Self Identity In Adolescent Literature

While unlike past genres, adolescent literature acts as an archetype for young adults to mold their own experiences and values during a time of developmental turmoil, therefore assisting young adults in the construction of a world autonomous from past generation’s definitions. Historically, children commenced reading rudimentary picture books, then hurriedly elevated to adult novels without an intermediate genre; as a result, adolescent literature has filled the void. While many novels once granted invaluable life lessons they have become outdated, and do not reflect the internal problems that today’s young adults face. To a large degree, reading young adult literature substantially constructs the live’s of teens. Reading novels such as John Green and David Leviathan’s …show more content…
Readers may convey that Will Grayson regrets signing his letter defending Tiny, but in actuality, he regrets breaking both his fundamental rules, which represent his self identity; “1. don 't care too much. 2. shut up” (5). While Will Grayson anguishes over breaking these rules, in doing so he dismantles his self image of not caring; thus, forcing him to assume the self image as an active member within the school community who is not afraid to voice his opinion. Whereas, in Everyday, A’s E-Mail account represents his self identity, and his altercation with Reverend Poole forces A to delete his account. In this process, he destroys the last marker of his self identity. (#) Both novels depict the relevance of preserving one’s self identity from outside forces that could dismantle it. Illustrating that in some instances one’s actions can destroy self identity, and bring about either a positive or negative reconstruction of their self identity. Teens can also infer that some actions are irreversible, that some actions can damage their self identity beyond reconstruction;thus, forcing them to begin