The Ouija game: an analysis through young adult’s behavior as depicted in three urban myths

Author: Alvarez, Gilda

When people think about games, probably the first thought that appears in their minds is that they are made for entertainment. Certainly, there are games with different formats and purposes but in the end they all share the same feature; they are harmless enjoyable activities. At least, that was what I thought. I found out that not all of them apply to this characteristic. This paper will look at one in particular that, far from being harmless, seems to change the lives of its players forever; the well-known Ouija or Cup’s game. I might classify it as a “paranormal” game, since it is outside the boundaries of the regular and “normal” ones. The Ouija is a game used for having contact with spirits. It is played on a board that has written the entire alphabet on it and in the centre there is a figure similar to a triangle that is used to point to the letters. The players must put their index finger on the triangle without touching it and make a question to the “spirits.” Another adaptation is the Cup game, whose only difference is that, instead of a triangle, a cup upside down is used. Many narratives telling the misfortunes of its participants can be found on the internet and most of them (if not all) share a salient characteristic: adolescents as central characters. This similarity will be used as a starting point in the development of this paper since it might not be a curious coincidence. Young adults seem more likely to approach these types of experiences. This will be evidenced through the analysis of three stories concerning the Ouija game. Throughout the identification of certain behaviors and attitudes depicted in them, adolescents may realize and understand the complexities and dangers they are exposed to.

In the following lines, an attempt will be made to analyze and develop the shared characteristics of three narratives that tell the experiences of three different young adults with the Ouija game. These characteristics might be connected with their own behavior in real life. Taking this into consideration, this paper will explore on how adolescents behavior is depicted and reflected in three different urban myths.

The demon of the Ouija board trashed the house, White faced Ouija board ghost and Ouija board séance and our new home haunting (Ouija board tales, 2013) are stories published in a blog dedicated to experiences concerning this urban myth. The first one tells the story of sixteen-year-old Amber and her friend Dee. She brings a game she had found and “challenges” Amber to play it. The second story is told by Justin, an eight-year-old boy who is a witness of the frightening experience of his adolescent sister with this game. The third narration has a young lady and her roommates as protagonists and tells the strange events that take place in their new house when they experiment with the Ouija. Essentially, these narrations tell the story of three adolescents (and their friends) whose curiosity for the game makes them play it. Even though they have heard of grownup people telling them that they should never experience this, they do it anyway. When they start playing the Ouija, they notice that nothing happens and they continue playing until the spirits appear. Once they have made contact with the “ghosts”, they regret having done this and swear they will never do it again. These experiences portray one of the most famous and scariest of all the urban myths popularly known.

But is the Ouija game a veridical story? The website Wikipedia (accessed October, 19th 2013) provides the following definition of urban myths:

“An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true.  As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story's veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.”

So, urban myths are not necessarily real stories. However, they are retold so many times that usually make people think they are true. And this may be why people feel attracted to them. Nevertheless, a group appear to be more likely to experience urban myths. Adolescents in particular, seem to pay special attention to the Ouija game. It is possible that their own behaviour is reflected through the game. In order to provide a thorough explanation, it might be useful to clarify some points.

First, the term adolescence will be understood as “...a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood and whose cultural purpose is the preparation of children for adult roles...” (Wikipedia, accessed on October 20th 2013) According to this definition, adolescence is a transitional period in which the individual is no longer a child. Thus, he/she cannot be considered an adult. It is possible to state that is a difficult stage full of changes not only physical but also psychological. Second, since this period is crossed by several transformations, it is important to highlight the changes in the adolescent’s behaviour as well. These will be analyzed in connection to the three stories about experiences with the Ouija game to find out if they reflect some behaviour typical of this period.

One of the many coincidences that can be found within these urban myths is that the three of them have adolescents as central characters. But is this a coincidence? Possibly not. As stated on the same website (Idem) “During adolescence, there is an extremely high emphasis on approval of peers as a reward due to adolescents' increased self-consciousness”.  Even though it is not possible to know exactly if the main characters of the stories are precisely the protagonists for this reason, it is possible to notice, as the urban myths are developed, an encouragement from peers to play the game. In order to clarify this assertion, the following extract might help:

“My best friend Dee came home. I opened the door and she had a weird board game in her hands. She greeted me and I welcomed her in. Then she said "Look at my new board game! Pretty cool uh? Let’s play!” “Seems creepy...” I said but she told not to be a chicken so we played.” [Original punctuation]

“We held a séance with a Ouija board and asked questions although I’m very against communicating with spirits because activity tends to become more frequent. But my roommates told me not to worry and we did it”

These extracts were taken from the stories The demon of the Ouija board trashed the house and Ouija board séance and our new home haunting respectively. In the first fragment, the adolescent seems doubtful about playing this “creepy game”. However, her friend Dee tells her “not to be a chicken”. As Winnicot (Marta Vega and others, 2007) suggests, a characteristic of early adolescence is the insertion within a certain group and for doing so young adults usually adopt a behavior similar to the one of their peers. Our unnamed protagonist follows this pattern; she does what her friend Dee tells her to do only because she does not want to be left aside. Doing the opposite might represent to lose respect among her group of friends. Similarly, in the second extract, it is possible to notice that this young lady follows her roommate’s advice despite her dislike about the game. Definitely, it is important for young adults to be accepted among peers and that is why the two friends end up playing the game even though the protagonist of this story does not like the idea that much.

Another characteristic of adolescence is the problem of facing authority figures. It is suggested (Idem) that during adolescence several arguments between young adults and their parents take place. These often concern minor issues of control, such as curfew, acceptable clothing, and the adolescent's right to privacy, which adolescents may have previously viewed as issues over which their parents had complete authority. Parent-adolescent disagreement also increases as friends demonstrate a greater impact on one another. Besides, new influences on the adolescent appear and these may be in opposition to parents' values. So, it might not be surprising that in the urban myths the characters do not follow the warnings their parents give:

“My sister Christina and her friend were babysitting me, but were messing with their Ouija board. My mother told them they should never play it and had thought they had gotten rid of it weeks beforehand but, to no avail.” (White faced Ouija board ghost)

“My mom came down the stairs and greeted me and Dee and went to go into the kitchen but she stopped and glared at the board and said "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING PLAYING WITH THAT!?" I said "It is not mine its Dee's she said "DON'T PLAY IT ITS DANGEROUS" Me and Dee shrugged and waited for my mom to walk out then Dee asked "What is your name" It said N-O-M-D-E I went white and said "it spells Demon if you unscramble it" [Original punctuation] (The demon of the Ouija board trashed the house)

Despite Christina’s mother warning, the young lady, far from obeying her mother, does exactly the opposite. Besides, her friend encourages Christina keeping the game and playing it later. Dee’s behaviour is similar. She does not pay attention to her mother’s advice and waits till she leaves the room so that they can continue with the game. In these stories, there is a clear reflection of this particular behaviour that young adults have in real life. As adolescents have a closer relationship with their peers, they are more likely to accept their friend’s advice rather than their parents. Christina’s and Dee’s attitudes are proof of this.

Having explored the conflictive relationship adolescents have with authority, it might be interesting to focus on the risky behaviour they manifest and that many times puts them in danger. If the following extract from one of the stories is analyzed, it may be evident that the adolescent put herself in a risky situation despite the warning of her aunt. Even though the Ouija game has proved to be dangerous and with unpleasant consequences for its players, the protagonist decides to go through the experience:

“My aunt told me a similar story that happened to her. To keep it short she was messing with the Ouija board as a teenager with a friend and they saw the white face in a window. She claims to have seen it for many years before finally getting baptized before her wedding and she never saw it again.” (White faced Ouija board ghost)

And why this is so? The behavioural decision-making theory proposes that adolescents and adults both weigh the potential rewards and consequences of an action. However, research has shown that adolescents seem to give more weight to rewards, particularly social rewards, than do adults (Wikipedia, 2013). This assertion is strongly connected with the idea of acceptance within a certain group previously developed. For young adults, feeling acceptance among peers is so important that they are disposed to do risky activities in order to “fit”. In real life they may drive a car without any permission, drink alcohol or have unprotected sex. In the stories, they simply decide to play a game that is beyond their understanding. Whatever the action would be, the precious “reward” is the same: fitting within a group and don’t be left aside.

As it was previously exposed, the urban myths analyzed so far reflect several aspects concerning adolescent’s behaviour in real life. This paper has focused its attention on three stories concerning the Ouija game, but surely there are many more out there. Probably, it is not just a coincidence that these three experiences have young adults as central characters who defy adult’s advice and adopt a risky behaviour by playing a dangerous game. However, it seems that they feel attracted to it. Perhaps, by reading other adolescent’s experiences, they might understand what they are facing with. If we, as adults, remember that period of our lives, we might understand the reason why some young adults experience the Ouija game. It might be possible that, by reading stories that partially reproduce the behaviours and attitudes young adults present in real life, they can feel that are not alone. Hopefully, this may help them to go through this difficult period.


REFERENCES

• Google “Ouija stories” http://ouijaboardtales.blogspot.com.ar/ (last accessed on October, 19th)
•  Vega y otros, M.  (2007) ‘Escritos Psicoanalíticos sobre adolescencia’ Bs As Ed. Eudeba
•  Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia “Urban legend” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend (last accessed on October, 20th)
•  Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia “Adolescence” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescence (last accessed on October, 20th)

The legend of Amancay Flower: a forbidden love story to connect Argentinean adolescents with their Culture.

Author: Busto Riquelme, Daniela.

Global communications allow people from all parts of the globe get in touch and know about other cultures. That could be one of the reasons why many people, mainly adolescents, have incorporated foreign trends and cultural patterns, such as those from the Unites States or Europe, putting aside their own. "Generally," writes Stephen Bochner (1973), "the cultural identity of a society is defined by its majority group, and this group is usually quite distinguishable from the minority sub-groups with whom they share the physical environment and the territory that they inhabit." Brochner’s concept of Cultural Identity is extremely useful because it depicts the difficult problems of the forbidden or unknown Native cultures. For Stuart Hall (1973), culture is not something to simply appreciate or study, but a "critical site of social action and intervention, where power relations are both established and potentially unsettled”. Hall’s words reflect what I consider an important point about giving value to legends and customs from the native Argentinian people. Teachers can consider those as useful materials to help students develop consciousness about the importance of their own roots.

The legend of Amancay Flower narrates the story of Amancay, a young brave lady who is in love with the Tribe Leader’s son, Quintral. Due to the fact that she does not belong to a high level in the tribe, their love story is forbidden. Amancay and Quintral start a secret love affair until the young man becomes ill. The illness is the opening point for adventure in the story because from then onwards the reader can appreciate Amancay’s heroic love. She gives her own life in order to find a cure for Quintral sickness. In return, as an offering out of respect for Amancay’s selfless love, the Gods create a yellow flower. This legend from the Vuriloche aborigines, which involves forbidden love and adventure, could be an important tool to promote general knowledge and customs from native Argentinean people. As a way to encourage teachers to use legends in the classroom, this paper proposes Amancay legend as a valuable and interesting content to work with students at secondary schools regarding Cultural Identity concerns.

When discussing about identity and cultural difference, Stanley Hall’s explanation may be useful. Hall (1997) proposes: 

“A culture produces ‘shared meanings’. This sharing of meanings generates and reinforces the notion of cultural difference. To say that two people belong to the same culture is to say that they interpret the world in roughly the same ways and can express themselves, their thoughts and feelings about the world, in ways which will be understood by each other”.

The vision about the world Vuriloche tribe used to have may be different to the one our students have. Thus through the Legend of Amancay flower an analysis about some interesting points can be proposed to develop comprehension about the diversity of native Argentinian people. Costumes and believes of the aborigines tribe could be taught with the narrative of this legend. The existence of a wise person in the tribe called “Machi” or the fact that Amancay prays to many Gods instead to only one God might be useful to work with the belief and worship native people used to hold.   A clear example within the story reads “Amancay in desperation to save her lover, fled to the tribe’s healer, Machi”.

H. Douglas Brown (2007) states

“The task of the reader is to interpret language that was written in some other place at some other time with only the written words themselves as contextual clues. Readers can’t confront an author and say, “Now, what exactly did you mean by that?” Nor can they transport themselves back through a time machine to “see” the surrounding context, as we can in face-to-face conversations.”

Having in mind Douglas Brown words, teachers may find interesting the fact that The Legend of Amancay’s flower could be an attractive story to work with since the fantasy may possibly be useful to explain reality helping students contextualise the narrative in time and place. As this legend is situated in the Patagonian region of Argentina, some well-known places such as “Bariloche” or “Cerro Tronador” are mentioned. That may clearly help students to contextualise the place where the tribe of Amancay used to live. Although students haven’t been to Bariloche, the fact that they can recognise that name and have an idea of the location possibly will make them experience the story closer to their culture. Even students from Bariloche, who share the physical environment and the territory that Vuriloche tribe inhabited, do not share the same culture. This tells us that it is important to make good use of the advantage of reading stories that are placed in the National territory for the reason that they allow readers to appreciate the story and feel it as their own since the places do not seem so far away like Greece or a place in the United States may sound.

Although there are many debates about Native peoples, it is still heard that aborigines are the “remaining” of ancient societies and sometimes they are regarded as “inferior” or even as “ignorant” people. The Argentinian Ministry of Education states (2010) that

“Assumptions presenting Native people as incomplete and imperfect societies are depicted in phrases like “poor minorities”, “vulnerable groups”, “marginalized groups” or “underdeveloped segments of society”. The problem with social categories is that the rights of these people are based on them. And what is more, they give authority and determination to the design of politics”.  

An individual’s consciousness and sense of identity is formed in dialogue with others and with the discourses constituting the society and culture s/he inhabits (Smith, 1988 and Levine, 1992). In western cultures, adolescence is the period when a person is immerse in his/ her personal identity quest. We, teachers, can help our students to know about their own roots. Letting them familiarise with the native tribes, that inhabited and inhabit the Argentinian territory, may help students construct their identity based on the origins of the roots of our own country. They can embrace and respect those origins. As we also have the opportunity to work with foreign legends, stories, belief, and trends some teachers make use of them all the time, and in a way they show themselves loyal to those foreign cultures. In this case a significant risk is run. Students assume what comes from other countries, especially the United States or Europe, is better and what comes from native people is worse.

Engaging students from the romantic and adventurous points of view of the legend of Amancay flower, teachers could plan interesting lessons, units or projects to work with the story in the classroom. The reconstruction of the native Argentinian people’s history is in current debate. This debate is based on the necessity to get in touch and to appreciate native cultures. In the last years there have been many critics to different approaches that addressed these cultures directly with discrimination and prejudice. Nowadays there seems to be a tendency to work in the development of respect towards Native Argentinean peoples. The Argentinean National State, investigators, historians and teachers seems to be more interested in getting in touch and knowing about aborigine cultures. This debate may be useful to carry out further research in order to give stronger support to the suggestion of working with aborigine legends in the Argentinean classrooms. Counting with information gather from personal experience would be useful for teachers to account for their opinions when facing debate about the use of legends in the classroom regarding culture identity.

Appendix I

Leyenda aborigen: La flor de Amancay

A menudo, las leyendas brindan una versión imaginativa y dramática del origen de ciertos elementos naturales: ríos, montañas o —como en este caso— flores. Este relato, proveniente de la región patagónica, narra la heroica y triste historia de la joven Amancay, que sacrifica su vida para salvar la de su amado Quintral.

“Quien da una flor de amancay está ofrendando su corazón”, decían los indios vuriloches. Y a quien preguntara el porqué de esa creencia le contaban esta leyenda:

La tribu vivía cerca de Ten-Ten Mahuida, que hoy se conoce como cerro Tronador.
En aquel entonces, el hijo del cacique era un joven llamado Quintral. No había muchacha en la región que no suspirara al mencionar sus actos de valentía, su físico vigoroso, su voz seductora. Pero a Quintral no le interesaban los halagos femeninos. Él amaba a una joven humilde llamada Amancay, aunque estaba convencido de que su padre jamás lo dejaría desposarla. Lo que el joven guerrero no imaginaba, es que Amancay también sentía por él un profundo amor, y no se animaba a decirlo porque pensaba que su pobreza la hacía indigna de un príncipe. Tanto amor inconfesado encontraría pronto una dura prueba.

Sin aviso, se declaró en la tribu una epidemia de fiebre. Quienes caían víctimas de la enfermedad deliraban hasta la muerte, y nadie sabía cómo curarla. Los que permanecían sanos pensaban que se trataba de malos espíritus y comenzaron a alejarse de la aldea.
En pocos días, Quintral también cayó. El cacique, que velaba junto a su hijo despreciando el peligro del contagio, lo escuchó murmurar, en pleno delirio, un nombre: “Amancay…”

No le llevó mucho averiguar quién era, y saber del amor secreto que sentían el uno por el otro.
Decidido a buscar para su hijo cualquier cosa que le devolviera la salud, mandó a sus guerreros a traerla.

Pero Amancay ya no estaba en su casa. Se hallaba trepando penosamente el Ten-Ten Mahuida. La “machi”, la hechicera del pueblo, le había dicho que el único remedio capaz de bajar esa fiebre era una infusión, hecha con una flor amarilla que crecía solitaria en lo alto de la montaña.
Lastimándose manos y rodillas, Amancay alcanzó finalmente la cumbre y vio la flor abierta al sol.

Apenas la arrancó, una sombra enorme cubrió el suelo. Levantó los ojos y vio un gran cóndor, que se posó junto a ella levantando un viento terrible a cada golpe de sus alas. El ave le dijo con voz atronadora que él era el guardián de las cumbres y la acusó de tomar algo que pertenecía a los dioses.
Aterrada, Amancay le contó llorando lo que sucedía abajo, en el valle, donde Quintral agonizaba, y que aquella flor era su única esperanza.

El cóndor le dijo que la cura llegaría a Quintral sólo si ella accedía a entregar su propio corazón. Amancay aceptó, porque no imaginaba un mundo donde Quintral no estuviera, y si tenía que entregar su vida a cambio, no le importaba. Dejó que el cóndor la envolviera en sus alas y le arrancara el corazón con el pico. En un suspiro donde se le iba la vida, Amancay pronunció el nombre de Quintral.

El cóndor tomó el corazón y la flor entre sus garras y se elevó, volando sobre el viento hasta la morada de los dioses. Mientras volaba, la sangre que goteaba no sólo manchó la flor sino que cayó sobre los valles y montañas. El cóndor pidió a los dioses la cura de aquella enfermedad, y que los hombres siempre recordaran el sacrificio de Amancay.
La “machi”, que aguardaba en su choza el regreso de la joven, mirando cada tanto hacia la montaña, supo que algo milagroso había pasado. Porque en un momento, las cumbres y valles se cubrieron de pequeñas flores amarillas moteadas de rojo. En cada gota de sangre de Amancay nacía una pequeña planta, la misma que antes crecía solamente en la cumbre del Ten-Ten.
La hechicera salió al exterior, mirando con ojos asombrados el vuelo de un cóndor gigantesco, allá en lo alto. Y supo que los vuriloches tenían su cura. Por eso, cuando los guerreros llegaron en busca de Amancay, les entregó un puñado de flores como única respuesta.

References

•   Bochner, S. (1973) "The Mediating Man and Cultural Diversity." Topics in Culture Learning Series, Vol. 1, 23-37.
•   Brown, H. D (2007) “Teaching by Principles, An interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Third Edition” Pearson Education, Inc
•   Hall, S. (1973). Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse. Birmingham: Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, p. 1
•    
•   Hall, S. (1997) “Introduction, “in Representation: cultural representations and
• Signifying practices,” S. Hall, Ed. London: SAGE in association with
• The Open University, pp. 1-11.
•   Hall, S. (1998) Culture and Power," Interview, Radical Philosophy, November/December 1998.
•   Levine (1992) McCullum, Robyn (1999) "Introduction: Subjectivity, humanism and children's literature." Ideologies of Identity in Adolescents Fiction: The dialogic construction of subjectivity. Nueva York: Garland
•   Smith (1988) McCullum, Robyn (1999) "Introduction: Subjectivity, humanism and children's literature." Ideologies of Identity in Adolescents Fiction: The dialogic construction of subjectivity. Nueva York: Garland
• Ministerio de Educación. Presidencia de la Nación Argentina
•    http://portal.educacion.gov.ar/ Accessed 25/10/2013

“CUANDO LOS PÁLIDOS VIENEN MARCHANDO”: A GHOST STORY THAT PORTRAYS ADOLESCENTS’ BEHAVIOUR

Author: Valeria Muscato

“When one feels fear, this is when one feels alive” Fernando Savater
(cited by Almodovar Rodriguez, 2006)

It is widely accepted that horror stories are consistent with the requirements that  Young Adult Literature (YAL) possesses and have always been a favourite among adolescents of all times. A survey carried out by Figueroa et al. (2013) in a secondary school in Barrio Nuevo, Merlo, indicated that 25% of adolescent students chose horror stories as their first alternative of reading preferences.“Cuando los Pálidos Vienen Marchando” by Argentinian author Elsa Bornemann can be included in the horror genre and it can be appealing for teenagers and may increase their interest in reading.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to a horror story, to a story in which the focus is on creating a feeling of fear. Such tales are of ancient origin and form a substantial part of the body of folk literature. They can feature supernatural elements such as ghosts, witches, or vampires, or they can address more realistic psychological fears.

This paper will point out a significant value and a personal trait portrayed in this story which constitute the main hook to grab the teenagers’ attention and interests encouraging them to pursue the reading since they would feel identified with the events narrated.

The story being examined here describes the events of two young males, Felipe and Huberto, who are really close friends from childhood. One day they win a brand new motorbike in a raffle and decide to make an initiation ride to the beach. Something appears to be wrong with their bike so it stops in the middle of a bridge. Due to the fact they do not have tools for making the necessary repairs, they decide to wait for help.  A strange white Kombi with seven pale freaky persons arrive and take Huberto and Felipe to the nearest village.  Suddenly, the young men realize that their pallid helpers are not driving in the right direction, begin to feel scared and start to shout at them. But the only answer they obtain is “it is impossible to regret now. You do not have to be afraid, nothing more will happen to you”. Indeed, what really happens later on leads the story to an unexpected ending.

The story may be a good option for teenagers who are reluctant to read any kind of literature. Herz and Gallo (1996) believe that YAL novels are considered “less demanding and more appropriate for adolescents”. Moreover, this is a perfect example of a story thought for adolescents, and with which they can clearly identify in many respects due to the fact that it conveys the ideas, concepts and values most attractive to them. Having mentioned that “Cuando los Pálidos Vienen Marchando” is a horror story, it could be added that this clearly belong to Young Adult Literature (YAL) which is literature aimed at adolescents. Robert C. Small Jr.  (Herz & Gallo, 1996) points out the following features that characterise YAL literature:

-    The main character is a teenager.
-     Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers.
-    The main character is the center of the plot.
-    Dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang.
-    -The point of view presents an adolescent’s interpretation of events and people.
-    The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent.
-    The novel is short, rarely more than 200 pages.
-    The actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict.

Since the story contains some of the characteristics of YAL mentioned above, it may constitute an appealing reader for teenagers. Adolescents may feel attracted, not only to the characters, because of their relationship and their behaviour, but also to the story which keeps them intrigued till the end, as it has an unpredictable ending.

The first concept which may be easily observed at the beginning of the story is friendship, which is depicted as a very strong, close, intimate, loving relationship dating back from childhood. As Marta Vega (2007) states “teenagers have the necessity to establish a relationship with a peer who is the same age and he/she would be the ‘mirror’.  This close friend is placed as a double of the other in order for the person to see his/her own transformations” (my translation). As Holly Koelling (2004) puts is, “Social groups begin to take second place to intimate relationships with the same or opposite sex. These relationships […] are intense”.

The following extract shows that the story portrays a close friendship among Felipe and Huberto:

“Apenas Felipe se enteró —al recibir la carta aquella mañana—, telefoneó a su amigo Huberto:
— ¡Me saqué la rifa de la exposición, Huber! ¡La moto es nuestra!
"Nuestra", había dicho, y era cierto, porque la amistad entre ambos los llevaba a compartirlo casi todo desde la infancia.  Con más razón, esa poderosa moto importada con la que los dos habían soñado tanto”
As can be seen, Felipe and Huberto are really good friends and they share almost everything.

Secondly, one of the notions that become prominent as the reader advances on the story would be the adventurousness or recklessness shown by the young men when they plan on going for a long ride immediately after they come into possession of the motorcycle, completely disregarding any possible complication that may occur. A parallel could be drawn between this and the typical teenage behaviour of taking risks without considering the consequences. Koelling (2004) agrees with this idea when she writes, “Teens often place themselves in the hero’s role and fantasize about it...” feeling that they have “a sense of strength and immunity to the consequences of life. […] “They do not yet have a sense of their own mortality”.

The sense of adventure or reckless behavior can be found in the following dialogue between Felipe and Huberto:

“— ¡Qué joya! —repetía Huber unos días después, al contemplarla ubicada en el patiecito delantero de la casa de Felipe mientras, mate va, mate viene, planificaban un viajecito para "ablandarla".
El estreno había sido —como es de suponer—dando mil vueltas a través de las calles del barrio, ante la admiración de la muchachada.
Me parece que lo mejor será viajar hacia Arenamares... (Felipe miraba un mapa de rutas en compañía de Huber).
—Son quinientos tres kilómetros. Podemos hacer paradas en Villa Soltera, en Posta
Luciérnaga, en...
—Pero por ese camino... ¡son como ciento veinte kilómetros más, Felipe! —protestó Huber.
—Sí, pero estoy eligiendo las rutas menos transitadas. Lo que perdemos en kilometraje lo ganamos en tranquilidad. En esta época, medio mundo viaja hacia las playas. ¡Odio los embotellamientos!”
[…..]
“Los primeros doscientos kilómetros los recorrieron sin ningún tipo de inconvenientes. "El Rayo" marchaba a la perfección. Eso lo animó a imprimirle mayor velocidad de la aconsejable para un rodado "en ablande". “
[…]
“Poco después —y bruscamente— la moto se detuvo en mitad del puente y no encontraron forma de hacerla andar otra vez.”

As it can be spotted in the extracts above, Felipe and Huberto plan a trip without being aware of possible problems with their motorbike. When Felipe chooses the longest and most desolate route only because he hates traffic jams, and as well as , when the “Rayo” – the name given to their motorbike- is working well, the rider accelerates, in both cases they are not taking into account the possible consequences of their actions. Another example of their lack of consciousness as regard any possible difficulty would be the fact that they take no tools for their trip. It never occurs to them that a brand new motorbike may have any mechanical problem.

All in all, this paper has attempted to demonstrate that “Cuando los Pálidos Vienen Marchando”, a horror story written by Elsa Bornemann, constitutes an attractive reading for adolescents who would certainly feel identified with the events narrated since it deals with friendship and adventurousness which are significant issues at that specific stage in life.

   
References:

•    Bornemann, E. (1994) “Socorro. 12 cuentos para caerse de miedo”. Ed. Alfaguara.
•    http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/teens_stages/ Accessed 9/10/13
•    Vega, M. (2007) “Escritos Psicoanalíticos sobre Adolescencia”. Ed. Eudeba.
•    Koelling, H. (2004) “Make Sense of Teens as Growing People and as Readers”. Libraries Unlimited. Westport, CT.
•    Bossellini, L. & Alcira, O. (1995) “Psicología”. A.Z. Editora.
•    Herz, S & Donald, G. (1996) “From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics”. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
•    Almodóvar Rodríguez  (2006) “Cuentos de Miedo, ¿por qué?”.  Biblioteca Virtual Universal. Retrieved October 9, 2013 from http://www.biblioteca.org.ar/libros/132438.pdf
•    Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Horror Stories”. Retrieved October 22, 2013 from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/272144/horror-story

THE LEGEND OF THE GUARANI: CAN A TRADITIONAL LEGEND INFLUENCE IN ADOLESCENTS TO KEEP VALUES AND TRADITIONS ALIVE?

Author: Figueroa, Lidia

“In many cultures, storytelling has remained a powerful vehicle for the transmission of values, beliefs and ideas. The stories of these cultures, because they provide essential channels for the communication of ideas, moral values, and observations on the behavior of the human species, have remained alive, meaningful, and relatively strong” Wolkstein (1974)

Since immemorial times, traditional legends were transmitted orally from one generation to another. Through history, that was the method used for tribes and native aboriginal people to sustain not only their culture but also values and traditions alive among the youngest of their community. “The Legend of the Guarani” is one of those traditional legends conceived for the mentioned purposes but for young adults of other times. The whole world has changed and young adults are not the same as they used to be. However, this legend can be considered a good source to teach values and traditions among today´s young people.

For that reason, some parts of the legend in question will be analysed in this paper in order to find out how this traditional legend can help young adults to preserve values, culture and traditions.

“The Legend Of The Guarani” is the story of a young girl named Jary, during the times of Spaniard conquerors. This girl remained in the place where she lived with her old sick father, while the people of the tribe decided to leave the place, as a consequence of a worn out soil that did not give them good harvests anymore. Jary´s   good attitude was rewarded by a shaman that gave her father a green beverage that helped him to recover from his illness so they finally could reunite with the rest of the tribe.

To analyse the legend, we have to understand the purpose and the impact a traditional    legend may cause in the hearers .Gall De Vos (2007) states “ storytelling reserves traditional materials of imparting information and knowledge not only does storytelling connect the present with the past by telling ancient tales in much of they have been told for generations but storytelling also offers young adults a world of traditions  to aid them in their search for stability in unstable time. The preservation and presentation of oral traditions is a legitimate and valued service in and of itself”

Then, we have to pay special attention to the period young adults are going through. Eaglen (1983) defines this period as “that age group who no longer consider themselves children but are not yet considered adults by the adult world”. This view contrasts with the beliefs of the Quechua community because when a boy of the tribe reaches certain age, he undergoes initiation rites with a group of others, apart from the larger group. The rituals are performed under the direction of the shaman. The boy's lower lip is pierced with a piece of wood. He follows a strict diet based on corn for several days. Afterward, he can use adult words and adult ways of talking to people. During the initiation rites, the boy is instructed in appropriate behaviour. This includes working hard, refraining from harming others, being moderate in his habits, not drinking excessively, and never beating his future wife. When a girl reaches certain age, she is kept apart for a time under the care of female relatives. Her mother gives her guidance on her future marriage.

In other words, young adults of the Quechua community enter into adulthood naturally, adults accompany them during the process. Young adults from that community know what will happen to them when they reach to certain age. As all the events are always planned to be that way, there is no surprise. For the Quechua community, adulthood is seen as a normal stage in life and it is welcomed not only for the youngest but also by all the members of the tribe. Opposite to our culture, being a young adult on his way to adulthood is a complex stage Koelling (2004) states, when referring to the mentioned period, “the gap between childhood is vast physically, emotionally, psychologically, spirituality and it´s teens task to bridge it!” This indicates, in our society, young adults go alone all their way to adulthood.

During  this period, young adults “will begin to develop their own sense of moral values and moral codes” Koelling (2004) Values such as work, responsibility, friendship, tolerance and sense of belonging, to name a few, are perceived in the legend. For instance, the first value mentioned can be found in the passage that describes how hard the Guarani worked. This indicates that the whole tribe made from work an everyday ritual to survive. Hard work is one of the values young adults need to be prepared for by the time they enter into adulthood. Work can also give them a sense of independence and maturity    

Responsibility is another value that goes hand by hand with work but in this case, the sense of responsibility is portrayed by the girl´s determination when she decides to stay with her father.

The legend also contains values such as tolerance and respect, tolerance is noticed when the girl accepts her father´s decision of staying in the place, remaining isolated from the rest of the people. Then, the respect to older people is implicit when she accepts that decision.

It is important to mention that young adults have an special view about friendship as Koelling (2004) points out “they will seek additional friendships based on shared interests and worldview”. A good metaphorical description about what friendship is can be noticed, when is explained what does the new beverage to people...”it would be a good company in the sad hours of cruellest solitude.” For young people friendship is reason to live and  a friend is the person they can trust unconditionally.

This legend has also implicit a sense of belonging, other important issue for young people as Seaberg (2003) states “young adults prefer to learn and to seek information within a social context usually prefer to learn and to seek information within a social context” for instance Jary´s it is better for her to be with the rest of the tribe and share everything.

As regards tradition, this word derives from the Latin which means “handing over”. So, tradition can be defined as a set of rituals or beliefs maintained in the present by people of a society o r a community. This can be observed when the whole tribe adopts the habit of drinking the green herb which gives strength and courage. From that time on that habit became a tradition for the community.

Taking everything into consideration it is now possible to say   that “The Legend Of The Guarani” can be a good source to teach values and traditions among young adults. But adults have to bear in mind that these young adults are living in a different time and in a different context.
                                    
REFERENCES
•    Herz, S & Donald, G. (1996) “From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics”. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
•    Koelling, H. (2004) “Make Sense of Teens as Growing People and as Readers”. Libraries Unlimited. Westport, CT.
•    McCallum,Robyn (1999) “Ideologies of Identity in Adolescent  Fiction: The dialogic construction of subjectivity” Nueva York: Garland
•    De Vos, Gail (2003) “Storytelling For Young Adults: A Guide to Tales For Teens”Libraries Unlimited Westport,CT.
•    www.guayaki.com/mate/1984/legends-of-yerba-mate accessed 25/10/13

The case of Rufina Cambaceres: an appealing urban legend to succeed in English classroom.

Author: Marisa Gallardo

Dying of love could be a great topic for a romantic story, but waking up in a coffin and dying of panic could be a great condiment for a horror story. It is known that stories are connected with imagination and personal experiences, which could be shared in a group with different purposes (Gail de Vos, 2003). Schools could be a perfect place where stories could be useful tools to work with groups. However, incorporating stories in classrooms could be a challenge for teachers. They have to deal with the possibility that adolescents may not feel attracted by the select story and as a consequence the possibility of failing on the proposal activities.

Selecting a correct story implies to bear in mind some important aspects such as young adult literature’s features (Herz & Gallo, 1993) and adolescents’ preferences (Gail de Vos, 2003), among others.  The case of Rufina Cambaceres, an Argentinean urban legend, portrays some important aspects, which may encourage adolescents to read.

This paper will explore the possibility that "The case of Rufina Cambaceres", would be an appealing story that aloud teachers to work with different   activities, in English classrooms.

It is important to take into account urban legends’ definition. In David Emery’s view (1997), “an urban legend is an apocryphal, second hand story, alleged to be true and just plausible enough to be believed, about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic, or exasperating series of events, which supposedly happened to a real person.”

There are some relevant situations to take into consideration to select an appropriate story. One of them is literature for adolescents or Young Adult Literature (YAL). Herz & Gallo (1996) acknowledges that YAL contains essential themes such as, love, death and family conflicts, among others, that are issues and topics that all students can benefit from reading and discussing.

The search for identity could be also another situation that adolescents want to explore, and a story that provides the possibility to probe various situations roles and values without suffering consequences (Gail de Vos, 2003), could also encourage adolescents to read.

Listening to adolescents' preferences may also help in the duty of selecting an appealing story. Attending the results of different surveys, it is important to mention that one of the most selected genres was horror stories. Last year, a group of teacher's trainees carried on different surveys. One of them, situated horror’s stories in the second place with 22% of the total (Barroca, Nieto, Olazabal, 2012) another one showed that 30,19 % of students preferred horror stories as their first option ( Gonzalez, Moreschi, 2011) and my own experience on a recent survey, also coincide on, that a 25% of students prefer horror stories.

Relying on the previous concepts, the case of Rufina Cambaceres seems to be a story that makes adolescents feel eager to read. First of all, the story is considered an urban legend, and according to Gail de Vos (2003), is better to start with a ghost story or an urban legend, to attract adolescents’ interest. One of the reason of this suggestion, is that “these stories have been polished and shaped throughout the time, and only the best, the most relevant, and often the most appropriate have been passed down through the ages and set in print.”

The story happened many years ago, in 1902, to be precise, and it is about Rufina, a nineteen-year-old girl. The girl belonged to an upper class, and she was known as a great beauty in her time. One day, after noticing that her fiancée was her mother's lover, she suffered from a sudden and fatal heart attack. But the reports said that in fact she suffered from catalepsy and she was buried alive. Since that, many witnesses have claimed to see Rufina's ghost walking around Recoleta cemetery, and its nearest.

Secondly, essential themes such as love, death and family conflicts are present in the story. The case of Rufina Cambaceres not only relates a love story and a family conflict but also relates Rufina’s death. Rufina is an adolescent and she lived a sweet love story up to the moment that she noticed the deceit that her fiancée and her mother had done. In that moment, a family conflict started, her mother, the person who supposedly should guide Rufina's life, broke her heart. Regarding an essential theme like death, some years ago, Rufina had to experiment her father's death and she also had to face her own death. She was thought died by her mother and doctors and then buried, but in fact she was alive and she died of panic inside a coffin. This part of the story, also presents an excellent opportunity for adolescents to experiment or probe death without suffering consequences.

Finally, the selection of a right story implies to have in mind the genre, and horror is one of the most preferred by adolescents. In the case of Rufina Cambaceres, horror is present not only in the fact that she was buried alive, but also through the paranormal phenomena depicted in the fact that she was watched walking along the cemetery and its nearest after death. 

Understanding adolescent's reading preferences and knowing relevant characteristic of YAL may help teachers, to choose an appealing story which could function as a trigger, in reading activities. The case of Rufina Cambaceres seems to have many features and situations that make adolescents eager to read. It seems to be urgent for teachers to have in mind that when adolescents feel lured by a story, would be a strong possibility to succeed on reading activities in English classroom.


REFERENCES

• De Vos, Gail (2003) Storytelling for Young Adults: A guide to Tales for Teens. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.
• Emery, David (1997) Urban Legends. http:// urban legends.about.com/bio/David-Emery-1417.htm  Accessed 17/10/2013.

The Devil you Know or the Devil you don't Know: Choosing readers in the EFL classroom

Understanding Teenagers as Readers: Choosing appropriate reading material in the classroom

Forum discussion: The right content for young-adult students

 Remember Hertz and Gallo's words?

YAL deals with many universal themes, including the eternal questions Who am I? and Where do I fit in? Some of the themes are: alienation from one's society or group; survival or meeting a chal-lenge; social and/or political concerns about racial or ethnic discrimination; social concerns about AIDS, teenage pregnancy, divorce, substance abuse, family conflicts, dealing with death, and politi-cal injustice. These are issues and topics that all students can benefit from reading and discussing, not just students at lower academic levels.

After carrying out so many discussions and analysing so many stories meant for young adults in class, it's time to wonder about those teenage concerns in our Greater Buenos Aires classrooms. What topics should be deal with in class? Is anything possible or should we refrain from touching upon the more delicate issues?

Maybe the following newspaper article will give you something to ponder about before joining in the discussion:Click to read.

Dead like me: an analysis through Young Adult Literature

By Alvarez, Gilda and Giribaldi, Mariela

A long time ago, adolescents were not considered a target audience when authors wrote stories or different types of books. It was difficult to find a single piece of literature that was specially designed for them. Nowadays, this paradigm has changed for a better one and many narratives, among other styles are written considering adolescents as the intended audience. Furthermore, the concept of Young Adult Literature has started to be used to define the literature specifically design for adolescents. This paper will look at one particular short story that portrays some of the characteristics and behaviours of this particular stage of life. Dead like me, written by the American author Adam Troy Castro, describes a man trying to survive in a world occupied by dead people. In this new earth, the protagonist makes an effort to “fit” in the world of the Living Dead, as he calls them, because he is still alive and doesn’t want them to realize about it. The problematic situations that he will have to face will prove to be appealing for young adults and may help them, through identification of certain behaviours and attitudes, in their way to adulthood.

Several important elements will be explored in this paper that includes not only different aspects to take into account when pointing out to adolescence, but also the elements in the story that make it suitable for this type of audience; an audience that is considered to be reluctant and hard-to-catch when reference to literature is made. So, taking all these factors into consideration, this paper will try to explain the connections between Dead like me and Young Adult Literature.

According to the definition stated on the website Psychology Today,

“Adolescence describes the teenage years between 13 and 19 and can be considered the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. However, the physical and psychological changes that occur in adolescence can start earlier, during the preteen or "teen" years (ages 9-12). Adolescence can be a time of both disorientation and discovery. The transitional period can bring up issues of independence and self-identity. Sometimes adolescents may be experimenting with drugs and alcohol or sexuality. During adolescence, peer groups and external appearance tend to increase in importance.”

When we mention the term adolescence, we are referring to a critical period in life in which we face several conflictive changes, not only psychological but also physical.

But adolescents are not the only ones who experiment changes. Literature for young adults has also change and its characteristics have undergone a considerable transformation. According to Small (Herz and Gallo, 1996), the characteristics of Young Adult novels are the following:

●The main character is a teenager
●Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers
●The main character is the centre of the plot
●Dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang
●The point of view presents an adolescent’s interpretation of events and people
●The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature, and independent
●The novel is short, rarely more than 200 pages
●The actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict

In Dead like me, even though we assume that the main character is not an adolescent since he has a wife and two children, the events and problems in the plot are related to young adults. There is a clear connection between an adolescent’s conduct and the protagonist’s behaviour. The later imitates the zombie’s attitudes to fit in the Living Dead world. Imitation is a typical characteristic of young adults. Through this strategy, they achieve an important purpose of this stage of life: being accepted within a group. We find within the story, clear instances in which the main character experiences situations related to sexual relationships, identity and acceptation in a peer group through imitation of conducts.

Sexual relationships are an important matter for young adults since the first sexual encounters tend to appear in adolescence. The discovery of sex is associated to impulsivity in male adolescents and to romanticism in female adolescents (Marta Vega and others, 2007). For women sex is making love, while for men sex is just having sex. So, as this is a new aspect of explore, it is completely normal that young adults do not know how to handle and properly enjoy their sex lives. Our unnamed protagonist is not the exception to the rule. He has a lover or at least “the closest thing to a lover in the new world”, as he says. Her name is Suzie and he does not consider her a “real” lover in the emotional sense of the word, but a lover you can “fuck” to. Because zombies do not make love, they just satisfy a physical necessity. There is “no affection, no pleasure, and certainly, no joy”

Another problem related to adolescents is portrayed in the story: identity. The central character is still a human being; he is alive in a world infested by zombies. However, he cannot behave as a normal person, he has to pretend that he is a zombie and he will have to find out if he is human or if unconsciously, as a consequence of acting decades as a Living Dead, he actually became one of them. It is possible to notice that there is a battle going on within this person; the part of him which is prepared to do anything to survive and the part which wants to admit his own humanity. This conflict is evidenced in several parts of the story. For instance, at the beginning of the tale when the character points out that the zombies are never referred to as zombies, but simply as 'those Bastards'. However, half way through the story, having described a particularly nasty bus explosion, he states ‘you’d feel that the Living were silly bastards’ which seems to indicate the character feels the same about the zombies as he does about the living. Close to the end, he again refers to the zombies as 'Bastards'. As we can notice, there is a constant conflict in him.

During adolescence, sociability becomes an important matter. As Winnicot (idem) suggested, a characteristic of early adolescence is the insertion within a certain group. In the story, the protagonist has to imitate zombies and behave in the same manner to be accepted among them. He cannot be himself, i.e. a real human being, otherwise he would be killed. In real life, young adults surely will not be killed, but if they do not fit within a certain group, they would probably be excluded. The sense of belonging is highly important for them.

As it was already mentioned, Small (idem) pointed out that one of the characteristics of YAL is that “dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang”. But what is the meaning of this word? The Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary (2007) defines the term slang as “very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language, especially used by a particular group of people”. According to this definition, the vocabulary young adults use can be considered as slang. Adolescents usually speak in a very informal manner that includes insults as well. Several times, some of these words are used in a really disapproving way. Evidently, their vocabulary is not the same adults use. What’s more, in many cases it is extremely difficult to really understand the message they are conveying. This is due to the fact that young adults have a tendency to adapt existing terms to new contexts and situations. This is reflected in the story since the main character makes use of slang several times; he uses the word bastard to refer to zombies, and fuck to the act of having sex. Damned is also used as a swear word to show that the character is extremely annoyed or frustrated. These words are always used in a disapproving way and they highlight the feelings of the protagonist through different situations. Even though the instances were slang can be found are really few, it is possible to notice that the words and expressions the protagonist uses are truly informal.

In psychology, maturity is “the ability to respond to the environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one’s age” (website Wikipedia) Even though adolescents have abandoned childhood, they are still on the path to maturity. Being mature is a psychological state you develop, you do not born with it. So, it is expected to find immaturity in young adult’s behaviour. As many parents probably know, young adults are more likely to show a lack of maturity and an underdeveloped sense of responsibility than adults. Besides, they are more vulnerable or susceptible to negative influences and outside pressures, including peer pressure. That is why several times they do not understand or analyze the consequences of their actions. The protagonist of Dead like me is an adult. However, it is possible to find in his behaviour some instances where he acts immaturely, similarly to adolescents. The protagonist mocks his own brother because he is already dead. His brother was the clever one, “brave, heroic, defiant, a total leader” while he defines himself as “anything special, a follower, a kiss ass”. This immature rivalry between brothers is really common in young adults. In the story, we can notice that the clever brother was not so clever after all.

But the fact that adolescents sometimes have an immature behaviour does not indicate that they are not able to perform and make decisions responsibly. The central character of Dead like me is actually forced to think and behave maturely for the essential reason that, if he does not do so, he will be killed by zombies. He is not a young adult. However, he is perceptive, sensitive, intelligent and independent. These qualities are perceived on him through different situations. He is perceptive because he is capable of recognizing and comprehending the zombie’s attitudes and reality. And based on these, he is able to develop his own survival strategies. Being sensitive is another characteristic of him. Although he has acted as a Living Dead for a long period of time, he still remembers his family and his first and only love. Nevertheless, he represses these memories and feelings since zombies have not emotions at all. No doubt he is intelligent and independent enough to survive on his own in a world invaded by zombies.

Stories designed for young adults tend to have no more than 200 pages. A clear example of this is the book Zombies Encounter with the Hungry Dead edited by John Clipp. This book compiles thirty two stories about zombies from different authors into two parts (Zombies of the old school and Post emancipation). Each story has a length of no more than fifteen pages. Dead like me is included in the book and we observe this characteristic since this story is a short one of no more than five or four pages depending on the impression font size.

As regards the actions and decisions of the main character, these are the only ones that take place and are important all through the development of the story, leading to its outcome: staying alive. In the story, the central character pretends to be a zombie in order to stay alive so, he behaves as one: he does not dream, think or remember, he walks the way zombies walk, dragging his right foot, hanging his head.

As it was previously exposed, Dead like me not only deals with several issues concerning problems young adults may face, but also it portrays some characteristics of Young Adult Literature. It is important to understand that adolescence is a conflictive period in life. A period in which human beings change not only physically but also psychologically. A period for discovering who you are and your place in the world. A period of transition into the complexity of adulthood. Most human beings had experienced adolescence. If we remember this period, we will discover how we felt and what it meant in our lives. Reading stories that reflect some feelings, problems, conflicts and characteristics of young adults, is an interesting way to show them that they are not alone. Adolescents have problems in real life as well as in the literary world.


REFERENCES

●Castro, A. T.  (2000) Zombies: Encounters with the hungry dead, Dead like me
●Skipp, J. (2009)  Zombies: Encounters with the hungry dead
●Hornby, A. S. Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English (2007) Oxford University Press
●Psychology Today http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/adolescence Adolescence, (accessed on June, 27th)
●Sarah Herz and Gallo, D. (1996) ‘From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics’, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press
●Vega y otros, M.  (2007) ‘Escritos Psicoanalíticos sobre adolescencia’ Bs As Ed. Eudeba
●Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maturity_(psychology) Maturity (psychological), (accessed on July, 8th)

“Anda’s Game” as YAL: A Short Analysis Following Small’s Criteria.

by Lidia Figueroa-Valeria Muscato

There is no doubt that “Anda’s Game” (2007), short story written by the Canadian blogger, journalist and science fiction author Cory Doctorow, is consistent with the requirement of a subgenre known as YAL.

This paper will attempt to examine some of the features listed by Robert C. Small Jr. (Hertz & Gallo, 1996), a renowned literary theorist about Young Adult Literature (YAL) and juxtapose them with the ones that are found in the short science fiction story “Anda’s Game”. In this narrative, the preadolescent protagonist Anda spends most of her time playing computer games online.

The first characteristic pointed out by Small, namely the fact that the main characters should be a teenager, can be found in the following excerpt: 

“When Anda was twelve, she met Liza the Organiza, whose avatar was female but had sensible tits and sensible armor and a bloody great sword that she was clearly very good with”.

Holly Koelling (2004) states that the onset of puberty starts between ages 12 to 13. Given these characteristics, the reader may assume that the main character is an adolescent when reading this extract from the story.

According to Small, “dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang”. This second feature can be identified in the following conversation between Anda and her father:

“Anda, I don’t think it’s healthy for you to spend so much time with your game,” her da said, prodding her bulging podge with a finger. “It’s not healthy.”

“Daaaa!” she said, pushing his finger aside. “I go to PE every stinking day. It’s good enough for the Ministry of Education.”

Anda’s informal language represents teenage speech used by adolescents to communicate with adults, as seen in the “Daaaaaa” and the choice of the word “stinking” for instance.

Another important issue to take into account according to Small is that the teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent. For instance, the next talk between Anda’s and her progenitor shows her as the owner of some of the characteristics mentioned before:

Anda came home from remedial hockey sweaty and exhausted, but not as exhausted as the last time, nor the time before that. She could run the whole length of the pitch twice now without collapsing— when she’d started out, she could barely make it halfway without having to stop and hold her side, kneading her loathsome podge to make it stop aching. Now there was noticeably less podge, and she found that with the ability to run the pitch came the freedom to actually pay attention to the game, to aim her shots, to build up a degree of accuracy that was nearly as satisfying as being really good in-game.

Her dad knocked at the door of her bedroom after she’d showered and changed. “How’s my girl?”

“Revising,” she said, and hefted her math book at him.

“Did you have a fun afternoon on the pitch?”

“You mean ‘did my head get trod on?’“

“Did it?”

“Yes,” she said. “But I did more treading than getting trodden on.” The other girls were really fat, and they didn’t have a lot of team skills. Anda had been to war: she knew how to depend on someone and how to be depended upon.

“That’s my girl.” He pretended to inspect the paint-work around the light switch. “Been on the scales this week?”

She had, of course: the school nutritionist saw to that, a morning humiliation undertaken in full sight of all the other fatties.

“Yes, Dad.”

“And . . . ?”

“I’ve lost a stone,” she said. A little more than a stone, actually. She had been able to fit into last year’s jeans the other day.

As it can be spotted in the extract above, Anda becomes aware of her obesity and the related diabetes and decides to take action and have control over her health. Her change is connected to teenage maturity and independence showing the way she is able to overcome her sickness.

Small also considers that YAL texts are short. As “Anda’s Game” is a short story, this may be a good advantage to get teenagers involved in reading.

Considering what has been exposed, on the age of the protagonist Anda, as well as her lexical choices and her personality traits, “Anda’s Game”, the science fiction story written by Cory Doctorow, can certainly be considered a case of Young Adult Literature (YAL).


REFERENCES

‘Anda’s Game’ by Cory Doctorow: Overcoming Barriers to Entry. http://thecraftproject.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/andas-game-by-cory-doctorow-overcoming-barriers-to-entry/ Accessed 13/06/13.
Doctorow, C. (2008) “Anda’s Game”. From Strahan, J. (Ed.) The Starry Rift: Tales of New Tomorrows: an anthology of original science fiction. Viking, USA.
Herz, S & Donald, G. (1996) From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Koelling, H. (2004) Classic Connections: Turning Teens on to Great Literature. Libraries Unlimited. Westport, CT.
Review: ‘Anda’s Game’ by Cory Doctorow. http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/review-andas-game-by-cory-doctorow. Accessed 13/06/13.
Wikipedia “Cory Doctorow” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow. Accessed 13/06/13.

“Sundiver Day”: A case of Young Adult Literature

By Cruz, F. & Gallardo, M.

Longevity pills and clonation could be, in the near future, commonly used expressions due to the medicine advances. Nowadays, these terms appear, among others, in some pieces of writing, as in the case of “Sundiver day”, a short science fiction story written by Kathleen Ann Goonan. The story takes place in the Florida Keys and tells the life of an adolescent, Eelie, who cannot accept her brother’s death. He has gone missing in a Middle East War. Eelie lives with her mother in a house, near to the beach. She spends her time between the school and the Science Institute; she wins a science prize because of her knowledge about clonation. She was able to clone a parrot and some plants and she is working secretly on cloning her brother. The story depicts a science fictional world where clone people are very common but illegal.

Kathleen Ann Goonan, the author is well known for  winning many awards for her work in “ Queen city jazz” , “The bones of time”, “Mississippi blues” and “In war times”, among others. She also is well known for writing Young Adult Literature (YAL). YAL is characterised by containing certain topics and features that are directly related to adolescents’ life.  “Sundiver Day” seems to be an instance of YAL since most of these topics and characteristics are developed.

Robert C. Small, dean at Radford University, points out some characteristics that help understand when a text can be considered YAL (Herz & Gallo, 1996).  These characteristics expose certain elements that may be present in Young Adult Literature:                                                                                                    

•“the main character is a teenager”,
•“events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers”,
•“the main character is the centre of the plot”,
•“dialogue reflects teenage speech”,
•“the point of view presents an adolescent´s interpretation of events and people”,
•“the teenage main character is usually  perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent”,   
•“the novel is short”,
•“the actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict”.                                                                                                        

Small, also explains YAL should not avoid certain controversial topics such as sexuality, substance abuse, pregnancy, identity and death.                                         In “From Hinton to Hamlet”, Herz & Gallo, (1996) mention these controversial topics as “universal themes”. The authors explain that universal themes are related to existential questions “Who am I?” and “Where do I fit in?”, and point that these are topics that “all students can benefit from reading and discussing...” Herz & Gallo also explain universal themes as topics that are common in certain group or society.

As regards Small’s characteristics, one of them claims “The main character is a teenager”: Eelie is the main character because the story is based on her life and she is an adolescent because she is sixteen-year-old as she tells the readers in the story “I just turn sixteen”.  According to Erik Erikson (1902-1994), a German-born American psychoanalyst, one of the stages of the life cycle is adolescence and it comprehends the ages 12 to 18.                                          

“Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers”: The story tells Eelie’s life, an adolescent who has to deal with common issues related to her age such as “school problems”; she neglects the school to go to the Science Institute to find the way to clone her brother, “pregnancy”; she decides to inoculate her brother’s ovum, and “death”; she cannot accept her brother’s death.

Another characteristic points out that “the main character is the centre of the plot”; in the story, Eelie, is the centre of the plot since her life is depicted. From the beginning to the end the story is about Eelie’s happiness, concerns and intentions. The following characteristic indicates; “dialogues reflects teenage speech”, in “Sundiver day” Eelie provides  many instances of teenage speech;    “ they used to make fun of me and call me  ‘Miss Smarty’, but I beat up the ringleader of that crowd, Marcy Phipps, when I was fourteen, and after that nobody bothered me.”

Eelie is not only portrayed as mature and independent when she decides to have a baby and to clone a person, but also intelligent and sensitive when she comprehends her mother’s loneliness. These appreciations about Eelie seem to coincide with the Small’s feature that says: “the teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent”.

As regards the size of the story, Small explains that adolescents are reluctant to read a story of more than two hundred pages, so to catch the attention of adolescents the story has to be short. “Sundiver Day” is a story of no more than twenty pages and can be appreciated by adolescents.

In relation to “universal themes”, some examples are present in the story. One of them and apparently the most important is death. The whole story is based on the problem that Eelie has to accept her brother’s death; “no matter what Mom says, I will never say he´s dead until they show me a body. And that might be never”.

Another universal theme is pregnancy, clearly present in the story; Eelie needs a uterus to complete Sam´s clonation but her mother refuses the proposal. Eelie gives a thought about being a mother at her age but finally she decides to inoculate the egg into herself.

The science fictional word and the topics present in the story seem to comprehend adolescents’ expectations. As experts say, YAL has to develop certain features and has not to avoid crucial topics common in adolescents’ life. Considering “Sundiver Day” as an instance of YAL, is appropriated to say that adolescents may feel identified with some situations of the story which make them feel interested in reading it.
           
REFERENCES
-Erikson’s Stages of Development: Learning Theories. Accessed 25/06/2013 http://www.learning-theories.com/eriksons-stages-of-development.html.
-Herz, S. & Gallo, D. (1996) From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Young Adult Literature and the Classics. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
-Longman Language Activator: Helps your write and speak natural English. New Edition. Pearson Education Limited 1993, 2002

“LAZARUS: a comparisson between adolescents and Lazarus about the feeling of loneliness”

By Pablo Barroca

“When Lazarus rose from the grave, after three days and nights in the mysterious thralldom of death, and returned alive to his home, it was a long time before anyone noticed the evil peculiarities in him that were later to make his very name terrible…”

This extract is part of the story “Lazarus”, written by Leonid Andreyev, in which similarly to what the protagonist experiences during the fiction, there are human beings who face conflicts of behaviour through their adolescence.

According to Ariel Bianchi (1986) adolescence is characterized as “advances in maturity of emotional, intellectual and social behaviour; and besides by passing through moments of loneliness, doubts and distrust due to the discovery of the new body and psychological behaviour.”

This essay will compare the fiction story “Lazarus” and what adolescents go through their real life. Throughout this story teenagers can reflect upon an important issue that is present during adolescence as the feeling of loneliness.

Human beings experience different conflicts during their adolescence and one of the most important is the feeling of loneliness.

Aberasturi and Knobel (1991) define the feeling of loneliness as “periods in which young people are locked up in their rooms to be alone. These moments of solitude are usually necessary to keep outside the past, present and future time converted into manageable objects. The ability to be alone is a sign of maturity, only achieved after these distressing experiences of loneliness of adolescence.”

By reading “Lazarus”, adolescents can reflect upon their feeling of loneliness is very common among themselves, and also necessary to clarify their doubts about the changes that their new body suffer, and   their way of thinking.

The following extract shows how Lazarus experiences his feeling of loneliness in the story:

“During the day, when the sun beat down mercilessly upon all living things, and even the scorpions hid under the stones, convulsed with a mad desire to sting, he sat motionless in the burning rays, lifting his face and shaggy wild beard. While someone had asked him: “Poor Lazarus! Do you find it pleasant to sit so, and look at the sun?” And he answered: “Yes, it is pleasant.” And when the setting sun descended to earth, Lazarus went into the desert and walked towards it, as though intending to reach it. Always he walked towards the sun.”

In this case Lazarus spends a lot of time under the hot sun without giving importance to the people that surround him. Even though he is not locked up in his room to clarify doubts about his body or to think about possible inner conflicts, he is under the hot sun all day. These moments are similar to those that all teenagers need when they have to debate and find with themselves through their adolescence.

Another instance of the feeling of loneliness can be appreciated in the following extract in which Lazarus decides to be alone while he is travelling by ship to Rome:

“There were many people aboard, but the ship was silent and still as a coffin, and the water seemed to moan as it parted before the short curved prow. Lazarus sat lonely, baring his head to the sun, and listening in silence to the splashing of the waters.”

As it can be seen in the previous extract from the story, Lazarus ignores the so crowded ship and looks for his loneliness. His anti-social attitude is similar to the one adolescents face when they are going through this feeling of loneliness.

As regards the feeling of loneliness, adolescents need to be alone and to retreat into their inner world and from there to act with their external world. (Erik Erikson, 1972)

According to the extracts analysed from the story “Lazarus”, it has been demonstrated that some human beings during their adolescence pass through different conflicts of behaviour, in this case the feeling of loneliness. This story can help teenagers to reflect upon the emotional and physical changes they experience during this stage are normal and also important for their lives.

REFERENCES
*Leonid Andreyev, (2009) “Lazarus”, “Zombies: Encounters with the hungry dead”, Black                 Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. United States.
*Aberastury-Knobel, (1991) “La adolescencia normal”, Ed. PAIDOS, Barcelona, España.
*Ariel Bianchi (1986) “Psicologia de la adolescencia de sus conflictos y armonias”, Ed.                  TROQUEL, Argentina.
*Erik Erikson (1972), “Sociedad y Adolescencia”, Ed. SIGLO VEINTIUNO, Mexico.

I was a soldier (review)

By Brian E. Turner

I was a soldier by bestselling author Brian E. Turner, who has written several stories concerning war issues, is a short story that pictures the cruel and cool decisions that soldiers are forced to make in the battle field.

At the beginning of the story, we can clearly perceive the atmosphere of war since the author makes an understandable distinction between the colours of the soldier’s uniform belonging to each side. Then, as we go on reading, the narration makes us feel that the relationship between the soldiers will be a friendly one. We probably assume they may become comrades because of their attempt to communicate in spite of their language differences. Although differences concerning communication are solved, those regarding war issues aren’t. This is why the reader might feel a bittersweet sensation as the story reaches its ending.

I was a soldier is a very interesting piece of literature that may leave the reader satisfied. The unexpected twist at the end of the story will definitely prove the horrors of war. We highly recommend it since it is catching, intriguing and emotive. A story the reader should not missed.

“I was a soldier”, a mixture of feelings (review)

Award-winning American Poet Brian E. Turner is the author of two poetry collections. As a soldier-poet, who served seven years in the US Army, Turner was selected as one of 50 United States Artists Fellows. Turner lets us to know what happen to a person during the cruelty of a war. “I was a soldier” one of the stories included in his collections depict not only comradeship but duty as the main task of a soldier.

The story takes part during a war. Two soldiers with the same desperate desire of saving their lives meet in a hole accidentally. Although they were enemies, comradeship is shown in two opportunities: at the time in which one of them helps the other who is seriously injured and when the two soldiers share their deepest feelings of being with those who they love most. Despite fellowship, soldiers’ duty is stronger and it gives to this story a tragic and unexpected end.

“I was a soldier” is the kind of story which can make us think about our principles and priorities as human beings. Feelings of comradeship can be overshadowed by duties showing the cruelty of war. The fact that “I was a soldier” is written by an expert on wars makes of this a highly recommended reading.

I WAS A SOLDIER (review)

I WAS A SOLDIER is a lively short story in which its author, the New Zealander Brian E Turner, deals with controversial meaning of war.

The story transfers the reader from his peaceful life to the tragic and dramatic scenery of a battlefield. This context provides a frame to the story to experience, unless for a moment, the feelings soldiers may have in wartime. Moreover, this feelings can act as triggers to discuss or reflex on topics such as duty, empathy, friendship, hope and human miseries.

Brian E Turner, a war veteran himself, develops the story in a masterful way up to the last moment .And the shocking and unexpected ending produces in the readers a bitter disappointment when facing the cruel truth. This situation results incomprehensible for those who don’t know how a war is like.

Although, this story was not written for adolescents it can be very interesting for them because after reading the story, they can take part of a debate and they also can have the opportunity to judge the behaviour of the characters of the story by themselves according to their own principles.

I WAS A SOLDIER (review)

Bryan Turner
(Review by Pablo Barroca Roldán)

“I was a soldier” by Bryan Turner tells the story of two enemy soldiers who started to socialize in a strange way during war. As every soldier has duties to obey during the war, these two protagonists won´t be the exception. In consequence, the resulting relationship among them will lead this fiction to an unexpected ending.

Turner´s book presents different topics such as friendship, death, duty, and human contradiction among others. The incorporation of all these topics, by the author, is very essential since students can face the mentioned topics in nowadays society.

Even though Turner´s story does not have any illustrations, it contains simple expressions and vocabulary that might help the reader or listener to follow the story without any problem.

“I was a soldier” is an interesting short story that allows young adult to reflect upon the importance of war, duty, death, friendship and human contradiction. This book is highly recommended to be used with adolescents at secondary schools.

YOUNG GLADIATORS (TV proposal)

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you with the intention to talk about an interesting idea for you to carry out in your prestigious television channel. My idea consists of a teens´ show in which adolescents will have to show their mental and physical abilities through different contests. Considering  some important characteristics of the adolescence stage which  are the excessive adrenalin and use of strength; I have no doubt that the show will catch the attention of male and female adolescents´ audience at home, and also will  motivate  the participants to become heroes.

The show will be called “Young  Gladiators” and will be a weekly programme that will last 2 hours at prime time. In this show, different mixed groups of teens aged 16 to 19, either friends or school partners, will compete against other similar teams. Some of the important contests will include individual combats like gladiators, swimming competitions in big pools and climbing competitions in high and difficult walls. Participants will be supervised by experienced and professional trainners who will guide them during each challenge; and also the participants will wear special helmets and uniforms to protect their heads and bodies. Groups that win the competitions will classify to the finals, and the winner of the final will receive an amazing prize of $1,000,000!

I am looking  forward to hearing from you soon.


Yours faithfully,
P S B R

Mission Accomplished (TV show proposal)

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing this letter to propose you an innovative TV format for your successful network, which consists on a reality show based on sports and survival directed and protagonized by adolescents. The programme will be called “Mission Accomplished”.

The show will take place outdoors in “El Delta”, Buenos Aires. This natural area surrounded by diverse and native vegetation would be perfectly suitable for practising not only exciting but also extreme sports, to be carried out by teenagers.

The idea is that participants will choose allies in order to achieve their goals which will be set by the producers of our show. There are ten different challenges which will require competitors’ skills and abilities to move on to the next aim. As regard the challenges, these can be described as sports games such as swimming in dangerous canals, diving waters with poor visibility, trees climbing and trekking among others.

Throughout this creative programme, adolescents will enjoy our natural areas, increasing their awareness of Argentina wild areas and contributing to their preservation.

Taking into account the style of the programme we suggest your placing this show on prime time due to its successful format.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
“The crazy sisters & co.”

The Quetzal Project (TV show proposal)

Mister Thomas Yankelevich

(WE ARE A GROUP OF STUDENTS OF A TTC AND) We are writing to let you know our proposal about a new television programme that we named The Quetzal Project. In the following lines we will establish the details of the show.

The Quetzal Project is a competition to find twelve young actors and actresses to be part of an adolescent sitcom. This competition will consist of groups of teenagers performing situations that adolescents have to go through on their way to adulthood.  A group of well recognized psychologists will help with the script of the programme. The participants will be judged every week, after their performance , by a jury formed by three teachers of secondary school of both levels (Basic and Superior) and a group of three adolescents as well. This jury will vote each participant according to their performance, giving them points ranging from zero up to one hundred .The participant that accumulates more points is the one who passes to next programme. The competition will last twelve months so, every month the jury will have to choose a winner who will be part of the sitcom.

We consider this programme very suitable for a large range of viewers that expect a TV programme according to their age and needs. In other words, adolescents need to share experiences. So, we believe this is the programme!

Yours faithfully,
Daniela, Valeria, Mariela, Lidia and Gilda