Reviewing Classic Teen Literature - The Westing Game, A Wrinkle in Time, & Something Wicked This Way

Traditionally, young adult lit involves themes like forging your own identity and building self-acceptance. Recently, however, we've seen a noticeable increase in themes of forsaking your family to become undead, changing your personality to the point of unrecognizability, and feasting on human blood to nourish a fetus that your husband will eventually have to chomp out of your womb. (No, we aren't making this up). For those of us who miss the good ol' days when reading teen lit made you feel better about life (as opposed to in need of a long shower), it might be a good investment to pick up some of the following classic reads.

Despite the countless ways in which Ray Bradbury can put us ill at ease, his 1962 coming-of-age novel Something Wicked This Way Comes actually has a wholesome message at its core. Beneath all the carnies and funhouses, that is. The story follows two thirteen-year-olds named Will and Jim, whose visit to the traveling circus gets them involved with a wicked witch, a magic carousel, and a guy who has tattooed both their faces on his hands. (Clearly, this predates the cameraphone.)

For whatever reason, Jim is drawn to all things dangerous, creepy, or both, and desperately wants to ride the carousel that can instantly turn him into an adult à la Tom Hanks in Big. Will, on the other hand, enjoys being thirteen and has absolutely no desire to pursue adulthood through unnatural means. (Clearly, this predates VH1.) With the help of Will's father, the two learn how to kill evil with a smile - literally - and laugh in the face of insecurity, even when that face is your own. Only Ray Bradbury can pull off something like that while still managing to scare the crap out of you.

Published in the same year, Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is a similarly offbeat novel that reads like something out of a David Bowie acid flashback. Our teen heroine is Meg Murray, a self-proclaimed, self-loathing freak whose face is horribly disfigured by - get this - braces. (Okay, so standards were different in 1962.) Also noteworthy is the fact that she travels to a planet called Camazotz with the help of four exploded stars and a time/space-folding procedure called a tesserract. Yeah, we've all been there.

Through her travels, Meg learns to let go of everyone's helping hands (literally - she was practically glued to the things), see her "faults" as things that could "come in very handy," and ultimately fly solo to solve her own problems. The story climaxes with Meg defeating a giant, pulsating brain through the power of love. If that ain't symbolism... well, we're actually kind of hoping the whole thing is symbolism.

Sixteen years later, Ellen Raskin published The Westing Game, challenging the then-prevalent idea that young adults couldn't follow stories with ridiculously complicated plots. (Clearly, publishers were unfamiliar with Tolkien.) Its heroine is Tabitha-Ruth Alice "Turtle" Wexler, a thirteen-year-old who is trapped in her pretty sister's shadow but nevertheless gets major kudos for being nicknamed after a lumpy reptile. Turtle and her family are involved in an elaborate inheritance puzzle that sets an entire apartment complex's worth of people against one another for $200 million in loot.

Amidst the endless characters, unexpected bombings, anonymous tips, and false leads, Turtle demonstrates business savvy, goodheartedness, and independent thinking; she invests her "incentive" funds to profit independently of the riddle, attempts to fall on the sword for her mad bomber of a sister, and solves the puzzle even though the game ends and the prize is withdrawn. By befriending and impressing the benefactor, Turtle then goes on to prove that you don't have to be a beautiful young thang to get your mitts on an old man's multi-million dollar inheritance.

Growing up is hard enough as it is without television and magazines telling kids to hurry up and buy into adult things. Admittedly, literature is as bound to market trends as anything else, but until books start selling ad space between chapters, we'd like to think of them as a refuge for the mind. And if novels about black-magic carnivals, interplanetary time warps, and pyrotechnic treasure hunts can somehow present well-balanced young adult characters, any story that doesn't is definitely not trying hard enough.

Shmoop is an online study guide for Literature, novels like The Westing Game, A Wrinkle in Time, Something Wicked This Way Comes and many more. Its content is written by Ph.D. and Masters students from top universities, like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Yale who have also taught at the high school and college levels. Teachers and students should feel confident to cite Shmoop.

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Benefiting Your Education Through Reading Classic Literature

Many undergraduate students may be hesitant about taking an English literature class. Some are intimidated or unenthusiastic about reading classic novels that they think they won't comprehend or enjoy. With such anxiety directed at reading assignments, students can miss out on the best and rewarding part of the English literature experience - the discovery of literature and its effect on ascending the mind to new heights.

When taking any type of literature class, the objective is for you, the student, to be engaged in the critical analysis and careful reading of imaginative literature. It is recommended that your ultimate goal is to introduce yourself to new ideas and new ways of thinking, which will help in understanding the world in a different light. Reading is an essential skill and developing skills in reading is a good investment; therefore, read with a purpose.

Lit courses are usually sectioned out by category. American literature looks at structure and themes in the works of American writers, usually from pre-colonial times to present day. Many of the writers who may be discussed and reviewed in an American lit course are arguably the best representation of American writers. Literary analysis may be based on contexts like social status, race, economics, relationships, or sexuality.

British literature is another course that aids in the development and appreciation of literary writing. British authors help students discover a rich cultural heritage and a genuine admiration for some of the most timeless and revered literary works in the English language. The course may cover the works of renowned British authors whose literary accomplishments have been well regarded over the past several centuries.

Some students find it difficult to follow classical literature, especially British literature. The dialogue is completely different from American dialogue, especially works written pre-twentieth century. For students who think they may be challenged in this area, they can purchase (or check out from the library) 'cliff notes' study guides. However, the key is to remember that these are just what they are - resource study guides, not a replacement of the book, play, or poem.

Another means to help with comprehending challenging literature is reading up on the author. Knowing the historical and biographical information on any writer helps to discern and understand his or her voice and what he or she is trying to communicate. One celebrated British novelist, for instance, was forced to work and care for his family at a very young age. Consequently, most of his stories deal with the effects of poverty on children and the dogged pursuit of happiness among adults.

Lit is an essential means to broadening our horizon, intellectually, creatively and spiritually. Students expand intellectually because it forces them to flex their brain muscles, exercising comprehension, reasoning, and critical analysis skills. They grow creatively because they move beyond their small inner worlds and step beyond their boundaries and visit places they never dreamed existed. Students are inspired spiritually because they connect with characters that reflect their own desires, emotions, and frailties.

English literature is not intimidating at all; it may be challenging but in a good way. It challenges students to grow in every way possible through reading. After a couple books, you will probably realize that you truly have a passion for it! You may be so motivated that you choose to pursue an English degree. You can earn an online degree if you prefer to work off of the Internet.

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Classic Literature List From The Most Versatile Writers

Most lists of classic literature will cover poetry, plays and novels by the most famous exponents of these forms. But this classic literature list will look at things slightly differently because it will only consider popular writers who crossed into different forms of writing.

William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous writer in the English language. He is known as the creator of tragedies like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet as well as comedies like Much Ado About Nothing and histories like Henry V. But he also wrote poems. Shakespeare's Sonnets collects 154 poems and is sold across the world.

Edgar Allan Poe is another writer who worked in different literary forms. He is known as a writer of gothic short stories but he was also a novelist and poet. In addition he pioneered the detective genre, which would later be popularized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Poe's poetry and short stories can be found collected in one volume and his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, remains in print. All of his work is in the public domain, so different editions by various publishers can be found on book shelves.

As with Poe, James Joyce also published poems and short stories. He is best known for the novels Ulysses and Finnegans Wake but his books Dubliners, which is a collection of 15 short stories, and Exiles, which is his only play, remain popular to this day.

Authors like Stephen King and Agatha Christie are thought to be amongst the best writers within their chosen genre but they also venture outside of their comfort zone to work with different genres and in different forms. King has written various novels, has published many short stories and has written screenplays covering genres as diverse as horror, fantasy and science fiction. His Dark Tower series is one of the best examples of the writer's diversity as it covers the fantasy, science fiction, horror and western genres.

Agatha Christie is the creator of Hercule Poiret and Miss Marple and is the best selling author of all time. Her books are only outsold by the Bible. She is also a short story writer and playwright.

She's had great success with her stage plays. The Mouse Trap is perhaps the most popular. It lays claim to the record for the longest continuous theater run. Having opened in 1952, it remains in production at the Ambassadors Theatre to this day.

To help you find and enjoy classic books, please check out our guide to finding the perfect Classic Literature List.

Classic Books - ClassicBook.info is your essential resource to help you find, evaluate, and read classic books. Book reviews, reading lists, and free online book editions are provided.

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Tutoring and Teaching Methods to Improve Reading Comprehension in Classic Literature

Many high school students have a difficult experience with their first classic literature assignment. The archaic prose of works by Dickens, Melville and Shakespeare can prove difficult to understand and seem like a whole other language. So how do we break the barriers between literature and learning?

There are a variety of ways that we can increase comprehension when reading literature. Using these techniques increase the comprehension of a classic novel in a variety of students and can result in successful comprehension of the piece of literature.

One of the top ways to increase comprehension of literature in the classroom, and with tutoring tactics, is to compare the text with a modern day interpretation of the literature. Learning by comparison can be helpful. Comparing the literature to modern situations assist the theme or the classic. Often younger generations will be more adept to learn the themes of classics they are able to identify with. If the tutor is able to provide some mirroring within the classic to modern day situations, the student is more likely to learn the information.

Providing a translation for texts written in poetry can also prove helpful. Since poetry is a language all it's own, especially with Victorian authors such as Byron, Keats and Shelley, providing a text with a contemporary translation under or opposite of each line in the poem increases comprehension for the student.

Using textual clues such as descriptive words to gain the feeling of the literature can improve comprehension greatly. These identifier words can create recognition of one word, which can lead to the comprehension of one phrase, which can lead to the comprehension of the whole page.

These are just some techniques a good tutor can employ to help their student's grasp of reading comprehension with classic literature; find a tutor near you to learn more!

Diane Palumbo blogs at Homework Help Today.

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