Alex Severson Response 1; Prompt 8: Gay, Lesbian, Pan, African, Asian, Latino, Muslim, and Everything in Between: The Case for Young Adult Literature Diversity in School Curriculums

Gay, Lesbian, Pan, African, Asian, Latino, Muslim, and Everything in Between: The Case for Young Adult Literature Diversity in School Curriculums  

Alex Severson

        Sarah Dyer’s “Read This, Not That: Why and How I’ll Use Young Adult Literature in My Classroom” makes a convincing, relevant argument for why the literary canon has become an archaic, whitewashed library of books that does a disservice to young adult readers with its lack of multiculturalism.  While Harold Bloom may keel over at the idea of reading outside the western canon in schools, it is important to understand that students today are experiencing more varied and difficult social anxieties than arguably any other time in history.  Given that every child has a right to an education, educators should be making an effort to expand the perspectives brought in to the classroom in order to build stronger, progressive, and compassionate generation of young adults.  Dyer successfully shows how contemporary Young Adult (YA) literature creates a more accessible avenue than the western canon for adolescents to think about and consider social and gender issues that will be applicable to their lives now and in the future. 

            The most common thread binding the majority of canon texts together is that they were written by white males.  This is problematic in itself because of the lack of diversity that students will encounter in the classroom and in their lives, considering how diverse America is compared to when most canonized texts were written.  Dyer writes that “most classic texts were written from a white, male, Christian, heteronormative viewpoint” (34).  The counter argument to such a claim will be that there is nothing inherently wrong with a white writer who is strong in their craft, and such a claim would not be mistaken because a person cannot control their race.  The central argument, however, is that young adults are growing up in varied classrooms that are “filled with young people who are part of an even more diverse global population” and educators need to recognize that students need to see how “other viewpoints are no less valid” (Dyer 34). Dyer’s strength is that she acknowledges how students need to see things from different point of views in order to make sense of the world and she understands that the traditional canon may not be sufficient to accomplish this.  Dyer expresses how YA literature is “filled with female voices, LGBT voices, and voices from all races and cultures” in a way that insurmountably outpaces the classic, western canon (Dyer 34).  These contemporary voices are more fit to deal with the social and gender issues in today’s classroom than most classic texts.  While I believe Dyer believes these classic texts are irreplaceable, and are forever cemented as literature that should be read vigorously, she certainly shows compelling evidence that the canon is unprepared to face the challenges of today because of the changes climate.

            Classic texts provoke serious plots by which readers can develop into empathetic individuals, but they do not do the job that YA literature can or has been doing in modern times.  By including YA texts that are more relatable to the multicultural needs of students, we are giving adolescents the opportunity to develop “into empathetic members of a diverse society” (Dyer 35).  Dyer understands that young readers today need literature that applies to the diverse world they live in.  For example, with the passage of legality in gay marriage, more people are openly aware and tolerant of homosexuality in schools.  However, gay individuals still have much less of a space in schools and literature in which they can be proud of, but YA literature gives them  readily available heroes that allows them to see that they can succeed just as well as anyone else.  Dyer makes it clear that she understands the need for gay protagonists or works from gay writers, something that is not typically found in the canon.  Furthermore, including LGBT voices into literature works two-fold as it also allows students who have been raised to be homophobic a chance to become more empathetic to the needs of the LGBT community.   According to Dyer “many educators feel that the inclusion of LGBT voices helps non-heterosexual students feel more comfortable with themselves and more accepted within their classroom community and helps homophobic students change their hurtful beliefs” (35).  Dyer foresees how inclusion of these texts would add a layer of empathy in students so that homophobic behavior could eventually be minimalistic. Her foresight strengthens the idea that in order to build a “just” society we need to analyze every background, which according to Dyer, YA accomplishes.  Of course, becoming a society that is accepting of all backgrounds means that we also need to make an effort to include more minority writers in schools.  According  to Dyer “not only does a curriculum containing nothing but Hawthorne, Shakespeare, and other literary giants prevent students from studying non-white and non-male viewpoints, but sometimes those viewpoints have been rewritten” (Dyer 34).  I do not believe that Dyer means to dismiss the importance of Hawthorne or Shakespeare, but rather, I believe she seeks to show that these great others that we idolize may have missed something in terms of diversity. Theorist Edward Said wrote that some novels such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness “works…to silence [the] colonized culture, which cannot ‘talk back,’ or write about itself” (Dyer 34). Dyer understands how traditional literature has left some people without a way to defend themselves, while current YA literature has strived to give these people their very own voice.  YA literature gives students the means to understand what different, diverse, or sometimes disenfranchised voices have to offer. 

            YA literature works as an open forum for students to express how they feel about different ideas.  Dyer writes that “literature discussions open the door for students to discuss their personal lives and experiences in such a way that any threat of ridicule is erased” (36).  YA literature can prompt students to talk about subjects that are more difficult to open up with. Dyer brings up openness because it is something that is specifically difficult for young adults.  Young adults are very involved in their own world, and Dyer sees how YA authors are the link between students and allowing them to open up.  YA literature will also allow teachers to reach into students’ in order to get more out of them both academically and emotionally.  Erik Winkler, a young adult writer, said that “stories can help teenagers look at their feelings, or come to emotional resolution, from a safe distance. If, as an author, I can make an emotional connection with my reader, I have already started to help him or her heal” (Dyer 36). Dyer’s use of Winkler shows that she is has gone to the source of literature and thought about why YA authors may be more suited in schools.  These authors pick up on what young readers need, and Dyer understands their needs through Winkler.  Complexity is more than just complicated sentence structure, syntax, or needed background knowledge.  Complexity can also be derived from emotional stimuli, and if students are not connecting with the text, they are not developing emotionally.  This does not mean that texts should only reach for an emotional appeal or for some kind of cathartic experience.  Educators have to academically challenge their students so that they grow as learners.  Dyer acknowledges this by giving a solid list of YA literature books such as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Feed, and Monster that reach students on an emotional level but also reach an academic depth that students would not receive from some classic literature because they would have not picked the book up in the first place. Most importantly, Dyer provides a list of texts that promote diversity in the classroom in a way that classic texts have not. 

            There is no reason for students to focus entirely on canonical texts if they are not drawing much from them.  Educators can introduce both YA literature and classic texts to students in order to ensure that they have a broad, successful background in literature.  However, Dyer thoroughly shows the need to add diversity into classrooms.  Given how the education system has changed over the course of its existence in America, the curriculum needs to adapt to the social diversity in schools in order to become effectively accepting of different kinds of multicultural aspects of society.  Dyer’s suggestion for allowing YA literature to become the primary source of literature and setting up canonical texts as the secondary source of reading is a much needed discussion the education system needs to have if we want students to be successful. 

Dyer, Sarah. "Read This, Not That: Why and How I'll Use Young Adult Literature in My Classroom." The Virginia English Journal, 64.1 (2014): 33-43.