I love it when you get to see former students flourish. Without question Leilya Pitre has continued to grow and have success as a professor of English education. There is no doubt that I learned more from her than she did from me. This week we all get to take look at how she is fostering creativity among her own students. Thanks Leilya!
Let the Creativity Bloom: Final Projects for the Young Adult Literature Course
by Leilya Pitre
Every spring I teach a YAL course in which we learn about adolescent experiences in literature. We read, think, interpret, analyze, write, and have rich conversations throughout the semester. While it does not get boring, it seems painstaking because most of the tasks are associated with grades, i.e. academic performance. To alleviate the anxieties surrounding the end of the semester, I offer my students to complete a creative project that enhances their thinking about the characters, events, and outcomes and brings them joy of crafting without stressing about the grade. They have a choice to do whatever they want, and as a result, the final creative project becomes enjoyable and even helps raise final grades.
Announcing the project early in the semester and reminding about it every couple of weeks jumpstarts students’ thinking and focuses their attention on various ideas as we progress through the novels. They may choose one, two, or several YA novels, including the novels of their choice for this task. To begin the creativity flow, we complete Body Biography projects, as described by Smagorinsky in Teaching English by Design (2008, pp. 36-37). This small-group project engages students to think beyond the traditional character charts or reading logs as it allows employing symbolism when considering both surface and inner complexities of the character’s psyche, actions, and reactions to the events. Formerly, the project was completed on a human-size poster paper, and all the drawings, writing, and coloring were finished manually. After finalizing the art part, each group collectively writes an essay explaining all the symbolic representations and choices included in the poster. With the move to online teaching and access to technological tools, the project can be executed using multimedia resources. Below are some Body Bio examples from the last spring semester.
Announcing the project early in the semester and reminding about it every couple of weeks jumpstarts students’ thinking and focuses their attention on various ideas as we progress through the novels. They may choose one, two, or several YA novels, including the novels of their choice for this task. To begin the creativity flow, we complete Body Biography projects, as described by Smagorinsky in Teaching English by Design (2008, pp. 36-37). This small-group project engages students to think beyond the traditional character charts or reading logs as it allows employing symbolism when considering both surface and inner complexities of the character’s psyche, actions, and reactions to the events. Formerly, the project was completed on a human-size poster paper, and all the drawings, writing, and coloring were finished manually. After finalizing the art part, each group collectively writes an essay explaining all the symbolic representations and choices included in the poster. With the move to online teaching and access to technological tools, the project can be executed using multimedia resources. Below are some Body Bio examples from the last spring semester.
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Following the body biography project, students think about their own ways to represent learning throughout the course. Since the spring of 2020, I have decided to give students a freedom of choice, and do not regret it. Here are a few of the ideas that might be useful to explore in the secondary English classroom or a college course. Some of them are more laborious than others, but all of them require students’ critical and analytical thinking and efforts to implement the idea.
The Young Adult Cookbook
Who doesn’t like to eat? Right, we all do! Maddie P. (with the permission of my students, I use their real first names in this post), as a true Louisianan, where food culture is rich and central to any event, decides to showcase food mentioned in some of the YA novels. She notices that almost in every text of the course characters mention food they like either at their favorite food joints, self-prepared, or cooked by parents. Maddie examines three novels: Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (2018), I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman (2018), and The Music of What Happened by Bill Konigsberg (2019). She chose Maya’s Mouthwatering Biryani and Tandoori Chicken (Ahmed, 2018, p. 9), Max’s Cloud Eggs (Konigsberg, 2019, p. 107), Jordan and Max’s World Famous Organic Homemade Prickly Pear Frozen Lemonade (Konigsberg, 2019, p. 110), Freya’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Foreman, 2018, p. 120-121), and Harun’s Family Seekh Kebabs (Foreman, 2018, p.189). Since there are no pictures or recipes provided in the novels, Maddie has researched the dishes, found the images and recipes, and created The Young Adult Cookbook.
During her presentation, she explains the history of each dish and emphasizes their cultural value. The discussion naturally moves onto eating habits of teenagers. When I am writing this part, my husband is grilling chicken and ribs on the back porch. I am tempted to add this to The Cookbook.
Who doesn’t like to eat? Right, we all do! Maddie P. (with the permission of my students, I use their real first names in this post), as a true Louisianan, where food culture is rich and central to any event, decides to showcase food mentioned in some of the YA novels. She notices that almost in every text of the course characters mention food they like either at their favorite food joints, self-prepared, or cooked by parents. Maddie examines three novels: Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (2018), I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman (2018), and The Music of What Happened by Bill Konigsberg (2019). She chose Maya’s Mouthwatering Biryani and Tandoori Chicken (Ahmed, 2018, p. 9), Max’s Cloud Eggs (Konigsberg, 2019, p. 107), Jordan and Max’s World Famous Organic Homemade Prickly Pear Frozen Lemonade (Konigsberg, 2019, p. 110), Freya’s Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Foreman, 2018, p. 120-121), and Harun’s Family Seekh Kebabs (Foreman, 2018, p.189). Since there are no pictures or recipes provided in the novels, Maddie has researched the dishes, found the images and recipes, and created The Young Adult Cookbook.
During her presentation, she explains the history of each dish and emphasizes their cultural value. The discussion naturally moves onto eating habits of teenagers. When I am writing this part, my husband is grilling chicken and ribs on the back porch. I am tempted to add this to The Cookbook.
Thematic Explorations Across YA Novels
This idea and implementation belongs to Jacob B. who created three thematic posters inspired by nine out of twelve novels we read in class: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oats, Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena, Hate List by Jennifer Brown, My Name is Parvana by Debora Ellis, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner, I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman, and The Music of What Happened by Bill Konigsberg.
This idea and implementation belongs to Jacob B. who created three thematic posters inspired by nine out of twelve novels we read in class: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oats, Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena, Hate List by Jennifer Brown, My Name is Parvana by Debora Ellis, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner, I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman, and The Music of What Happened by Bill Konigsberg.
| The first poster exemplifies the theme of hope with a vital implication that hope requires maintenance. It has to be sustained, relentless, and unyielding to life encounters adolescents experience daily. As symbolic representations from each novel, Jacob has chosen Parvana's worksheet of fractions (Ellis, 2012), Valerie's black notebook with the famous Hate List (Brown, 2009), and Max’s portrait of Jordan (Konigsberg, 2019).  Finally, Jacob introduces the theme of personal growth via creating bonds with friends claiming that it is easier if adolescents are not alone in their struggles, but “tethered” as Hannah confesses (Polisner, 2016). This third poster draws from The Memory of Things, I Have Lost My Way, and Mexican Whiteboy and employs images of Hannah’s swan wings (Polisner, 2016), Freya’s grilled cheese sandwich (Foreman, 2018), and Uno’s mitt, holding a baseball and cash (de la Pena, 2008). |  The theme of ugly truths is examined through Speak, Freaky Green Eyes, and All American Boys. Through this analysis Jacob insists that ugly truths must be confronted to be rectified. He includes a branch from Melinda’s tree (Anderson, 1999), Quin’s t-shirt (Reynolds & Kiely, 2015), and Krista’s journal (Oats, 2003) as symbolic images reflecting this theme.  |
Reimagined Book Covers
This class includes students with different majors. One of them is Jillian; she is an Art major focusing on photography. For this course, she creates the new book covers for two novels: The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, 1945) and Exit West (Hamid, 2017). I will explain The Catcher in the Rye cover here.
This class includes students with different majors. One of them is Jillian; she is an Art major focusing on photography. For this course, she creates the new book covers for two novels: The Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, 1945) and Exit West (Hamid, 2017). I will explain The Catcher in the Rye cover here.
 | In order to recreate the disturbance Holden’s (Salinger, 1945) inner world is undergoing, which conflicts with reality, Jillian has crafted a composition which is seen from an unorthodox angle. Because Holden’s disillusionment with the world results in a changed worldview for him by the end of the narrative, she decided to animate the “camera” through which the artwork is being viewed. By turning it on its side, viewers may feel compelled to turn their head to perceive the artwork from a more natural-feeling angle, adjusting their perspective, just as Holden had to adjust his. |
Additionally, by setting the camera on its side, the rye-covered cliff upon which Holden stands becomes affected by visual gravity. One motif which recurs throughout Salinger’s novel is that of falling. This motif represents the loss of innocence—a trial through which every adolescent must go if they to reach adulthood. Because of this compositional choice, viewers may feel that Holden’s stability upon the cliff is impossible or short-lived. He is at risk of falling, and Jillian intentionally chooses to make such a fall seem inevitable. The gestures of the clouds emphasize this gravity, as they are drawn to appear as though they are being dragged down by its force. As a result of such a projection, the book cover itself prompts critical thinking and requires readers to adjust their perspectives.
| Creative Writing Several students have tried their hand in creative writing—rewriting one of the novel’s final chapters, adding another chapter, or responding to the novels with an original writing. One of them, Ellie H., has attempted to write a sequel to Anderson’s Speak (1999). She entitles the sequel Listen, makes a book cover, and writes the first chapter. See the book cover to the right. |  |
My favorite creative writing so far is a poem Tethered written by Sara S. integrating the idea of connectedness from Gae Polisner’s The Memory of Things (2016) and including it to Freya’s dream from Foreman’s I Have Lost My Way (2018). I would like to conclude this post with Sara’s poem:
Tethered
It rises,
a cloud of ash and smoke.
Rain falls
in sheets of glass.
Shapes
move toward me,
surround me,
push me
down…
down…
down…
a path unknown.
(Yet I know it all too well.)
Push me outside of my fortress.
No.
My nest.
I am a bird.
See.
Feathers.
Grounded.
Take flight.
Grounded.
Take flight!
I am wounded.
(I know this pain.
Loss.)
I am lost
as I search
for clarity.
The shapes
buzz
all around me.
They begin to
clear.
I push trough them,
past them,
where
water meets sky.
I will take off.
Fly,
now…
No.
Fate has clipped my wings.
Fate is pulling me
back into shapes,
bodies.
“Look at me…”
Fate whispers.
“Open your eyes…”
Eyes,
one blue,
one green.
Pulling me
through bodies of
ash.
“Freya.”
I hear
my name.
(But Freya is not here.
I am not Freya.)
I am a bird…
No.
I am
a girl
with wings.
And this
is only
the beginning.
It rises,
a cloud of ash and smoke.
Rain falls
in sheets of glass.
Shapes
move toward me,
surround me,
push me
down…
down…
down…
a path unknown.
(Yet I know it all too well.)
Push me outside of my fortress.
No.
My nest.
I am a bird.
See.
Feathers.
Grounded.
Take flight.
Grounded.
Take flight!
I am wounded.
(I know this pain.
Loss.)
I am lost
as I search
for clarity.
The shapes
buzz
all around me.
They begin to
clear.
I push trough them,
past them,
where
water meets sky.
I will take off.
Fly,
now…
No.
Fate has clipped my wings.
Fate is pulling me
back into shapes,
bodies.
“Look at me…”
Fate whispers.
“Open your eyes…”
Eyes,
one blue,
one green.
Pulling me
through bodies of
ash.
“Freya.”
I hear
my name.
(But Freya is not here.
I am not Freya.)
I am a bird…
No.
I am
a girl
with wings.
And this
is only
the beginning.
Hope the readers of Dr. Bickmore’s YA Wednesday’s have a wonderful holiday season with their families, loved ones, and friends. See you next year!
| Leilya Pitre, Ph. D., taught English as a foreign language in the Ukraine and ELA/English in public schools in the US. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor and English Education Coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana University where she teaches methods courses for preservice teachers, literary analysis, American and Young Adult Literature courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests include teacher preparation, clinical experiences, secondary school teaching, and teaching and research of Young Adult and multicultural literature. Together with her friend and colleague, Mike Cook, she co-authored a two-volume edition of Teaching Universal Themes Through Young Adult Novels (2021). |  |
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