Combini

ng YA Lit
& the cla
ssics
By: Samantha Scorzo
What Ive witnessed in the classroom:excitement
This semesters honors English 9 reading list consisted of the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Night, and Romeo and Juliet- all of which are
beautifully crafted texts, but very heavy and convoluted in the minds of 14 and 15-year-old students.

To lighten morale (and the reading load), we inserted an independent reading unit in the middle of the semester.

The words your choice written on the board stirred more excitement than any other day in the classroom. My CT and I book talked each
day of the week, and students who felt passionate about their choice reads were encouraged to book talk to the class as well.

When we first introduced the unit, we told the students there would be 14 days of consecutive reading in class. They were told they might
get through two or three novels- which spurred on many comments of disbelief. Over the two weeks, however, many were shocked to find
they did get sucked into a novel they loved and many surpassed the required reading time.

This unit was the perfect mixture of enjoyment and learning. Each day, I of my CT taught a mini lesson on a different literary element that
they were then expected to include in their journal write up at the close of day.
 A need for change:
-Some may argue that the typical English canon is tried and true, and Id agree with that- but Id also agree that this concrete curriculum has
kept U.S. ELA Education at a standstill. Teaching from this canon has produced almost the exact same scores for about 40 years- despite the
craze of advancement the world has seen in those decades.

-According to a 2012 Nations Report Card study, high school students reading performance has only improved 2 points since 1971.

- The card also reported that only 38 percent of high school seniors scored at or above their grades expected reading proficiency
level. The other 62 percent of high school seniors are reading below the proficiency level (Adams 2).

th th
- In a research project done by University of Central Florida, only 13 percent of 11 and 12 grade ELA students reported enjoying
the reading they were currently assigned, despite their statement that they enjoy reading, in general (Adams 2).
Speaking for the remaining 87 percent:
Comparing Classic Literature and Young Adult Literature- which would you rather
read in high school?
In the days when the spinning wheels hummed busily in the farmhouses-and even great ladies, clothed in silk and thread-lace, had
their toy spinning wheels of polished oak-there might be seen in districts far away among the lanes or deep in the bosom of the hills,
certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race.
-George Eliot, Silas Marner

The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way even if you
sniffle a little they won't hear you. If anybody knows that you are crying, they'll start talking about it and soon it'll be your turn to get beat
up when the lights go out.
-Walter Dean Meyers, Monster
 A case for adding ya novels:
How Classics Create an Aliterate Society by Donald R. Gallo

Gallo makes the case for reading YA novels in school by explaining that teaching only the classics deters students from reading so much so that they
never want to open a book ever again. Gallo proclaims that the goal of each and every English teacher should be to cultivate a love of reading in their
students- and a path to doing so is through allowing students to explore more options and choices in their reading material.

One of my former graduate students put it this way: My experience in high school with the classics was similar to dissecting a frog: it was tedious
and it stunk." Such negative experiences and their resulting attitudes have created over the last half century an aliterate society in America. We are
a nation that teaches its children how to read in the early grades, then forces them during their teenage years to read literary works that most of
them dislike so much that they have no desire whatsoever to continue those experiences into adulthood ( Gallo 34).

Gallo explains that the classics are not about TEENAGE concerns! but rather, adult issues. He admits that he only enjoyed reading classic literature
during and after college when it could enjoy and analyze its meaning and how it connected to him.

Contemporary books have all of the literary elements that are taught and analyzed in classics. The only differences are that some contemporary YA
novels lack plot complexity and dull, lengthy descriptions (Gallo 36).

He calls teachers and professors who condemn YA books as shallow ignorant elitists who havent done their homework, havent read an adequate
sampling (Gallo 37).

My main takeaway from his article comes from a line his student told him: The books I read on my own, you never want to put them down; the
ones you assigned, you never want to pick up (Gallo 35).
YA, CCSS, & Tackling Topics
The article Teaching Controversial Young Adult Literature with Common Core explains that
the common core encourages combining fiction, nonfiction, canonical texts, and contemporary
texts to make literature instruction relevant.

The goal of the common core is to teach students to interpret difficult texts on their own,
and overall, to prepare students for a global economy. YA novels can help accomplish this
goal. Many YA novels tackle controversial topics, such as social justice, genocide (such as
Between Shades of Gray), bullying (Twisted), suicide, and sexual harassment (Thirteen
Reasons Why), and dysfunctional families (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake). YA novels
give these topics a platform for discussion. Allowing high school students to interpret and
analyze these problems gives the reading more relatability and relevance in their minds.
Allowing students to read and discuss such difficult and contemporary material will help to
make students the problem solvers our democracy needs (Rybakova).
Look at these standards: Craft and Structure:

All can be accomplished through YA novels

Key Ideas and Details
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text, including how it emerges
and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective
summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in
the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the
cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone
(e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it
sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text,
order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g.,
pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or
surprise.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6

Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or

Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in
conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact
a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a
with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
wide reading of world literature.
Our students have changed and so has Literature
Have you read the book for class yet?

Nah, I think Ill just read the summary online.

Within my first week as a student teacher in a high school English classroom, I heard this conversation between several of my students.
The students did not seem to care if the teacher overheard this conversation. (Emig 1)

While the traditional English canon hasnt changed in decades, our world certainly has. With the internets summaries so accessible, it would
be foolish to assume that all students are sitting down and struggling with the text and actually completing the task of reading a full book.
Students today Sparknote, or GradeSave, or Shmoop, or eNote the material- sometimes five minutes before class starts. More and more often
students are not picking up the books they are assigned. The repetitive complaints are that classics are too dry, or theyre unrelatable
(Why was I supposed to care about a Puritan woman who got pregnant from having sex with a minister? as Gallo asked).

The article Combining Young Adult and Classic Literature in the Secondary Classroom explains that relevance is a key ingredient that's
missing from the current curriculum. Establishing relevance increases interest and comprehension for students. Its not the classics
themselves that arent relatable- its that these connections havent been made clear enough.

This article urges teachers to help their students read for enjoyment as well as comprehension: When students are assigned a book to read
for class, they forget to read for enjoyment. English teachers need to bring back enjoyment of reading to their students. One way to do this is
to show students the merits of the classics by connecting them to the books students already enjoy (Emig 6).
So: how do we incorporate YA novels?
YA novels can also be used as a way to scaffold (or prepare) students for reading the classics.

For example, reading John Greens The Fault in Our Stars before taking on the task of reading Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet could prove
both helpful and engaging for students. Both of these texts deal with the theme of star-crossed lovers, love versus lust, and romantic love
versus life/familial love. Students will be able to practice their close reading and writing skills on John Greens characters- which are their
ages and set in our century- before looking at the characters of Romeo and Juliet.

There is no substitution for learning to read and comprehend classic literature. Reading and learning the process of understanding and
analyzing the classics builds students literacy skills and prepares students for college level reading and writing. The push to incorporate YA
lit is only to help students better understand the importance of the classics and help bring these dusty old texts to life by making them more
relatable through comparing them with their YA contemporaries.
Using ya to scaffold the classics
a. What would incorporating YA literature with the classics within a semester
look like? How could they be used to work together to maximize student
understanding?
i. YA novels can be used as a way of scaffolding reading. This way students are
analyzing from easier to read, relatable contemporary literature and can bring
this understanding to their reading of the classics.

ii. Almost all contemporary novels are based off of or borrow elements from classical
literature. Showing students these connections gives the classics a new relevance
and excitement.

iii. Relatability is key- YA lit is easier for students to relate to in terms of plot,
characters, and language. Showing the connections between YA novels and the
classics in turn, show how connected the classics are to today and how themes and
messages have relatively stayed the same throughout time.
Ways to pair to create A schema of understanding!
Themes Parallel stories Characterization Literary
Elements Text Structure Retellings Genre

The class could read through a YA novel rather quickly, and

then take time to really dig into the classics.
Some combos for you:

Theme/Topic
comparison:
Holocaust
combos:
Characterization
and
Theme
comparisons:

Sadness
Guilt and blame
 Genre
comparisons:
dystopia
Chalk full of
references
 ou r ne y
er o ' s j
AH
character/plot
Connections
 or y - bu t
t s a m e st t
e e x a c s p oi n
Tells th ent character
a d i f f er
from of view

Parallel stories!
 l l i n g s:
rn r et e
Mo d e
Creates interest in
the original telling!
dystopia/ breakdown of society
Based of f o f . . .
 Works cited:
Adams, Emily, "Bringing John Green to Schools: Incorporating Young Adult Literature in a Secondary English Language Arts
Classroom" (2014). HIM 1990-2015. 1549. http://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses1990-2015/1549

Emig, Leigh. Combining Young Adult and Classic Literature in the Secondary Classroom. Rising Tide, vol. 7, pp. 127.
https://www.smcm.edu/mat/wp-content/uploads/sites/73/2015/06/Leigh-Emigh-2015.pdf

Gallo, Donald R. How Classics Create an Aliterate Society. The English Journal, vol. 90, no. 3, 17 Aug. 2011, pp. 3339.

Rybakova, Katie, et al. Teaching Controversial Young Adult Literature with the Common Core. Wisconsin English Journal,
vol. 55, no. 1, 2013, pp. 3745.