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This study explores the latent operation of Western gender norms in popular female-centred Young Adult (YA) dystopian texts. By examining adolescent female protagonists and the nature of their social havoc-making, this study investigates how reconstructed and recalibrated definitions of femininity ultimately re-inscribe a patriarchal status quo. The five havoc-making heroines under consideration are: Katniss Everdeen of Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” trilogy, Saba in Moira Young’s “Dustlands” trilogy, Deuce in Ann Aguirre’s “Razorland” trilogy, Tris Prior in Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” series, and finally, Cassie Sullivan in Rick Yancey’s THE 5TH WAVE. Although these YA havoc-making heroines rebel against oppressive governmental regimes, I recognize the implicit and explicit construction of their bodies and their behaviours through male-influence. Their male counterparts play a large role in shaping how these heroines look and behave—they perform and appear as masculinized warriors and as feminized delicate beauties in accordance with the political and personal desires of male characters. Through such constructions, these contemporary havoc-makers demonstrate a collision of heroisms: they look and act as conventional action heroines and romance heroines. Including theoretical texts from the 1990s and onward that feature feminist scholarly writing on the textual and filmic representations of women—such as Dawn Heinecken’s THE WARRIOR WOMEN OF TELEVISION and Sherrie A. Inness’ TOUGH GIRLS—I investigate how these young heroines are shaped as per the genres of Action/Adventure and Romance fiction. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This study looks at depictions of Young Adult heroines in popular YA dystopian fictions. Works under consideration: Collins' THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, Young's "Dustlands" series, Aguirre's ENCLAVE, Roth's DIVERGENT and Yancey's THE 5TH WAVE.

Classics remain important to high school curriculum; however, they are also not palatable to today's students. This problem can be addressed by the use of young adult literature to help engagement and comprehension when paired with classic literature. By connecting the two, a student has the chance to learn something they will enjoy before moving on to what would be seen as efferent reading This thesis contains a review of literature on integrating young adult literature in the classroom in order to view its effects on the students' engagement and comprehension. This study focuses on twelfth grade students taking Advanced Placement and Honors courses. Much of the research covers from the middle grades up to ninth grade. No direct research has been found for the twelfth grade level to have students become more avid readers past graduation. The thesis contains sample unit schedules with at least three sample lesson plans within each unit. There are explanations of how these lessons can used in conjunction with young adult literature and classical literature. Each unit covers a different classic novel list and provides the best way to engage students with increased comprehension when put into practice in any twelfth grade Advanced Placement and Honors classroom.

Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes frequently happen across the world. Many of these natural disasters bring destruction to homes, loss of loved ones, and emotional or physical trauma. For children who are still developing coping skills, these natural disasters can bring them emotional distress because they are unable to processes their experiences in a healthy way. In a review of literature on the topic of bibliotherapy and reflective writing to help children learn coping skills, I discovered a need for these processes to be introduced in normal settings, such as school and home, to help children who have experienced natural disasters develop coping skills. My goal in conducting this research was to create a resource that includes a variety of children's literature on the topic of a natural disaster and that demonstrates a coping skill for that trauma. Guiding questions and reflective writing prompts were also added to this resource for the users to guide children in identifying and learning the demonstrated, healthy coping skills. I selected twenty-one quality and award-winning books that address natural disaster for review. Nineteen of them demonstrated a healthy coping skill within the book. Using the information from the book, I created guiding questions and reflective writing prompts to help guide the children in connecting with and learning how to use the coping skill demonstrated. Future developments from my research may include a website with the resource information or a hard copy that can be sent to areas of high-need or high-risk for natural disaster. My goal is that my resource will foster healthy coping skills for children in the school setting, home, or alongside professional help.

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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalization and the inherent shrinking of geographical boarders have rendered modern societies progressively culturally heterogeneous spaces. Increased encounters between people from different cultures have thus become a normal occurrence. Germany is in no way an exception to this socio-cultural phenomenon and has witnessed an emergence of multi-cultural societies, leading to concerted efforts in developing intercultural competence in all spheres of influence. Literature plays a pivotal role in the representation and transfer of culturally determined imaginations and perceptions of the “other”. This role is further emphasized in the case of children’s and youth literature, which has an imminent pedagogical function. For a long time, research in children’s and youth literature has received very little attention as an integral part of literary studies; this is observed both in English and in German literature, though the pace of development differs slightly (Hunt 1999; Weinkauff and Glasenapp 2010; Ewers 2000). In Germany, historical development of children’s and youth literature as an autonomous area of literature and field of study was influenced by societal values and attitudes as well as perceptions of childhood. This has continued to be the case, though recent research indicates a growing emphasis on children’s literature as a tool to develop literacy as well as an appreciation of the aesthetic value of literature. A third component is the intercultural aspect it is able to offer. Impelled by the paucity of systematic analyses of the representation of Africa in German children’s and youth literature, this dissertation sets out to offer a critical appraisal of intercultural aspects and the image of Africa in contemporary German youth literature. A corpus of literary works has been selected for this purpose. The central thesis of the study is that these literary works are involved in a sustained debate of questioning and contesting numerous representations of Africa and Africans. Given the fact that the study touches on several overarching issues, it draws from diverse theoretical perspectives that include intercultural theories on perceptions of the cultural “other” and “imagology” as well as postcolonial studies, with reflections on the pedagogical nature of youth literature. The study considers intercultural and postcolonial theories as conceptualized by Hofmann (2003; 2010), Mecklenburg (2003, 2006; 2008), Gutjahr (2002; 2010) and Göttsche (2003; 2010; 2011; 2012) as well as considerations on imagology as conceptualized by O’Sullivan (1989; 2000) and Beller (2007). In its exploration of the representation of Africa and Africans, this dissertation shows how literary works make use of diverse artistic, stylistic and narratological strategies and devices as possible ways of presenting and rethinking long-held perceptions about Africa. The present study proposes a reading and an appraisal of the corpus of literary texts as important discursive tools that allow for the expansion of self-conception and definition of otherness and the relationship to this otherness, thus contributing to increased intercultural awareness and competence among young readers. / AFRIKKANSE OPSOMMING: Globalisering en die gepaardgaande krimping van geografiese grense het moderne samelewings algaande omskep in kultureel heterogene ruimtes. Sodoende het toenemende ontmoetings tussen mense van verskillende kulture ʼn normale gebeurtenis geword. Duitsland, geen uitsondering op hierdie sosiokulturele verskynsel nie, was getuie tot die totstandkoming van multikulturele samelewings en dit het gelei tot doelgerigte pogings om interkulturele vaardigheid in alle invloedsfere te ontwikkel. Letterkunde speel ʼn deurslaggewende rol in die verteenwoordiging en oordrag van kultureel bepaalde verbeeldings en persepsies van die “ander”. Hierdie rol word verder beklemtoon in die geval van kinder- of jeugliteratuur, wat ʼn belangrike pedagogiese funksie het. Vir ʼn lang tyd het navorsing in kinder- en jeugliteratuur baie min aandag geniet as ʼn integrale deel van literêre navorsing en dit kan in Engelse sowel as Duitse letterkunde opgemerk word, hoewel die pas van ontwikkeling effens verskil (Hunt 1999; Weinkauff en Glasenapp 2010; Ewers 2000). In Duitsland is die historiese ontwikkeling van kinder- en jeugliteratuur as ʼn outonome veld van letterkunde en van navorsing beïnvloed deur die samelewing se waardes en houdings sowel as persepsies van kindwees. Dit word steeds voorgesit hoewel onlangse navorsing toon dat daar groter klem geplaas word op kinderliteratuur as ʼn manier om geletterdheid asook ʼn waardering vir die estetiese waarde van letterkunde te ontwikkel. ʼn Derde komponent is die interkulturele aspek wat dit kan bied. Aangespoor deur die gebrek aan sistematiese analises van die uitbeelding van Afrika in Duitse kinder- en jeugliteratuur, beoog hierdie proefskrif om ʼn kritiese waardering te bied van interkulturele aspekte en die beeld van Afrika in kontemporêre Duitse jeugliteratuur. ʼn Korpus van literêre werke is geselekteer vir hierdie doel. Die sentrale hipotese van die navorsing is dat hierdie literêre werke betrokke is, dikwels ten spyte van hulself, in ʼn volgehoue debat oor die bevraagtekening en betwissing van verskeie uitbeeldings van Afrika en Afrikane. Die studie raak verskeie oorkoepelende kwessies aan en steun daarom op diverse teoretiese perspektiewe wat interkulturele teorieë oor persepsies van die kulturele “ander” en “beeldstudies” insluit, sowel as postkoloniale studies en beskouings van die pedagogiese aard van jeugliteratuur. Interkulturele en postkoloniale teorieë soos voorgestel deur Hofmann (2003; 2010), Mecklenburg (2003; 2006; 2008), Gutjahr (2002; 2010) en Göttsche (2003;2010; 2011; 2012) asook oorwegings oor “beeldstudies” soos voorgestel deur O’Sullivan (1989; 2000) en Beller (2007) sal in aanmerking geneem word. In die ondersoek na die uitbeelding van Afrika en Afrikane wys hierdie dissertasie hoe literêre werke gebruik maak van diverse artistieke, stilistiese en narratologiese strategieë en middele as moontlike maniere om tradisionele persepsies oor Afrika voor te stel en te heroorweeg. Hierdie studie stel ʼn lees en waardering van die korpus van literêre tekste voor as belangrike diskursiewe instrumente wat ruimte laat vir die uitbouing van selfbeskouing en definisie van andersheid en die verhouding tot hierdie andersheid, om sodoende ʼn bydrae te maak tot die verhoogde kulturele bewustheid en vaardigheid onder jong lesers.

This study of atomic-bomb literature on Hiroshima will be through a critical lens, largely through postcolonial theory and reader-response criticism. It will be a discussion on the social and political implications behind the popularization of certain works. The discussed texts will not necessarily be written by the Japanese or by survivors of the atomic bomb: in the first case, I will be examining authorial intent and its relation to the intended reader responses from the implied American audience to study perpetuations of propaganda after the war. This paper will also be examining the interlingual translatability of psychological and physical trauma surrounding the atomic bomb and will be exploring the capacities of language to express an emotional and often sensitive topic.