Discovering Their VoicesEngaging Adolescent Girls with Young

Adult Literatureby Marsha M. Sprague & Kara K. Keeling

Presented by Caitlin Impink, Laura Kane, Krystin Schleh, and Emily Everett

Questions for Reflection Do girls’ and boys’ experiences of

adolescence differ? If so, in what ways?

Do boys and girls need to be taught differently in the English classroom during adolescence? If so, how?

Background of Cultural Considerations

Separates issues of adolescent boys and adolescent girls

Makes girl adolescence a unique struggle

Image from bookbyte.com

Cultural Considerations (cont.)

Book positions girls as “lost” (voice and identity)

› “As girls go through adolescence, they lose their inner voice—their sense of self”

(Sprague and Keeling 2)

Image from lostinthewoodsphotography.com

Cultural Considerations (cont.)

Girls silence their voices after a certain age (11 or 12)› Do this to protect themselves

Messages they see from society, parents, media, etc. (tell them to look/be a certain way)

Cultural Considerations (cont.)

Expression vs. suppression Experience conflicted feelings

› “Girls … face a central relational crisis: to speak what they know through experience of themselves and of relationships creates political problems—disagreement with authorities, disrupting relationships—while not to speak leaves a residue of psychological problems: false relationships and confusion as to what they feel and think” (Sprague and Keeling 25)

Cultural Considerations (cont.)

Girls are generally shortchanged/overlooked in schools

In general, girls don’t have issues with reading/literacy as much as boys

Fostering girls’ ideas about their own identity and finding their unique voice through YA literature

Teaching Principles Overview

Curriculum design Females in literature Characters’ choices, students’

choices Varied Genres Book club

"… the task of the adolescent girl is to find and remain true to her inner self—to avoid being co-opted by societal and peer expectations into assuming a false identity" (Sprague and Keeling18).

1. Discussion of Girls’ Issues Whole –class novel

› Strong role models, both male and female“These girls are not waiting to be rescued; they are doing the rescuing. Nor are they waiting for a male to provide a happy ending: They are fashioning their own stories.' (p. 4)" -- Odean, Great Books for Girls

Literature circles Gender issues in required texts

› Textbooks Open dialogue about gender issues in

the classroom

2. Analyze Females in Literature

Examine the forces that influence the female characters’ choices, such as:› Adults› Female peers› Male peers› Physical

appearance/lookism› Physical/emotional

changes› Societal expectations

3. Extend literary discussions into reflections on students’ choices

Provide both public and private opportunities to respond to literature› Private

Journaling Written responses to questions Letters to characters

› Semi-Private Pair or small group discussions Literary letters to peers

› Public Whole-class discussion Class wiki Presentations/skits

4. Read/discuss books from a variety of genres

•Most direct way to address pressures teens face in their daily livesContemporary Realistic

Fiction•Promotes reflection on the way in which

society has restricted women in the past – and the present

Historical Fiction

•Engaging – often built around heroic quest

•Contemporary YA version feature female heroesScience Fiction and

Fantasy

A Sampling of Recommended YA Titles

Contemporary Realistic Fiction• Stargirl (Spinelli, 2002)• Speak (Anderson, 2003)• Make Lemonade (Wolff, 1993)• Walk Two Moons (Creech, 1996)

Historical Fiction• Out of the Dust (Hesse, 1997)• Lyddie (Paterson, 2001)• A Northern Light (Donnelly, 2003)

A Sampling of Recommended YA Titles (cont.)

Science Fiction and Fantasy• Ella Enchanted (Levine, 1998)• Spindle’s End (McKinley, 2000)• Alanna: The First Adventure (Pierce, 1983)• Companions of the Night (Velde, 1995)• A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle, 1962)

Book includes extensive SciFi/Fantasy recommendations for girls

5. Start, sponsor or support a girls-only book club

Organization› Meeting times› Sponsors › Food is essential› Max. group size

Make activities different than class discussion

PitfallsImage from motherdaughterbookclub.net

A “set time and place” for girls “to share their voices and be heard” (148).

Book Review: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Image from harpercollinschildrens.com

“I told myself the kind of friendship I had with Sarah Byrnes- the tough kind- was better. I think most of us tell ourselves we don't want what we can't have just to make life more bearable.” – Eric Calhoune (118)

Meeting Eric and Sarah Byrnes Eric “Moby” Calhoune

› Male narrator/protagonist› Obesity makes him social outcast› Pledges to stay fat for Sarah Byrnes

Sarah Byrnes› Badly burned in “accident”› Abandoned by mother› Suppresses voice

Plot Overview The Beginning

› Flashbacks to Junior High› “Crispy Pork Rinds”› Dale Thornton: enemy turned ally

Conflict› Sarah stops talking› Why?

CAT Class› Contemporary American Thought› Heavy issues discussed

Discovering Their Voices on Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Physical appearance and “lookism”› One of most dramatic books to explore it› Distinction between looks and substance› Must be aware of pressure placed on them

to find their true voice Physical abuse

› Teens respond positively› Encourage to share› Express gratitude

Why It Works Expression vs Suppression

› Sarah forced her voice in beginning, became silent

› Eric is helpful male peer› Father oppressive male

Additional Strong Talking Points› CAT class issues› Author doesn’t take a side

What It Lacks Outsider

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Project

Teaching Principle 2: Examine forces that influence females’ choices

Teaching Principle 3: Look for extension activities that have students evaluate their own choices

Part 1: “Lookism” “Who do you consider

beautiful?”› Think-Pair-Share: Type of

beauty, societal pressures

Inner Portraits Assignment (Eric or Sarah)› Artwork + Extension

activities: Inner Self-Portrait, Book Scene Rewrite/Skit

Image from http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu

Part 2: Friendship Socratic seminar: Is the relationship

Eric and Sarah have a true friendship?› Prep questions (Meaning, personal

relations, examples of help/hindrance)

Use real-life examples and other relationships in the book for evidence

Part 3: Extension Opportunity Teaching Principle 5: Girls-only book

club or literature circle› List of additional texts with

expression/suppression themes, lunchtime book club

Images from http://www.mpix.co.uk/images/nessas/girls_shout.jpg and deviantart.net