amazed by how much effort and

thought goes into this!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (grades 9+)

Arnold "Junior" Spirit lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation,

104 July 2011

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Teaching Young Adult Literature

The

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SHERMAN ALEXIE apt iy iiitN foRsty

and after seeing his mother's

name in one of his school books,

he decides to transfer from his res

ervation school to Reardan High,

the all-white school 20 miles

away. On arriving and discover

ing that the only other Native

American there is the school mas

cot, the challenge of keeping his

identity begins. This is a funny and emotional novel (including

some hilarious drawings), and

students will connect with Junior

as he battles to remain true to his

past while striving to improve his

future.

As a starter activity, write the

phrase "Little pieces of joy in my life" (Alexi 176) on the board, and

underneath it, write down a few

things that make you happy—

and please include your students

on this list! After explaining your

examples, have students create

a list or, even better, have them

come up to the board and write

down an item or two that gives

them joy. Anything from books

to movies to songs to food is fair

game, but challenge them to be

specific in their selections; don't

write food—write Wendy's triple

cheeseburger! And let them know

that repeats are not allowed; there

are enough pieces of joy in the

world to avoid repetition. You

can make a great segue from this

activity into a discussion about

how even when life beats you up,

there are still pieces of hope that

often get overlooked (one of the

themes in the novel).

Next, show the picture of

Junior (page 57) and have the class

explain the conflict he is going

through based solely on what

they see. Following this discus

sion, have students draw cartoon

versions of themselves that illus

trate two different sides of their

personality or culture. This can

include home versus school, sports

versus academics, or alone versus

with friends (to name a few). After

they've drawn their pictures, give

the students a chance to share and

explain their self-portraits. This

is an effective activity in that it

allows students to understand that

everyone has different layers to

them. This is also a great chance

for you to model that even teachers

have lives outside of school. And

if you're looking to add a little

music to the unit, play Johnny

Cash's "Ira Hayes" after this activ

ity. It's a true narrative that per

fectly illustrates the two sides

of Native American Ira Hayes's

heroic, yet sad, life.

Like The Hunger Games, there

are writing activities related to

the challenges within the story.

The beauty of these questions is

that they can be used at any point

throughout the novel. And while

I know it may go against your

teaching instincts, it is OK to

assign a paper before finishing the

book! Possible writing prompts include the following:

1. How much should a per

son's responsibility to

family or community over

shadow individual goals?

2. How do your race, class,

culture, and gender deter

mine the type of person you

are or will become?

3. Junior leaves the reservation

to get a better education.

Discuss a tough decision

you made and how it

affected you.

Finally, The Absolutely True

Diary of a Part-Time Indian would

be a perfect link with an Ameri

can history class where Native

American experiences are stud

ied. Topics for discussion might include life on a reservation, res

ervation health and education sta

tistics, and why reservations were

created in the first place. If there

are history teachers in your school

who are looking to incorporate

more literacy into their classes,

this would be a great choice. Why

should English teachers have all

the fun?

IyRD OF THE FIIES WILLIAM GOLDINC)

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (grades 8+)

After their plane crashes on an

island, a group of young boys is

forced to work together to sur

vive. But as time passes, the chal

lenge of remaining civilized gives

way to the beast that lives inside

English Journal 105

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Acid-Washed Jeans, a Moussed-Out Mullet, and Eternity Cologne: The Challenges of Growing Up

us all, and the struggle for power

and survival begins. The book is

filled with various conflicts, and

today's teens will connect with the

internal battles between right and

wrong that Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and the rest of the boys endure.

If your students are like mine,

they pretty much think they know

everything about everything.

Because of this, I like to start my

Lord of the Flies unit off with an

outdoor survival test. There are

a lot of these online, some more

complex than others, but I like to

keep it simple by sticking to some

pretty basic questions (see fig. 2). This activity connects with both

the setting and the plot of the

novel in a much more engaging

manner than simply doing a book

talk or introduction of the story.

Plus, I'm always amazed at how

much my students know about

this kind of thing. In addition to the challenges

faced within the story, Lord of the

Flies also is a great tool for helping to solidify students' understand

ing of symbolism. Pretty much

everything in this novel has a deeper

meaning, and to support this, I

have students create a symbol

ism log where they keep track of

what the people, objects, or events

from the novel represent. To sup

port various learning strategies,

students can create visual repre

sentations, written explanations,

or a combination of both. Another

option that stresses the symbol

ism in the story can be found by

going to the Lord of the Flies Educa

tional Productions website for the

Nobel Prize (http://nobelprize.org/

educational/literature/golding/) for

an interactive review of the sym

bols and motifs used throughout

the novel. This review can be effec

tively implemented for both small

and large-group reviews.

Finally, as a closing activity, the

conflicts presented in the story,

including character-versus-self and

character-versus-nature, align per

fectly with those presented in Tom

Hanks's Cast Away. Specifically, the physical and mental struggles

faced in both stories make for an

ideal Venn diagram project/discus sion. And if showing full-length movies isn't your thing, there's

always "Das Bus," The Simpsons

episode from the ninth season

based on the novel.

Connecting Books with

Contemporary Teens

While it's true that most teens

won't ever fight 'til the death,

be the only Native American

at school, or get marooned on

an island, they do know what it

means to face challenges on a daily

basis. Each of the above novels

will help adolescents, when faced

FIGURE 2. Survival Quiz

Houston, We Have a Problem

A Survival Quiz

1. Your airliner has crashed in the mountains. You're one of several survivors.

You should: a. Climb to the top of the nearest mountain and build a signal fire b. Make short trips; a road may be nearby c. Stay put and wait for rescue

2. It's cold and you have no fire. To keep warm, you should:

a. Remain motionless to conserve energy b. Exercise vigorously c. Cover your head

3. You suspect that searchers may be in the woods looking for you. You

should: a. Scream several times

b. Build a fire and make smoke signals c. Try to find your way toward the rescue party

4. A search plane flies overhead. To attract a plane's attention, you should: a. Use the mirror in your compact as a signal b. Wave your most colorful piece of clothing c. Climb to the top of a tree

5. Your airliner has crashed in deep snow and the temperature is below zero. The warmest place you can be is:

a. In the plane's broken fuselage b. Under the snow

c. Inside a tent made of seat cushions and parachutes 6. You suspect it may be many days before you're found. Your greatest con

cern is:

a. Lack of food b. Lack of water

c. Lack of shelter

Answer Key to Survival Quiz:

1. C (It's big and can be seen from above.) 2. C (Most of your body heat is lost through your head.) 3. A (It gets the attention of the searchers.) 4. A (It will catch the pilot's eye.) 5. B (It's about 32 degrees, well above the surrounding negative

temperature.) 6. B (You can only last four to five days without water.)

106 July 2011

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Teaching Young Adult Literature

with the inevitable struggles that

occur during the teen years, to

better understand how to man

age these difficulties that life often

throws our way.

Oh, and for those of you won

dering what happened with Sarah

Hinton, my eighth-grade would

be paramour, here's the short (yet

still slightly painful) version.

Alan Spears: that's what

happened.

By the time I had meandered

my way across the dance floor to

make my move, he had already

shuffled Sarah off to the dance floor.

In a perfect world, this would

be the part where I told you that

even though I was down, I wasn't

out. And then I'd probably tell

you that on the very next slow

song, I walked right up to her and

finally got my dance. But I didn't.

In fact, I never got that dance—

Sarah moved away at the end of

that school year (insert sigh here).

Besides, I was waiting for that song on that night with that girl—you can't re-create that kind of thing!

Challenges. Sometimes you get the best of

them, other times they get the

best of you. But like Junior says, when the bad times come, you

just have to think of "those little

pieces of joy" and just keep plow

ing forward.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I

have to go put on my acid-washed

jeans. ^

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True

Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New

York: Little, 2007. Print.

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games.

New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print.

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies.

New York: Perigee, 1954. Print.

Mike Roberts teaches eighth-grade English at Rowland Hall Middle School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Beyond the classroom, he

has spent the past several years presenting to teachers and librarians from across the country about the benefits of using

young adult literature in the classroom. For more information about this column or future suggestions, please email him at

[email protected].

Standardization, in the Spirit of William Blake

Testmaker, testmaker,

Dost thou know who made thee?

Funny, one of the words on the test

Was widget.

Widget! Which tells me that thou, testmaker,

Knowest naught of irony

Thou a testmaker and I a widget

We are called by . . . well, money and oneness, I

suppose

Or by no name

By which we may reconcile

Testmaker, testmaker,

Who gave thee power and bid thee standard

O'er the future

Gave thee a license

A measure

By which we may reconcile

Gave thee knowledge, which to test

Didst he who made the curriculum make thee?

Or did thou make he, Who made the comprehensive plan?

School a "vale" I knowest not

A community fraught with equivalence

A process by which I sink, or slake

A society under surveillance

Testmaker, testmaker, dost thou know who made thee?

Testmaker, testmaker, I'll tell thee . . .

That is, I'd tell thee if I didn't have to measure

Standard 4.2.36.22.33253, my vocation.

Testmaker, testmaker,

I quit thee,

I quit thee.

—Corey Rose

© 2011 Corey Rose

Corey Rose taught English in a juvenile correctional facility in Florida. His curricular designs feature ethics-based teaching

built around thematic units. He believes that young adults often exercise bad judgment not because of "poor" ethics, but

because they have not yet constructed any personal system of ethics. Themes that arise in his class often include belief,

identity, belonging, and choice. Email him [email protected].

English Journal 107

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