“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

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

“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.

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.

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

“I will not waste chalk. Ay, caramba!”

Student: Valeria Muscato

What kind of Elementary School would you choose for your children?  Would you choose a behaviourist school in which the students have no participation and their errors are seen as a fail to the response after had received the same stimuli several times?

One of the most famous American TV shows, “The Simpsons” depicts how students at Springfield Elementary School are taught through the Behavourist Approach.  According to theorists,

“this theory is a worldview that operates on a principle known as ‘stimulus-response’. Behaviorism is caused by external stimuli (operant conditioning). All behavior can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness.” (www.learning-theories.com) 

The Head of the school, Mr. W. Seymour Skinner, may be associated with the real B.F. Skinner, the father of modern behaviourism because both of them share the same surname. In addition to this, whenever “The Simpsons” begins, there is an opening sequence in which the audience can see Bart Simpson writing on the board the same sentence a hundred times. Due to his bad attitude, he is punished by Mrs. Krabaple, Bart’s teacher.  She thinks that through constant repetition Bart may change his behaviour. This shows a clear example of the belief that the more you receive the stimuli, the fastest you create an automatic response.

Another example of behaviourism is a scene where Lisa’s teacher, Mrs.Hoover, shows her limited knowledge as she constantly needs to check the answers on the teacher’s book (season 3, 18th episode) without taking care of learning. Lisa gets angry because of this situation and hides her teacher’s and all the other teacher’s books in her locker. As a result, the teachers get desperate to such a point that one of them quits because he cannot deliver classes without his prized book. This shows that many teachers at The Springfield Elementary School do not know how to teach to their students because their teaching is not creative and they do not care about their students’ needs or interest. As a famous pedagogue, Jim Shrivener (1994) points out “the explainer teacher has limited knowledge of teaching methodology and during her/his classes the students are not being personally involved or challenged”.

It is also important to point out that the teachers, who teach with this approach praise their students for being smart. As B.F. Skinner (1961), father of Behaviourism, points out this is called positive reinforcement. For example; Lisa is one of those smart students and she knows that good marks will always be congratulated by, the Headmaster of the institution, Mr. Skinner. This reward will make smart students to repeat the same action in order to reinforce the teaching-learning process.

In conclusion, it appears right to say that the teaching approach depicted in Springfield Elementary School in The Simpson is the bahaviourist and one could question the reasons why this is so, but that should be issue for another essay.

The Antenna Controversy

Authors: Lidia Figueroa & Valeria Muscato

When television made its appearance in our homes in the ‘50s, the parents of those times gladly trusted the content of TV shows. Programmes not only entertained but also transmitted the social values that families expected. Nothing was questioned because the stories seen on TV were similar to everybody’s life. But things are changing and the TV programme Teletubbies is a clear example of this because some parents do not trust in its content as they used to. Therefore, Teletubbies’ content is no apt for grown-up conservative minds as it goes against traditional sexual models.

The colourful characters of this programme named Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Dipsy and Po made people feel annoyed due to the fact that they do not know what sex they are. None of us know the truth but there is a hidden symbolism in the antenna that each of the characters has on their heads. Laa-Laa, the yellow Teletubby, is a female and she has a curly antenna which symbolizes, according to Berit Kjos who is a respected researcher in educational issues, the evolution of the universe. Po is also a female and her antenna is a circle. Dipsy, the green Teletubby is a male and his antenna is straight, needless to say what body part of men it represents. But the most controversial character is Tinky Winky the purple Teletubby, although he is a male he carries a red purse which is – in general – associated to women. The antenna on his head is the biggest of all, its shape is a triangle pointing down and it has a feminine connotation because it symbolizes a female womb.  According to this explanation, people who may be offended can deduce that Tinky Winky is a homosexual. Furthermore, members of the homosexual community claim that they are represented through the purple colour, because in the 1920s the purple colour indicated an effeminate style. Besides during the years 1950s and 1960s homosexuals were called “lavender”.

In addition, conservative people can also argue the relationship between the characters as they show emotions and feelings openly. These people consider this kind of behaviour confusing for the youngest viewers of the TV programme presuming  the homosexual connotation of the characters.

The TV programme Teletubbies is a mirror that reflects our changing society and children do not care about homosexuality because they are naturally immersed and see things through innocent eyes. However, conservative adults may not accept this new society that leaves behind old stereotyped conceptions.

Grandma Rabbitty´s Visit (review)

Grandma Rabbitty´s Visit
Barry Smith
Dorling Kindersley Limited, 9 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8PS.
(Review by Lidia Figueroa and Valeria Muscato).

Grandma Rabbity´s Visit, by Barry Smith, is an adorable story for toddlers that takes place in a Rabbits’ house in which the little ones of the family are expecting the visit of their Grandma. During the wait, they see many vehicles appear throughout the text.

The story begins an early morning when mother Rabbity receives a phone call from Grandma Rabbity announcing that she is coming to visit the family. As soon as she finishes the call, mother Rabbity tells her sons the news. Immediately, they begin to express an enthusiastic interest and an impatient desire for the visit of their Grandma.

As the story develops, the young Rabbities see many different means of transport through the glass of the big living room window of their house. They really enjoy the view of those vehicles that anticipate their pass with funny sounds.

The author tries to capture the attention of the young hearers from the start. He illustrates the story with coloured pictures. Also, the storywriter uses a simpler language and the repetition of the particular sound each vehicle makes not only entertains young children but it also may allow them to interact with the story by repeating the onomatopoeias.

Grandma Rabbity´s Visit is highly recommended. It will be a great help if you are a parent or a teacher interested in teaching means of transport to young children. Don´t miss the opportunity to read Grandma Rabbity´s Visit.

Som-Som

Open publication - Free publishing - More children

The Business Ant

Once upon a time, there was a little Red Ant full of dreams. The dream he wanted most was to start his own business building the biggest hotel for ants.

So, he started to work on his project. The whole colony thought it was a silly idea and laughed at him.

“Are you out of your mind!” said one of his friends. 

“Why are you building a hotel? We are comfortable enough where we are!” said another one.

“What’s wrong with that?” said little Red Ant. “It makes room for new people”

In spite of his friend’s jokes, little Red Ant went on his huge idea.

When the building was ready, a lot of ants suddenly arrived looking for a new place to spend their holidays. 

As soon as little Red Ant’s friends realized that his hotel was full, they were curious about it. So they decided to rent a room in there. 

“What a good idea little Red Ant has had!” said his friends. “This hotel is more luxurious than our austere colony!” 

As the days went on, little Red Ant became the most famous business ant in the colony. What is more, he was very proud of what he had done. 

Exquisite cadaver

It was a cold night, the streets were almost empty and unexpectedly I ran into him. It was a long time since I had seen him for the last time.

At first I couldn’t recognize him because he had changed a lot. His hair was shorter and he had wrinkles on his face. He was surprised as well. He told me that I looked the same. He invited me to have a cup of coffee nearby to catch up. We went to a little café on the corner of that block and we talked about our lives. We spent almost two hours talking until we realized it was very late but we looked at each other and decides to ask for another cup of coffee. After all the day was rainy and too cold. Nobody expected such tragic ending early in the evening.The destuctive wind blew everything down on its way and made the following hours and days unbearable for some people. Although the destroyed city is recovering its normal life, the way to my mother’s house was desolated after the tornado. As I was getting closer to the house it was even worse. I was really worried about my mother, but also about Pompi, my loyal dog.

Fortunately, when I arrive home I learnt that the building wasn’t damage. The walls and roof were in their places, but Pompi wasn’t there. As my mother was fine, I started to look for the dog. I walked all day long, but I couldn’t find him. I was desperate and very sad. Darkness didn’t help much and to make things worse it started to pour down. I had almost no hope. It was a cold night, the streets were almost empty and suddenly I ran into him.

Flash Fiction

“Plane crush: do we still have Paris?”
(Daniela Busto and Eleonora Graziano)

“I’m too hungry. There’s not enough food. Where’s Bobby?”
(Daniela Busto, Eleonora Graziano and Valeria Muscato)

“Jane: I need to talk to you, Mr. Rochester: Wait. I've got something to do in the attic.”
(Eleonora Graziano)

Balloon: -Careful with the cactus! –What cactussssss
(Gilda Álvarez)

-Tsunami! -Yeah, and I just washed my car...
(Gilda Álvarez)

We partied, we drank, ambulance please!
(Mariela Giribaldi)

A small house. Where is it?
(Valeria Muscato)

Mouse. Running. Hunting. Cat.
(Valeria Muscato)

Bring my dog back, twister!
(whole class)