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Goodenberger MA Thesis.pdf (501.89 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

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Then and Now: A Look at the Messages Young Adult Fiction Sends Teenage Girls in the 1970s and 2000s.

Goodenberger, Beth Ann
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=odu1449249421

Abstract Details

2015, M.A. (Master of Arts in English), Ohio Dominican University, English.
For this paper, I use Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory and Libby and Kaufman’s findings on experience-taking to analyze three popular young adult novels from the two golden ages of young adult literature, the 1970s and 2000s, to determine the messages they send to teenage girls. These messages are important to understand because teenage girls are sent contradictory messages about how women should behave. The young adult books from the 1970s overwhelmingly reinforce notions about physical beauty and relationships while also encouraging girls to embrace the new woman created by the feminist movement. The young adult books from the 2000s also encourage girls to adhere to a thin and beautiful look while also encouraging girls to take more action, both literally and figuratively. In my concluding chapter, I examine how these messages have changed from the 1970s to the 2000s. What I have found is that even though 30 years have passed between the two golden ages of young adult literature, teenage girls receive the same messages to be pretty and thin. However, the young adult books of the 2000s have allowed encourage teenage girls to be more complex, take charge of their lives, and solve their own problems.
Martin Brick, Ph.D. (Advisor)
63 p.
Literature
young adult literature; teenage girls

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Goodenberger, B. A. (2015). Then and Now: A Look at the Messages Young Adult Fiction Sends Teenage Girls in the 1970s and 2000s. [Master's thesis, Ohio Dominican University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=odu1449249421

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Goodenberger, Beth. Then and Now: A Look at the Messages Young Adult Fiction Sends Teenage Girls in the 1970s and 2000s. 2015. Ohio Dominican University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=odu1449249421.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Goodenberger, Beth. "Then and Now: A Look at the Messages Young Adult Fiction Sends Teenage Girls in the 1970s and 2000s." Master's thesis, Ohio Dominican University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=odu1449249421

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

odu1449249421
962
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio Dominican University and OhioLINK.