“The Sun is Also a Star” represents adolescence through the utilization of youth lenses such as: Characterization, Plot, Setting, Metaphor, and Theme. The youth lens we will address here is themes. Specifically, a theme often seen in YAL novels which develops their characters from adolescence into young adulthood, passion vs. reason. However, unlike other YALs where characters grow from relying on passions to relinquishing to reality and reason, protagonists Natasha and Daniel from “The Sun is Also a Star” learn they do not need to relinquish either their reason or passion for this one day romance. Instead, they learn the parallels of their reason and passion can compliment each other rather than cause conflict. As the end shows, Natasha and Daniel compromise and find middle ground between being practical in a finically stable job and pursuing their passions, such as being together and finding a career path they can find happiness. In this way, the text has subverted the idea of adolescence being a destruction and ending of childhood and dreams; it shows instead a different kind of maturity where our protagonists do not have to sacrifice their happiness like their parents before them, like Natasha’s father Samuel. Through Natasha and Daniel’s romance, the text argues passion and reason can coincide to a creative compromise, just as the world is never just black and white; there are more options than we realize. Choosing between passion and reason is not what makes us adults; it’s how we balance our lives with them that shapes us into the adults we become, hopefully we choose a balance that allows us, like Natasha and Daniel, to become happy and financially stable.

What is the role of sequential art, graphic novels, and comics in the English Language Arts (ELA) classroom?

In an ELA classroom, these different modes of media and language open students’ expression and understanding of text, significance in passing on stories, and art. Many students first associate stories with books, they forget other modes of communication utilized through time such as oral story telling and art. By expanding into different modes of storytelling, aside from usual textbooks and articles, students can go forward in storying telling evolution, allowing themselves more forms to sympathize and utilize for their own development of expression and comprehension.

"readers may have an easier time with the graphic novel because the pictures make the surface plot approachable while
providing a gentle nudge in the direction of the inner issues.

Graphic novels and comic books for older students frequently expose adolescents to the adult world, a world differ-
ent than their immediate world. Middle school and high school readers feel a sense of identity and begin to navigate

this seemingly foreign world of adults – a world of adult love, deception, respect and admiration, intrigue, satire,
passion, politics, war, bonds of friendship, famine, genocide, and hope. As students look at these books as accessible
(perhaps with some considering the text simple, fun and familiar) they are also developing an awareness of what is means to be an adult," said Kelly (2010). 

Post reading discussion prompts I would use in my class include:

"Conferencing:
In classrooms in which students practice Reader-Response (Rosenblatt, 1965), conferences can
help teachers to monitor comprehension. After reading, a teacher can ask students to explain their
response to the text as well as ask how he/she achieved that response and can intervene when
students demonstrate difficulties with comprehension."

I would ask my students to look through “This One Summer” up to page 16, without reading the text. What can you infer from the story so far? What makes you think so? How does it change once you read the text?

"Discussion:
Asking students to discuss their responses to the text helps them to participate in communal
discussion. By utilizing discussion groups, literature circles (Daniels, 1994), or Socratic seminars,
teachers help students to negotiate meaning about a text. After working with a peer or small
group, engaging students in whole class discussions helps the class to discuss the theme of a graphic
novel, characters, plot, author technique, etc. Students can use their reading journals to ask questions, discuss connections, or raise points for discussion."

I would have them discuss pages 60-61 of “This One Summer” asking: What would these panels convey without the text? How are illustrations conveying how our narrator feels? How are text bubbles influencing how it’s read? How do these contrast to pages 70-71?

On pages 90-91, I ask what is the significance of the large bottom panel? What can we infer from the text and panels about Windy? What is the significance of the light here?

"Completing graphic organizers:
Graphic organizers such as the Venn Diagram (for comparisons), a T-Chart (for cause-and-effect
or problem-solution), the K-W-L chart (Ogle, 1986), or the Comprehension Windows Strategy
[Bass & Woo, 2008] for nonfiction or informational text can help teachers monitor student under
standing after reading."

I can have students create a graphic organizer comparing cause and effects throughout the story or comparing when panels and texts coincide or contrast meaning.

"Creating:
When students create based on what they read, they are not only demonstrating that they comprehend the text, they are also reflecting on their comprehension."

I can have students create a mural using the graphic novel’s panels in order to summarize or convey their understanding of the whole story. Furthermore, I can give them the option to create their own short story or comic inspired from the story, using its main themes and motifs.

For the last post-discussion activity, I would have students choose their own sequential art, graphic novel, comic, or novel to pair with reading “This One Summer” and share how they hold similar themes, characters, or techniques.

Page 70-71 of “This One Summer.”

What I Found on The 57 Bus

Smooth seats

plush and plastic,

silver support poles,

and aged stains are always

questionable, but the smell

of sticky sweat, saucy food, and

the alarming scent of a smoking skirt.

Screams, laughter, shouts, and flames

left the bus empty but changed.

Was it hate that day?

Or foolishness when,

Lord gave four chances to

turn back, but that thumb found the lighter

again, and again, and again until

there was only pain and regret.

Everyone left the bus scarred;

the city drew lines and children cried

“why me?” from inside confinement

and a hospital bed. Mothers suffered

just as much, watching their babies burn

in fire and hate. Tears were shed from both victims

by a “crime that changed their lives.”

Letters, words, and language

connected hearts to bridge forgiveness;

too late after the fact,

guilt meant punishment

and life meant time.

Would there be any left to change for better?

If only, they all thought.

The poem I wrote inspired by “The 57 Bus” by Dashka Slater is one where I tried to capture the normal scene of the day; it was supposed to be like any other for Sasha and Richard. But inconsideration and foolishness from Richard and his friends made a prank into a crime. I wanted to interweave this poem around the diction of: change, chances, connection, and forgiveness. I wanted the beginning to really convey how it was going to be like any other bus on any other day, and I was tempted to really delve into the divisions that kept Sasha and Richard from reconciliation sooner. However, I knew the division is not the focus of their story; it was the connection. Both took the 57 bus and neither knew or cared about the other; they were strangers. After this change in their lives, they have thought and connected in such a way, without ever really talking to each other. Their families felt each other’s pain and gained an understanding of regret; why did it have to be them? In a way, I hope this crime became a positive connection two very different individuals who had more in common than they might have realized. Above all, I wish them both better lives full of happiness and support.

The hot-seat experience showed me there are moments in our lives where we have a choice; a choice to change, either for the better or worse. These chances happen throughout our life, never stopping at a certain age. The difference in changing for the better is being able to see more than one perspective and trying to understand both. Accepting there is more than just good and bad, always trying for good. But most importantly, accepting our mistakes and learning from them.

I understand these characters were purposefully relatable; none of them were stupid or being demonized, but they were real. They were people who all thought they were just living out their lives, trying to do right. Police brutality questions right and wrong actions, but what should really be criticized is how police are not informed of their limits. There is a line of action they should not cross, like other civilians who try to help in emergency situations but end up making them worse.

There is no one to blame, just those who should be held accountable for their actions.

Furthermore, the activity could be improved with more prep work. A few days or class periods, no more than two classes would be dedicated to setting up expectations for the activity. How far should students prepare? How much should students know about the character they take on? Teachers could also pre-prep their classrooms to accommodate this activity, such as having a system set up for it. For instance, basic questions vs. complex questions as examples. Props (cleaned) are very important, with what is allowed and prohibited because some characters may be armed. Limits should be set, such as insults or no insults and the leeway; what is the limits in undertaking the characters? If language is strong in readings, stronger than appropriate for a class, then substitute profanity with made up words or old time insults that sound more silly than insulting. Remind students to leave the character they role-play at the activity, not out of the classroom. Remind students to choose or be assigned characters they don’t relate with to try to understand different perspectives and create logic where the characters feelings and ideals make sense.

Time limits to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak, and most importantly, encouragement for students to be comfortable with this learning activity. They need to understand why this is significant and important to learn, and give them a list of skills they gain from this activity. It allows them to form their argumentative skills, it allows them to understand how different perspectives can develop a person, how environments and ideals can change or improve a person. I would love more conversations and activities like this in classrooms, as it encourages collaboration, communication, and class participation.

With the All American Boys text, I want to use the Shared Reading Strategy for grades 6-8 and 9-12. The strategy entail reading, then re-reading the text, allowing it to undergo in class conversation. I feel it is an appropriate strategy to approach students with because it promotes engagement and initiative with students; they can play an interactive game to keep track of who is reading and where the last person left off, by letting students read and choose the next reader to keep each other engaged. For pauses in readings, discussions can be held in small groups, which promotes more interaction, letting the lesson assist even ASL students. In class reading and discussion, allows students to analyze the chapters and open up their interpretations of characters, actions, and themes. The reading would be broken up into units; in a time crunch situation, students would analyze chapter units in groups. Groups would be responsible for their unit of chapters then could discuss interpretations of their parts of the story. Then, each group would share their analysis with the class, promoting further in class discussion. 

I would assign this strategy after each assigned reading unit, or during class progression of the text. For example, students would be assigned to read the first four chapters; then in class, we would re-read the material while divided into groups, discuss themes and specific points, and have each group share what they have learned from each other. Teachers can redirect and broaden student conversations. With this activity, students can explore beyond the main themes within the text by discussing how such issues exist within their own lives and how they have witnessed the themes through their own local news experiences. Students can discuss how their race has exposed prejudice and stereotypes; they can also confirm or deny how and why these issues remain to persist. Furthermore, a discussion can be explored of how the story could have been different had characters taken other courses of action. The activity demonstrates YA pedagogy by revisiting discussion, themes, and analysis which define All American Boys as a YA text. It explores how the text can impact YA literature, and the importance of relatable YA literature in classrooms. 

From the readings, I comprehend young adult literature involves not only disputed age ranges, but the connection between adolescents to their own developmental issues through texts. Bueher focused more on the technicalities; it discussed how to break up the focus between what teachers understand about students and their reading materials.

“Teachers can help students develop awareness of their diverse experiences and knowl-
edge—all of which affect the ways they engage with texts. These include reading experi-
ences in previous grades and in out-of-school spaces.”

Meanwhile, Petrone focused more on the themes behind what identifies texts as young adult literature.

“Much of this work coheres around analyzing how YAL creates and circulates
ideas about adolescence/ts and messages to and for youth.”

Sims-Bishop took a more narrative approach, taking real life examples of students choosing their reading material based on their relativity to their personal lives.

“When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part. “

My question: How do the conclusions found in these readings affect or influence teacher and student collaboration in picking reading material for courses?

Control perspective,

such books influence life choice

young adults struggle.

Greetings to curiosity catchers,

I am a rag with sausage limbs which range between a peanut butter truffle to a cooked caramel color, glossy plastic eyes of black coffee matching my straight hair of yarn, and a stature shorter than Napoleon. If anyone saw such a creature, it might be me. But then, it might also be a ghost. What would I be doing in your part of the world? Like any personified pillow, I’m a shut-in who prefers butt sores over bruises. Arts over athletics. I’m also here to be uncomfortable; I try to do 2-3 uncomfortable things a year for myself. You can call it improvement or basic challenges for the introverted and uninteresting. One year it was living on the third floor, this year it is the idea of indirect attention. Virtual eyes sting just as harshly as real stares for me, so I’ll try being optimistic. It’s an opportunity to vent and catalogue my basket case brain.

All of my readers may have stumbled upon this page after a wrong click, except for one. The 1% of my readership is a respectable person; 98% have seen or know me in person and the last percent got here by accident or boredom. Are there people who browse the internet for any hidden gem sites? If so, what sites are out there?

Out of all the sites, my own will be my least favorite; it will only become cringe fuel for my future self. Be humbled, me! Face humiliation of your own creation in the future! It is only inevitable, and I only do this because time travel will not be open to the populace, as I am comforted knowing “you” (my future self) cannot slap “me.”

If I were to choose a version of myself to meet one day, say to the breaking of the laws of logic and time, I would want to meet the “me” who could fit inside a dishwasher. I remember fitting inside one once; I would like to remember the feeling again, so I would meet myself and watch as I climb into a dishwasher and then see if the door closes. Or better yet, I would temporarily switch bodies, so I could make a pillow fort and feel the satisfaction of being able to curl up to the size of a couch pillow.

Pillows have advanced incredibly well; in China, they were made of porcelain or straw, depending on class. Now, the average person can get one made of cotton, foam, or goose feathers. We can appreciate pillows much more after sleeping on cardboard; it’s not as bad as one would expect to sleep. I do suggest never sleep on your side, if you try. You really feel your own weight and bones when you sleep. It let’s you appreciate the cushion of your own butt; however, you also become aware of your back. It’s not straight when you sleep, especially if you sleep on your back.

While I am sleep deprived, I’ll bring us back to the point. Jellyfish Melodies will be created for one semester; I will have literary reviews, haikus, and book rambles. If my discomfort turns therapeutic, I might leave this blog up to continue my digressive thoughts and expand it as a personal blog.