Young Adult Literature And Reader Response: A Descriptive Study Of Students And Teachers.

Abstract

The subjective response of students and teachers to the literature they read is usually given little attention in the traditional English classroom. Instead, concentration centers mostly on objective analysis of content and form. Similarly, works of young adult fiction are seldom considered for serious literature study in high school. If used at all, they are often relegated to remedial classes or to the general courses. This dissertation explores the value of both subjective response and young adult fiction to the study of literature. It describes the response of high school students and English teachers to four works of young adult fiction, focusing on: (1) how student readers respond to these works when there is no teacher intervention; (2) how teachers react to the literature outside the teaching situation; and (3) how students and teachers interact when they discuss the literature together. Selected participants from two high schools met over a period of ten weeks and discussed each of the novels. They also kept reading logs of their responses. All of the conversations were recorded and transcribed, and the transcriptions and reading logs comprise the text that is analyzed in this study. Analysis revealed five recurring themes which are explored in the dissertation for their importance to the teaching of literature: (1) the significance of engagement with literature; (2) the inevitable tendency to evaluate literary quality; (3) student-teacher concern about content and method in the literature class; (4) the potential of the student reader as critic; and (5) the importance of dialogue. This study reveals that, though student readers may use an indirect approach and a less sophisticated language than their teachers in talking about literature, they are essentially responding to the same elements: character, plot, theme, setting, and point of view. The study reinforces the belief of reader-response theorists that literary appreciation begins with engagement and suggests that a combination of responsive dialogue and young adult literature may be an effective approach to literature study.