HOW MUCH HAS AMERICAN
YOUNG ADULT FICTION
LITERATURE CHANGED SINCE
1970?
Name:
Date: January 28th, 2022
School subject: English
Process supervisor:
Subject supervisor:
,Contents
Preface................................................................................................................................................... 3
Why did I choose this topic?.............................................................................................................. 3
Project plan........................................................................................................................................ 3
Main question:................................................................................................................................ 3
Sub-questions:............................................................................................................................... 4
Overall time planning..................................................................................................................... 4
Reflection....................................................................................................................................... 4
Goals:............................................................................................................................................. 4
What is young adult fiction literature?...............................................................................................5
Definition............................................................................................................................................ 5
What is the difference between young adult literature and adult literature?.......................................5
History................................................................................................................................................ 5
Diversity............................................................................................................................................. 6
............................................................................................................................................................... 6
An analysis of "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret." by Judy Blume..........................................7
Summary............................................................................................................................................ 7
What are the themes of the book?..................................................................................................... 7
Religion.......................................................................................................................................... 7
Puberty........................................................................................................................................... 8
Family conflict................................................................................................................................ 8
How was the book received at the time of publishing?.......................................................................8
Censorship..................................................................................................................................... 8
Who is the target audience?.............................................................................................................. 9
Where does the book take place?...................................................................................................... 9
Place.............................................................................................................................................. 9
Time............................................................................................................................................... 9
An analysis of The hate u give by Angie Thomas............................................................................10
Summary.......................................................................................................................................... 10
What is the theme of the book?........................................................................................................ 10
Race-relations.............................................................................................................................. 10
Injustice........................................................................................................................................ 11
Power of your voice...................................................................................................................... 11
How was the book received at the time of publishing?.....................................................................11
Censorship................................................................................................................................... 11
Who is the target audience?............................................................................................................ 12
Where and when is the book set?.................................................................................................... 12
Place............................................................................................................................................ 12
Time............................................................................................................................................. 12
What are the differences between "Are you there, God? It's Me, Margaret " and "The hate u
give"..................................................................................................................................................... 13
General............................................................................................................................................ 13
Page number................................................................................................................................ 13
Publishing date............................................................................................................................. 13
1
, Protagonist age............................................................................................................................ 13
Themes............................................................................................................................................ 13
Background...................................................................................................................................... 13
Racism............................................................................................................................................. 13
What are the similarities between "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret." and the hate u give.16
General............................................................................................................................................ 16
Category...................................................................................................................................... 16
Writer........................................................................................................................................... 16
Censorship....................................................................................................................................... 16
Teenage girls................................................................................................................................... 17
Friendship........................................................................................................................................ 17
Family bonds.................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion & discussion................................................................................................................... 19
Are you there God? It’s me Margaret...............................................................................................19
The hate u give................................................................................................................................ 19
Similarities........................................................................................................................................ 20
Differences....................................................................................................................................... 20
Main question................................................................................................................................... 20
Future research................................................................................................................................ 20
Reflection............................................................................................................................................ 21
Get better at the English language................................................................................................... 21
Action........................................................................................................................................... 21
Looking back on the action........................................................................................................... 21
Awareness of essentials aspects................................................................................................. 21
Creating alternative methods of action......................................................................................... 21
Trial.............................................................................................................................................. 21
Using reliable sources...................................................................................................................... 21
Action........................................................................................................................................... 21
Looking back on the action........................................................................................................... 21
Awareness of essentials aspects................................................................................................. 21
Creating alternative methods of action......................................................................................... 21
Trial.............................................................................................................................................. 21
Sources............................................................................................................................................... 22
Logbook.............................................................................................................................................. 29
Appendix............................................................................................................................................. 30
Interview with................................................................................................................................... 30
Questions about young adult literature......................................................................................... 30
Questions about "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret."’ Written by Judy Blume.......................30
Questions about "The Hate You Give," written by Angie Thomas................................................31
A comparison between the two novels......................................................................................... 31
2
, Preface
Why did I choose this topic?
In elementary and middle school, I always loved reading. I used to love it when we
had to read in class and we got to go to the school library. I used to read a lot of
Dutch books, like the translation of the Big Friendly Giant at 6 or 7, all the way to
Carry Slee books at 11 and 12.
When I got to high school, I started to lose the fun of reading because we had to read
books that were mostly written for adults, and I just was not interested in them. In my
last year of high school, we had to read a book for English class called "Thirteen
Reasons Why." And even though I do not approve of the book anymore because of
the suicide theme, I do not think it was appropriate to let 15- and 16-year-olds read
this book alone (but that is a whole other discussion), I still loved the book at the
time. I even bought my own copy. I found my love for reading again, and I found all
these English young adult books I had never read, because the only things I had ever
read were Dutch books.
I started getting more and more into reading and found out there was a whole online
community called "book tube" which are youtubers who make videos about books.
And that is where we are right now.
Then came the time when I had to write a Dutch version of my senior thesis. I knew I
wanted to write my thesis about the subjects Dutch or English, but I was struggling to
find a main question for my thesis because most of the questions other people had
used for the subjects Dutch and English were more political questions or questions
about the languages specifically, and I knew I did not want to use one of those.
But suddenly an idea popped up in my head: why not just take my love for books and
turn that into a thesis? When I knew I wanted to do this, I searched the whole internet
for a fun topic about books, but I guess almost nobody wrote a thesis about this,
because I was struggling to find them. Then I came across a girl who did her thesis
about: a study on the development of the position of girls in young adult literature
from 1866–2016'. I also just watched a video of someone who was talking about her
favorite childhood books, so I just decided to combine them.
And that is how my thesis came to life.
Project plan
Name:
Subject: English
Course supervisor:
Process supervisor:
Main question:
How has American young adult fiction literature changed since 1970?
3
YOUNG ADULT FICTION
LITERATURE CHANGED SINCE
1970?
Name:
Date: January 28th, 2022
School subject: English
Process supervisor:
Subject supervisor:
,Contents
Preface................................................................................................................................................... 3
Why did I choose this topic?.............................................................................................................. 3
Project plan........................................................................................................................................ 3
Main question:................................................................................................................................ 3
Sub-questions:............................................................................................................................... 4
Overall time planning..................................................................................................................... 4
Reflection....................................................................................................................................... 4
Goals:............................................................................................................................................. 4
What is young adult fiction literature?...............................................................................................5
Definition............................................................................................................................................ 5
What is the difference between young adult literature and adult literature?.......................................5
History................................................................................................................................................ 5
Diversity............................................................................................................................................. 6
............................................................................................................................................................... 6
An analysis of "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret." by Judy Blume..........................................7
Summary............................................................................................................................................ 7
What are the themes of the book?..................................................................................................... 7
Religion.......................................................................................................................................... 7
Puberty........................................................................................................................................... 8
Family conflict................................................................................................................................ 8
How was the book received at the time of publishing?.......................................................................8
Censorship..................................................................................................................................... 8
Who is the target audience?.............................................................................................................. 9
Where does the book take place?...................................................................................................... 9
Place.............................................................................................................................................. 9
Time............................................................................................................................................... 9
An analysis of The hate u give by Angie Thomas............................................................................10
Summary.......................................................................................................................................... 10
What is the theme of the book?........................................................................................................ 10
Race-relations.............................................................................................................................. 10
Injustice........................................................................................................................................ 11
Power of your voice...................................................................................................................... 11
How was the book received at the time of publishing?.....................................................................11
Censorship................................................................................................................................... 11
Who is the target audience?............................................................................................................ 12
Where and when is the book set?.................................................................................................... 12
Place............................................................................................................................................ 12
Time............................................................................................................................................. 12
What are the differences between "Are you there, God? It's Me, Margaret " and "The hate u
give"..................................................................................................................................................... 13
General............................................................................................................................................ 13
Page number................................................................................................................................ 13
Publishing date............................................................................................................................. 13
1
, Protagonist age............................................................................................................................ 13
Themes............................................................................................................................................ 13
Background...................................................................................................................................... 13
Racism............................................................................................................................................. 13
What are the similarities between "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret." and the hate u give.16
General............................................................................................................................................ 16
Category...................................................................................................................................... 16
Writer........................................................................................................................................... 16
Censorship....................................................................................................................................... 16
Teenage girls................................................................................................................................... 17
Friendship........................................................................................................................................ 17
Family bonds.................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion & discussion................................................................................................................... 19
Are you there God? It’s me Margaret...............................................................................................19
The hate u give................................................................................................................................ 19
Similarities........................................................................................................................................ 20
Differences....................................................................................................................................... 20
Main question................................................................................................................................... 20
Future research................................................................................................................................ 20
Reflection............................................................................................................................................ 21
Get better at the English language................................................................................................... 21
Action........................................................................................................................................... 21
Looking back on the action........................................................................................................... 21
Awareness of essentials aspects................................................................................................. 21
Creating alternative methods of action......................................................................................... 21
Trial.............................................................................................................................................. 21
Using reliable sources...................................................................................................................... 21
Action........................................................................................................................................... 21
Looking back on the action........................................................................................................... 21
Awareness of essentials aspects................................................................................................. 21
Creating alternative methods of action......................................................................................... 21
Trial.............................................................................................................................................. 21
Sources............................................................................................................................................... 22
Logbook.............................................................................................................................................. 29
Appendix............................................................................................................................................. 30
Interview with................................................................................................................................... 30
Questions about young adult literature......................................................................................... 30
Questions about "Are you there God? It’s me Margaret."’ Written by Judy Blume.......................30
Questions about "The Hate You Give," written by Angie Thomas................................................31
A comparison between the two novels......................................................................................... 31
2
, Preface
Why did I choose this topic?
In elementary and middle school, I always loved reading. I used to love it when we
had to read in class and we got to go to the school library. I used to read a lot of
Dutch books, like the translation of the Big Friendly Giant at 6 or 7, all the way to
Carry Slee books at 11 and 12.
When I got to high school, I started to lose the fun of reading because we had to read
books that were mostly written for adults, and I just was not interested in them. In my
last year of high school, we had to read a book for English class called "Thirteen
Reasons Why." And even though I do not approve of the book anymore because of
the suicide theme, I do not think it was appropriate to let 15- and 16-year-olds read
this book alone (but that is a whole other discussion), I still loved the book at the
time. I even bought my own copy. I found my love for reading again, and I found all
these English young adult books I had never read, because the only things I had ever
read were Dutch books.
I started getting more and more into reading and found out there was a whole online
community called "book tube" which are youtubers who make videos about books.
And that is where we are right now.
Then came the time when I had to write a Dutch version of my senior thesis. I knew I
wanted to write my thesis about the subjects Dutch or English, but I was struggling to
find a main question for my thesis because most of the questions other people had
used for the subjects Dutch and English were more political questions or questions
about the languages specifically, and I knew I did not want to use one of those.
But suddenly an idea popped up in my head: why not just take my love for books and
turn that into a thesis? When I knew I wanted to do this, I searched the whole internet
for a fun topic about books, but I guess almost nobody wrote a thesis about this,
because I was struggling to find them. Then I came across a girl who did her thesis
about: a study on the development of the position of girls in young adult literature
from 1866–2016'. I also just watched a video of someone who was talking about her
favorite childhood books, so I just decided to combine them.
And that is how my thesis came to life.
Project plan
Name:
Subject: English
Course supervisor:
Process supervisor:
Main question:
How has American young adult fiction literature changed since 1970?
3
