Exploring reader responses to young adult literature in the Malaysian English language classroom

This article presents the results of a study exploring the reader-responses of Malaysian young adults (YAs) to the literature texts used in Malaysian secondary schools, Dear Mr. Kilmer by Anne Schraff, Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford, and Sing to the Dawn by Minfong Ho. The study aimed to determine the extent to which the YAs found these texts engaging and relevant, and how they identified aspects of their own young adulthood in the novels. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods through questionnaires completed by 30 Malaysian YAs, semi-structured qualitative interviews with a sub-group of six participants, and their journal reflections. Using reader-response literary theory as the guiding framework, the data were analysed quantitatively through descriptive statistical analyses, and qualitatively through inductive thematic analysis, in order to examine the extent to which Malaysian YAs could identify with the main characters, themes, issues, or events in the novels and determine the relevance of the novels to their lives. The findings showed that the participants identified with the characters’ conflict between being true to one’s self and conforming to societal and gender expectations. The themes of standing up for one’s beliefs and right to education, combating social inequities, and family relationships were also relevant aspects that surfaced in responses towards the novels. This study provides recommendations for the selection of literary texts for the English language classroom that connect to the developmental phase of young adults and allow learners to see themselves reflected in what they read.

Shakespeare sonnet reading: An empirical study of emotional responses

The present study combines literary theory and cognitive psychology to empirically explore some cognitive and emotional facets of poetry reading, exemplified by the reading of three Shakespeare sonnets. Specifically, predictions generated combining quantitative textual analysis according to the Neurocognitive Poetics model with qualitative textual analysis based on the Foregrounding assessment Matrix of sonnets no. 27, 60 and 66 are empirically tested by analyzing 45 subjects’ ratings of the three sonnets. Reflecting the differences in foregrounding potential of the three sonnets found in the textual analysis, we expected to find different reader responses, accordingly. Our dependent variables are well-established categories of emotional evaluation (e.g. valence and arousal) and cognitive, affective and aesthetic aspects of readers’ responses (e.g. liking and understanding) as well as less common ones (e.g. wonder, delight and mental images). The statistical analyses suggest that the type of foregrounding is more important than the number of foregrounded elements. This finding motivated further qualitative exploration of reader responses to open questions regarding mental images and perceived feelings. Comparing the free recall data about the feelings perceived in the sonnets with the ratings data about Valence and Arousal indicated that only the former one reflects a clear distinction between all three sonnets, whereas the readers’ overall evaluations did not sustain this variety of feelings. Multi-method, interdisciplinary research of this kind contributes to improving our understanding of the potentially unique mechanisms involved in poetry reception, and to forming more precise hypotheses for future experimental studies using, for example, eye tracking.

Constructing the emotions of childhood: an analysis of Margaret Mahy’s use of emotion in her literary contribution to the School Journal

<p>This qualitative content analysis research study examines how Margaret Mahy used emotion in the School Journal to form insights into reader appeal, reader response and the social construction of childhood. This research study examines Mahy’s contribution to the School Journal. The study explores this body of work in terms of how its author uses emotion to captivate readers by evoking the feelings associated with childhood. The underlying objective of the study was to provide insights into why Mahy’s work is so treasured and memorable; to explain how she uses emotion to captivate readers, and how this contributes to the social construction of childhood. The prose and poetry Mahy contributed to the School Journal prove to be a significant, rich and uncharted resource for the purposes of this research investigation. Analysis of this body of work has allowed for greater insights and understanding into Mahy’s contribution to children’s literature. It has also allowed for a greater appreciation of how Mahy’s use of emotion contributes to the social construction of childhood. This type of content analysis research study proves to be invaluable in the development of reader’s advisory services to young people. The employment of a content analysis methodology, underpinned by a discourse analysis approach, enabled the emotional narratives of Mahy’s text to be explained and understood. The study’s findings, that lightness and aliveness are the most prevalent and persuasive emotions operating within Mahy’s text, was substantiated through analysis of actual reader responses. This investigation is most applicable to school librarians, children’s librarians and educators. The study has broader implications for the improvement of client interaction and collection development in youth library services</p>

Constructing the emotions of childhood: an analysis of Margaret Mahy’s use of emotion in her literary contribution to the School Journal

<p>This qualitative content analysis research study examines how Margaret Mahy used emotion in the School Journal to form insights into reader appeal, reader response and the social construction of childhood. This research study examines Mahy’s contribution to the School Journal. The study explores this body of work in terms of how its author uses emotion to captivate readers by evoking the feelings associated with childhood. The underlying objective of the study was to provide insights into why Mahy’s work is so treasured and memorable; to explain how she uses emotion to captivate readers, and how this contributes to the social construction of childhood. The prose and poetry Mahy contributed to the School Journal prove to be a significant, rich and uncharted resource for the purposes of this research investigation. Analysis of this body of work has allowed for greater insights and understanding into Mahy’s contribution to children’s literature. It has also allowed for a greater appreciation of how Mahy’s use of emotion contributes to the social construction of childhood. This type of content analysis research study proves to be invaluable in the development of reader’s advisory services to young people. The employment of a content analysis methodology, underpinned by a discourse analysis approach, enabled the emotional narratives of Mahy’s text to be explained and understood. The study’s findings, that lightness and aliveness are the most prevalent and persuasive emotions operating within Mahy’s text, was substantiated through analysis of actual reader responses. This investigation is most applicable to school librarians, children’s librarians and educators. The study has broader implications for the improvement of client interaction and collection development in youth library services</p>

Powerful Prose

What makes a reading experience »powerful«? This volume brings together literary scholars, linguists, and empirical researchers to elucidate the effects and reader responses to investigate just that. The thirteen contributions theorize this widely-used, but to date insufficiently studied notion, and provide insights into the therefore still mysterious-seeming power of literary fiction. The collection investigates a variety of stylistic as well as readerly and psychological features responsible for short- and long-term effects - topics of great interest to those interested or specialized in literary studies and narratology, (cognitive) stylistics, empirical literary studies and reader response theory.

Teaching literature following loss: teachers’ adherence to emotional rules

Purpose This study aims to explore how teachers changed literature instruction in English language arts (ELA) classrooms following personal loss, and identifies factors influencing those changes. The author argues teachers regulated their responses to literature according to emotional rules they perceived to be associated with the teaching profession. Understanding teachers’ responses helps educators, teacher educators and educational researchers consider what conditions and supports may be required for teachers and students to share emotions related to loss in authentic ways in ELA classrooms. Design/methodology/approach To examine changes teachers made in literature instruction following personal loss, the author conducted a thematic analysis of 80 questionnaire responses. Findings The author found teachers changed literature instruction related to three areas: teachers’ relationship to students, teachers’ instruction surrounding texts and teachers’ reader responses. Responses highlighted how teachers adhered to emotional rules, including a perception of teachers as authorities and caretakers of children. Teachers considered literature instruction to require maintaining focus on texts, and avoided emotional response unless it aided textual comprehension. Originality/value Scholars have argued for literature instruction inclusive of both loss experiences and also emotional response, with particular focus on students’ loss experiences. This study focuses on teachers’ experiences and responses to literature following loss, highlighting factors that influence, and at times inhibit, teachers’ authentic sharing of experiences and emotions. The author argues teachers require support to bring loss experiences into literature instruction as they navigate emotional response within the relational dynamics of the classroom.

Starving for Justice: Teen Action Heroines and the Logic of Anorexia

Marshalling evidence from critical feminist studies of eating disorders (Bordo; Malson and Burns; Warin), including Leslie Heywood’s concept of anorexic “logic,” this dissertation theorizes how anorexic rationality and subjectivity are expressed through the popular figure of the post-feminist action heroine, specifically within young adult (YA) speculative fiction franchises. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels (2005-2008), Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games series (2008-2010), and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy (2011-2013) serve as the primary, and I argue ideal case studies for this investigation. Emerging as top-selling YA series in the post-Harry Potter era, all three franchises feature teen girl protagonists with post-feminist “sensibility” (Gill), and with their mass appeal, have given rise to global fandoms. Hence, this project also examines reader responses to the series under discussion through a selection of online fan fiction in which female-identifying youth rewrite their protagonists as anorexic. Although media studies scholars have analyzed the gendered discourses surrounding contemporary female action heroes (Inness; Brown; Wright), and feminist literary scholars have explored how motifs of weight, starvation and consumption function within certain narratives (Daniel; Ellmann; Karlin; Meuret; Silver), the correlation between anorexia and action heroine texts has yet to be systematically studied. This investigation is all the more crucial given Parliament of Canada’s 2014 report, Eating Disorders Among Girls and Women in Canada, which notes that eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. Responding to the report’s call for increased research on media messaging aimed at youth, this dissertation focuses on mass media franchises targeted at girls and young women, the largest demographic of eating disorder sufferers, arguing that contemporary teen action heroine mythology reflects and reifies a problematic value system that mutually constitutes conceptions of starvation and justice, and informs the social construction of ideal femininity. This research thus forges new pathways between theories of girlhood, body image studies, and YA literature to offer a theoretical framework for reading female heroism that places the corporeal matrix of gender, consumption, and embodiment at its centre.

Starving for Justice: Teen Action Heroines and the Logic of Anorexia

Marshalling evidence from critical feminist studies of eating disorders (Bordo; Malson and Burns; Warin), including Leslie Heywood’s concept of anorexic “logic,” this dissertation theorizes how anorexic rationality and subjectivity are expressed through the popular figure of the post-feminist action heroine, specifically within young adult (YA) speculative fiction franchises. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels (2005-2008), Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games series (2008-2010), and Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy (2011-2013) serve as the primary, and I argue ideal case studies for this investigation. Emerging as top-selling YA series in the post-Harry Potter era, all three franchises feature teen girl protagonists with post-feminist “sensibility” (Gill), and with their mass appeal, have given rise to global fandoms. Hence, this project also examines reader responses to the series under discussion through a selection of online fan fiction in which female-identifying youth rewrite their protagonists as anorexic. Although media studies scholars have analyzed the gendered discourses surrounding contemporary female action heroes (Inness; Brown; Wright), and feminist literary scholars have explored how motifs of weight, starvation and consumption function within certain narratives (Daniel; Ellmann; Karlin; Meuret; Silver), the correlation between anorexia and action heroine texts has yet to be systematically studied. This investigation is all the more crucial given Parliament of Canada’s 2014 report, Eating Disorders Among Girls and Women in Canada, which notes that eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. Responding to the report’s call for increased research on media messaging aimed at youth, this dissertation focuses on mass media franchises targeted at girls and young women, the largest demographic of eating disorder sufferers, arguing that contemporary teen action heroine mythology reflects and reifies a problematic value system that mutually constitutes conceptions of starvation and justice, and informs the social construction of ideal femininity. This research thus forges new pathways between theories of girlhood, body image studies, and YA literature to offer a theoretical framework for reading female heroism that places the corporeal matrix of gender, consumption, and embodiment at its centre.

Beauty and the Beast: The Value of Teaching Fairy Tales to University Students in the 21st Century

In this essay, I suggest that fairy tales have particular value for students studying at the university level. Assigning fairy tales allows students to read familiar stories from their childhood and reconsider them from critical perspectives. When teaching a college course on fairy tales, my students and I utilize three essential frameworks for understanding fairy tales, focusing on the psycho-social development and sexual maturation of the human person, feminist critique and the need for gender equality in a patriarchal world, and audience reception and reader responses leading to emotional progress and even spiritual enlightenment. Students primarily familiar with Disney film versions of fairy tales enlarge their understanding of multiple versions of tales, both early modern and contemporary. They become familiar with classic fairy tale writers and collectors, such as Charles Perrault, Madame d’Aulnoy, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Oscar Wilde, Andrew Lang, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Anne Sexton, Angela Carter, and J.K. Rowling as well as fairy tale scholars like Bruno Bettelheim, Maria Tartar, and Jack Zipes. Their study not only results in a firm grasp of the key aspects of story in general, but in the ability to see connections between the real-world problems of the 21st century – such as poverty, starvation, disease, inequality, child abuse, human trafficking, and abuses of political power, among others – and lessons learned from fairy tales. This essay analyzes “Beauty and the Beast” as a key example of the genre and identifies pedagogical strategies for teaching it.

Teaching Jack Kerouac in a Decolonizing South African University

Eric Strand addresses his experiences as a white, male American professor teaching Jack Kerouac’s On the Road at the University of Cape Town in South Africa during the Rhodes Must Fall student movement, c 2015. Integrating excerpts from student essays in his classes and from the univeristy’s student newspaper, the essay reveals complex racial, gender, and class-based interpretations of the novel, all advising against narrow and stereotypic predications of reader responses to the novel.