Rational/Reasons For?
Adolescents have a tendency to view the would in black and white rather than seeing the gray areas that fall in between; Holden Caulfield is a typical adolescent. In the world of Holden, there are only “phonies” and adults trying give him a hard time; the only people who aren't “phonies” are his sister and brother. Hopeful, as a reader begins Catcher in the Rye they agree with Holden (to some degree) about the world, but as the novel progresses they should begin to see how his logic isn't serving him, and that he really doesn't have all the answers. In other words, the novel allows young readers have have an inside look at adolescent mentality, from the outside; thus, a young reader can, by way of reading the novel, do what Holden never did: come of age.
In the end, Holden doesn't truly grow up; because of this, Catcher in the Rye presents both a good example to the traditional “coming-of-age” novel, and a challenge to it. With Catcher, the genre of Bildungsroman can both be introduced, challenged, and deconstruction especially when paired with other texts. For this unit plan Catcher will be paired with Nothing but the Truth and the film Dead Poets Society. Dead Poets Society provides a perfect example of a Bildungsroman story, thus giving the students a comparative point by which to base their readings of the two texts. Nothing but the Truth and Catcher in the Rye do not provide the audience with clear genre answers; with these two texts it is importance to ask: Can you have a coming of age novel without a happy ending? And, is it really a coming of age novel if protagonist doesn't grow up?
Reasons Against (this isn't my section but I included ideas i had) Bad language/cursing/blasphemous
No growth or happy ending
Controversy in the past/ has been banned
YA Pairing (Not my section, but here is something to expand off of) As noted, Catcher in the Rye works well with Nothing but the Truth.Other novels it might work well with, considering the genre of bildungsroman, would include: The Adventures of Huck Finn, Great Expectations, andThe Outsiders. While Great Expectations is a canonical text, it would still work well beside other coming-of-age novels. In keeping with this genre, Catcher can also be paired with the films Dead Poets Society, The Mighty(based on the YA novel, Freak the Mighty), and Stand by Me(based on the story story by Stephen King, The Body).
Rational/Reasons For?
Adolescents have a tendency to view the would in black and white rather than seeing the gray areas that fall in between; Holden Caulfield is a typical adolescent. In the world of Holden, there are only “phonies” and adults trying give him a hard time; the only people who aren't “phonies” are his sister and brother. Hopeful, as a reader begins Catcher in the Rye they agree with Holden (to some degree) about the world, but as the novel progresses they should begin to see how his logic isn't serving him, and that he really doesn't have all the answers. In other words, the novel allows young readers have have an inside look at adolescent mentality, from the outside; thus, a young reader can, by way of reading the novel, do what Holden never did: come of age.
In the end, Holden doesn't truly grow up; because of this, Catcher in the Rye presents both a good example to the traditional “coming-of-age” novel, and a challenge to it. With Catcher, the genre of Bildungsroman can both be introduced, challenged, and deconstruction especially when paired with other texts. For this unit plan Catcher will be paired with Nothing but the Truth and the film Dead Poets Society.
Dead Poets Society provides a perfect example of a Bildungsroman story, thus giving the students a comparative point by which to base their readings of the two texts. Nothing but the Truth and Catcher in the Rye do not provide the audience with clear genre answers; with these two texts it is importance to ask: Can you have a coming of age novel without a happy ending? And, is it really a coming of age novel if protagonist doesn't grow up?
Reasons Against (this isn't my section but I included ideas i had)
Bad language/cursing/blasphemous
No growth or happy ending
Controversy in the past/ has been banned
YA Pairing (Not my section, but here is something to expand off of)
As noted, Catcher in the Rye works well with Nothing but the Truth. Other novels it might work well with, considering the genre of bildungsroman, would include: The Adventures of Huck Finn, Great Expectations, and The Outsiders. While Great Expectations is a canonical text, it would still work well beside other coming-of-age novels. In keeping with this genre, Catcher can also be paired with the films Dead Poets Society, The Mighty (based on the YA novel, Freak the Mighty), and Stand by Me (based on the story story by Stephen King, The Body).