Theme:

Description – What are the themes of the text?

The themes of The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is teen love, fate, passion and immigration.  

Analysis:

What values, beliefs, or ideas about youth are conveyed through the themes in the text?

Natasha and Daniel come from different worlds, while he is a romantic and passionate poet teen. She is more realistic due to her life experiences, even though she is very young at just seventeen years old. She refuses to believe in fate, relying mostly on science and facts. She is an illegal immigrant who is at risk of deportation to her home country of Jamaica. While Daniel is from south Korean descent, born in America.

As we read this story, we find out that teen love can change many things, it changed both of these kids lives. When fate resulted in them running in to each other and getting to know one another for that day, it truly changed their destiny. They followed their dreams; he went to the college he was meant to attend and studied English to become a poet. Even his parents came to accept that their son isn’t solely Korean, but that he is also American. Even though Natasha was deported, Daniel taught her to dream again. He taught her to not just focus on science and to forgive her parents, at least in a way. They both achieved their dreams, because of meeting one another. At the end their love reunited them in America where they first meet.

Implication:

How do these themes norm, complicate, or reimagine youth?

Through this story it is evident that fate plays a major role in our lives and through whatever means what is meant to happen will be. No matter the differences or the circumstances, if two people are meant to be then it will happen. Not only that, but they may just change one another’s lives to the better. Without passion there is no live, only a boredom existence. We were put on this earth to flourish and grow, not to die of despair. That is what will happen if we follow the wrong path, by choosing a career just for the facts not based on what truly inspires us. That is only the norm when it comes to teens and of course adults in a way. These themes resemble what teens can relate to; the young romance, passion before life can extinguish the light (for some due to harsh life experiences), the believe in fate and of course life circumstances (such as deportation and family expectations).  

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

It is crucial that our students be exposed to all types of written pieces in an English Language Arts classroom. They should be given the opportunity to read whatever they enjoy, whether that be novels (fiction and nonfiction), poems, sequential art, graphic novels or comics. Educators shouldn’t spend the majority of their time pushing a certain type of book and forgetting the main goal of teaching English. We must consider our student’s needs when making book decisions, there may be some ELL students or just any student that doesn’t necessarily feel confident in their reading level in our class. Teachers must help these students by choosing books that match their needs, if a student can read and understand a comic book, then teachers should encourage them to read those books, instead of bringing them down by making them question their abilities. If students start to feel confident in their abilities, then soon enough they will venture in-to other territories, maybe a small chapter book and then moving up to a higher-level novel. Teachers must never be close minded when it comes to what their students choose to read. As long as the student is picking a book and learning from it, then we have done our duty. If we discourage them from reading what they desire, then they will most likely take the easy way out. They will basically go on Spark notes and read the summary of our chosen book, which defeats the purpose. Not only would they do that, they will also be very hesitant to read any book at all. If that happens, then we have deterred our students not helped them.

Sequential art, graphic novels and comics transform a story and bring it to life in the form of pictures. In novels and poems students can only read the words provided by the author, there are no pictures to reference to help gain a glance in-to this other world. However, that is not the case when it comes to sequential art, graphic novels and comics. In these written pieces “The artist conveys the narrative by relying on metaphoric images, lines, colors, patterns, and detail” (Kelley 6). This allows the reader to view what is happening even when they don’t necessarily understand the written words. The message is conveyed through words and images, that helps the students check their comprehension, so that they can feel confident in what they have just read. In these types of stories even the brightness adds a value to the story, nothing is done accidentally or just because. Everything that is drawn has a meaning, that without it the story would be missing something. So, these stories teach the students to look carefully at all of the details or they just might miss an important event.

Graphic novels are for everyone, no matter the age of the student everyone can learn a valuable lesson from them. Some people believe that books with pictures are not as important as novels full of words with no images. They feel that these books resemble picture books for young children, disbelieving that a teenager could learn anything from such a book. However, that is not the case, these graphic novels and comics discuss real life issues and introduce its readers to new complex vocabulary words. These pictures are very beneficial to English learners and students with disabilities. Those “… Images show universal emotional responses that any student, even readers struggling with English, can easily comprehend and process” (Kelley 5). When students aren’t sure what the reading says they can just look at the pictures that speak volume. That will help them gain a valuable lesson from their reading instead of just reading for the purpose of reading. They will be enjoying what they read, because they understand due to those pictures. Special needs students can benefit from graphic novels, because as they read, they can view the pictures to make sure they are understanding the events of the story correctly. “Students who are autistic or have difficulty understanding how language conveys emotion can readily see the expressions of characters and better comprehend emotions” (Kelley 9). We must care about not just reading, but comprehension of that reading as well. After all, our students can skim a book all they want, but have they truly learned something or was it just a waste of time. Why waste time when we can use that time to teach them, even if that means we assign graphic novels or comics. They are still books that focus on important life events, they can address important topics as well as any novel. Just because there are pictures doesn’t make it any less difficult. We must use these crucial books in the classroom, because they help ELL’s and students with disabilities, not to mention that other students enjoy them.

There is no rule that novels are the only books that must be taught in an English Language Arts classroom and that is the way it should be. In an English Language Arts classroom, students should read novels, poems, sequential art, graphic novels and comics in all different genres. They must understand the main concept discussed in these books and that should be the only rule, not just requiring students to read novels. All types of written pieces must be taught in a Language Arts classroom. That will help our students to not only gain confidence in their reading ability, but also enjoy what they are reading.

Work Cited Page

Kelly (2010) Sequential Art, Graphic Novels, and Comics

Nine Discussion Questions About “This One Summer.” by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

1. What impact does mental health have on “This One Summer.” book by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki?
2. What does the lighting on page 80 through 84 add to the story?
3. Which five panels are most important to the central message of this story? Why?
4. What is the impact of the decisions made by the teenagers? What role does it play in this story? (Jenny tries to commit suicide after her boyfriend refuses to speak about the baby, Rose and her friend watching scary movies without their parent’s permission, etc..).
5. Can keeping secrets truly protect your loved ones? Should parents keep secrets from their children or is it better to be honest?
6. Would the fighting that led to Rose’s father leaving have started, if her mom hadn’t dropped the plate that broke? (That fight made the whole situation worse and Evan had to leave soon after).
7. Does the broken plate symbolize the broken marriage?
8. Why would Evan abandon his daughter with her depressed mother?
9. Does Rose feel like her mom doesn’t truly love her, since she doesn’t want to get over not being able to have a second child? (She asked her friend if her parents want another child, to which her friend responded that she was all they wanted after all she is perfect).

OPTION 2:  Three Quotations

“There are two kinds of people in the world.

Male and Female.

Gay and Straight.

Black and White.

Normal and Weird.

Cis and Trans.

There are two kinds of people in the world.

Saints and Sinners.

Victims and Villains.

Cruel and Kind.

Guilty and Innocent.

There are two kinds of people in the world.

Just two.

Just two.

Only two”.

Page # 215

This quote sums up the main idea of the book. We are all different, but that doesn’t make us any less equal to one another. Sasha was different in the eyes of society, yet they should have never been burned because of the way they chose to dress. Since they were different, they attracted those boy’s attention and were lit on fire. We need to understand that everyone is free to dress and be whomever they want, without facing discrimination and being at risk. Yes, Sasha is different, but they didn’t do anything to those boys. We are all different and differences make us unique, not bad or any less human. The faster that humanity learns that lesson, the faster we will stop harming one another. If someone chooses to dress a certain way and be called “they”, that has nothing to do with anyone else. At the end of the day Sasha didn’t hurt anyone and didn’t deserve to be burned.    

“Studies show that more than 90 percent of juveniles who are interrogated by police don’t wait to talk to a lawyer and don’t understand the rights the police have read them.”

Page # 137

Richard should have been punished for what he did, but those cops were also in the wrong. They know that he is a kid and as such his brain is not yet fully developed. Still, they chose to interrogate him without his parents in the room or even a lawyer and that should have helped his case. Yet, they called his crime a hate crime and wanted to judge him as an adult. He was a child not an adult and sadly they didn’t do right by him. He made a mistake and deserved to pay, but to try him like an adult is just wrong. No one died, I see why in such cases a child may need to be tried like an adult, but not in this case. While Sasha was badly hurt, they didn’t die and as such the idea of even sentencing him like an adult shouldn’t have been considered. Thankfully he only had to serve five years, which will give him time to live his life and still learn from his mistakes. If we had locked him up and thrown away the key, he wouldn’t have learned the lesson. He was remorseful and apologized for what he did. Five years was the right amount for such a crime. It wasn’t a hate crime, just a teenager playing around with fire. He didn’t really mean to hurt Sasha and that should have helped his case.  

“Even the brightest, best-meaning teenager doesn’t tend to think much beyond the moment, especially when they’re with their friends,” observes Gerstenfeld”.

Page # 174

Most teenagers are controlled by peer pressure, they want their group of friends to approve of them. So, they will act in any way to show them that they are cool and that they fit in. That sort of thinking takes up all of their focus, to the point that they don’t stop to contemplate the impacts of their decisions. They don’t realize that they have done wrong until its too late. That is exactly what happened with Richard, he was too busy messing around with his friends and they were egging him on, to see what would happen if they lit Sasha’s skirt on fire. He didn’t think that Sasha would burn, and he would be in prison for five years paying for that mistake. If he had known all of these things, then he wouldn’t have made that choice, because it certainly wouldn’t have seemed so funny to him. Kids are unable to realize these things; they know that hurting someone is bad. What they don’t know is that Sasha wouldn’t just wake up, put the fire out and laugh about it. They didn’t realize the crime they were committing, until it was too late, and Richard was the only one from his group of friends who paid the price.

One of the strategies that I would use when teaching “All American Boys.” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely would be shared reading. I have had teachers in high school who have used this method to give their students a chance to interact with the text. Not only does this give the students a chance to voice their believes about what they have just read, but it also gives them a chance to listen to one another and truly expand their horizons.

When using this strategy in my future classroom, I would split this story in to three weeks that we will study this material. During those three weeks we would read this story together in class, sometimes reading as a whole class while other times we would read as table groups. On Friday of each week we would discuss what we have read, with everyone getting a chance to voice their believes on what they have read. Maybe some will change their believes by listening to their classmates, or it could help strengthen their own thinking on the matter. With that being said, this strategy would be a during and after reading method, since the students will stop to discuss each day in this book twice (once after Rashad’s narrative and another after Quinn’s narrative). They will also take notes that will help remind them of what they felt during the readings, so that they can bring that into our discussions.

The best way to truly dig deep into the topic of racism, police brutality, stereotyping and power is just to come together and discuss it with open minds. I will teach these students that we all have different points of view due to our personal experiences. Some may not be ready to accept that racism still exists or that police brutality and stereotyping is still visible in our society, but that maybe just because they haven’t come face to face with it. This activity will help me teach students to be accepting of other points of view, even if they can’t agree with it. They must learn to voice their believes without fear and what a better place to do that than in an English class.

I had a teacher that always used this teaching strategy, yet through it all we knew that our teacher expected us to disagree with one another, but to always show respect when doing that. Students in that class had the chance to learn from one another while respecting each other’s experiences. That is how I would go about teaching this book in my own classroom, especially such a book that may cause disagreements and such lead to great learning opportunities.

Jennifer Buehler truly shows how instilling such an activity in my classroom would demonstrate YA pedagogy when she states, “Once students have identified their experiences and knowledge, teachers can help students build on them in approaching complex texts—including when their background experiences and knowledge enhance and/or interfere with their ability to read complex texts” (Teaching Reading with YA Literature 5). It is part of our job as aspiring English teachers to help our students make connections between their life experiences to the readings. By helping them make that connection they would be more interested in listening and as such learning. The best way to go about doing that is by encouraging discussions on the readings, so that students can share their thoughts and learn from one another.

Work Cited Page

Buehler (2016) Teaching Reading with YA Literature, Ch. 1

Spooney – (Legal Name Randolph)

Saturday

Police brutality is alive and well, if you are black then best believe that they will drag you through the mud just for the color of your skin. When I got that call from mom saying that Rashad was in the hospital, I was mad slash that I was furious. Walking through that hospital room, I could only see red while hearing the pain and smelling the sickness. What could possibly have led my little brother to this sad place, I had just received a message from him a few hours ago. Now here he lay broken and bruised, who did this and why.

After hugging mom and acknowledging dad, I looked to him for an explanation to the pain I saw written all over his face. When he told me that a cop had beaten him senseless even though he hadn’t tried to fight back and was never stealing. I lost it, I could hear as my blood boiled and I exploded. Police brutality was getting too close to home and I hated it.

They judged us for the color of our skin and treated us like animals. How many more people must die for this to stop, I refuse to lose my little brother to this craziness. They kill us, because we look like criminals to them and for what our darker skin. What year is this, when will this stop and how many more have to bleed to put an end to this?

When my dad dares to tell me that Rashad is not dead and I need to calm down, I just let loose. Rashad didn’t have a weapon, was never trying to steal and even if he had at the end of the day, he wasn’t resisting arrest. That cop had no right to do what he did, he was one of the bad ones and something had to be done about it. Dad loves to preach about how dressing a certain way and joining certain programs will save us. Well that isn’t the case, we could wear an ROTC or military uniform and walk around all day, but once we put that uniform in a bag, the world will only see our dark skin and they will still attack us for it. Rashad had his uniform in his opened bag, but still received a beating, one that could have killed him and for what a bag of chips. This is why I refuse to join these programs, why I dress how I please, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter, we will still be judged. I was always treated like a suspect, people feared me, and cops treated me like a criminal. I haven’t done anything wrong, and that is why I refuse to bow my head and let this pass.

I make sure that my girlfriend is searching all over the net for a video of what happened to my little brother, because I will not be silenced by dad or anyone else. My own father had judged a person that dressed like me back when he was in the force. A boy that did nothing just like Rashad, a boy that was defending himself from a robbery. A boy named Darnell Shackleford, who I vowed when I was young to never forget. This is why I fight, why I march no matter the consequences, and why I will bring light to my brother’s case. I almost lost him, like so many had lost their son’s, brother’s and friend’s just because of the color of their skin. All corrupt cops must be thrown out of the force, this is the only way to protect us. Racism is alive and well, but one by one we could erase it from this world by marching and screaming NO MORE – WE STAND UNITED.   

I Strongly feel like this is a great assignment to be used in a middle/high school classroom, because when we read a story we sometimes put ourselves in these characters shoes and think about what we would have done differently/similarly if we were placed in their position. This helps us truly understand and be able to analyze the text we are reading. By being a young adult literature story, it allows us to better feel and relate to what is happening regardless of what race we might me.

This is a fantastic story to be used in the classroom due to the realness of it, this exact story can and does in fact happen to African American people. Therefore, it is very important for our students to realize and learn that this event can happen to someone they know or to a complete stranger in front of their eyes. They may choose to stand up against it like Quinn, regardless of the consequences and peer pressure or choose to not get involved. That decision is up to them, but it is our job as future educators to share with them what is happening in the real world and what could potentially happen to anyone because of their differences. While Rashad and Quinn aren’t real people, there are definitely those in the world who have died due to racism and who were severely beaten. A teacher’s job is to educate the students and this YAL book would allow the students to better understand this serious matter, since it is demonstrated to them in an easy way for them to comprehend.

This is difficult

Young Adult Literature

Opens your eyes too

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