English 3323: Young Adult Fiction & Poetry
Fall 2008

Instructions for Major Assignments

Several of these assignments ask you to choose works of young adult literature (YAL) other than what we read in class. The works you choose must be actual young adult books. You may not choose adult books or classics even if they are commonly read by young adults or appear on young adult-related recommendation lists (i.e. no Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice & Men, etc.). We'll talk more about definitions in class. If you have a book in mind, but are not sure about whether it is truly YAL, please ask.

Literature Circles & Presentations (20%)
In small groups (3-4 people), choose a theme/subject that is common in YAL. I have placed Thematic Guide to Young Adult Literature on reserve in the library to help you discover some possibilities. You are not limited to the themes listed in this guide, however. We'll talk about possibilities in class.

Once your group has chosen a theme, find YA novels that explore this theme. Each person in the group should then read two YA novels that exemplify that theme (for a total of 6-8 books per group, depending on group size). Make sure the group agrees on what books should be read. We will meet in these groups twice during the semester for you to share your book with the group, put them into comparison, and discuss the broader thematic issues raised by the books. For the first meeting, have one of your books finished. For the second meeting, have the second finished. You will also have one additional class period to work together on the presentation.

At the end of the semester, your group will prepare a presentation to the entire class discussing how that theme is developed in YAL. You'll develop a basic thesis about the theme, and explore how the books you read support that claim. The presentation should be accompanied by an annotated bibliography of the books read by the group and a handout that outlines the main ideas of your presentation.

Essay summary (10%)
Choose one of the essays out of The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. As you are making your choice, think ahead to the critical analysis you will write over another book of YAL (see next assignment). You will use The Ivory Tower essay as a basis for your own essay. For instance, if The Ivory Tower essay is a feminist analysis of the Harry Potter series, your essay will be a similar kind of feminist reading of the YAL book you choose. It will help if you already know what book you are going to write on for the critical analysis before you choose an essay.

Write a 2-page (500 word) summary of the essay you chose. Writing this summary will help you get a handle on the critical perspective the essay takes, so that you can better apply it to analyzing another YAL book. Focus your summary less on what the book says about Harry Potter and more on what the essay does to analyze/understand some literary aspect of the Harry Potter books.

Critical analysis (10%)
Choose a book of YAL (other than the required course readings or another Harry Potter book) and write a 2-3 page (500-750 word) critical analysis of it, using The Ivory Tower essay you wrote your summary on as a theoretical basis/model for your analysis. You may use one of your books from the literature circles, but you may also choose any other work of YAL.

Note: although the essay summary and critical analysis are graded separately, consider them part of the same assignment sequence. This is a fairly difficult assignment sequence, and it is vital that you do well on the essay summary if you hope to have success on the critical analysis. We will talk fairly extensively in class about how to do these assignments (and why we are doing them). In addition, please start early enough that you have time for a conference with the instructor if you run into problems.

Individual Research project (20%)
Your research project is fairly wide open. The main assignment is to explore a topic of interest related to young adult literature, then present your research so as to communicate what you've learned about that topic to an interested audience. This does not necessarily have to be a traditional research paper, although you will be required to use scholarly or otherwise credible sources. Be open-minded as you consider topics and how to write about them. For example, the audience for your research could be young adults themselves. Or some of you who are planning to teach might consider writing in genres (curriculum, proposals, etc.) common to the teaching profession rather than academic essays. Here are the basic parameters:

• It must be on a YAL-related topic and must cite at least one work of YAL
• It cannot be the same topic you worked on for literature circles (unless you are taking that topic into a totally different direction)
• You must use at least three scholarly resources
• The final draft must be a minimum of 4-6 pages, double spaced (approximately 1000-1500 words)

Midterm & Final (30%)
The midterm exam will cover the first half of the course, the final the second half. The format is essay, including both long and short essays. Anything in the readings or presented in class is fair game. The midterm and final will be averaged together for your exam grade, 30% of the total.

Quizzes and in-class participation (10%)
We'll have reading quizzes on a semi-regular basis. They will consist of short answer questions and/or informal essays, based on your reading assignment for that day. Any reading assignment is subject to a quiz.

In addition, we will do several informal small group and individual activities in class. You earn credit simply for participating in these activities, completing the assignment as instructed. The quiz and participation credit will be combined for 10% of your course grade.

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