Teens in America
Katherine Larsen
The George Washington University
University Writing Program
Rome 569
Telephone:202-994-2338
E-mail: klarsen@gwu.edu
Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:30 and by appointment
Deborah Gaspar
Reference & Instructional Librarian
The George Washington University
The Gelman Library
Telephone:202-994-1333
E-mail:dgaspar@gwu.edu
One might argue that from the end of World War Two (and perhaps more
precisely from the coining of the term "rock and roll" by Alan Fried in
1951) to the present, the perception of America's teenagers has undergone
a massive, and for the most part, unsavory shift. From juvenile delinquent
films such as Blackboard Jungle to hormonally over stimulated teen
films
such as the American Pie series, teenagers have typically been
presented
as dangerous, disturbed, alien, or idiotic. This is often done via venues
aimed at a predominantly teen audience, raising questions of exactly what
message is being sent, to whom, and why?
In addition to the films named above, we can expect to read Catcher in
the
Rye and selections from the original Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series
among others, in addition to examining newspaper coverage of such
relatively recent incidents as the Columbine shootings. We will view a
variety of films including Teenagers from Outer Space, Wild in the
Streets, and the recently released Elephant and
Thirteen. We will also be examining the
impact of music on both shaping youth culture and simultaneously shaping a
negative image of that culture, looking at both lyrics (from "Teen Angel"
to "Teenage Dirtbag") and films such as Woodstock, and
Gimme Shelter.
Possible questions we may want to pose include asking what kind of impact
these images have on self-perception, the direction the representation of
America's youth is taking in the twenty-first century, and what
alternatives, if any, are being presented. However, students' own
research, conducted across a variety of disciplines, ultimately will form
the basis for both class discussion and writing assignments. The final
project will involve a student written and edited e-zine.