Adolescents Rewrite their Worlds

Abstract

Adolescents Rewrite their Worlds: Using Literature to Illustrate Writing Forms offers alternative ways teachers can engage young adolescents with the writing process using literature. The contributors discuss the values of writing in twenty-first-century classrooms and global societies, remarking that writing is first a personal exploration that is informed by cultural practices. Therefore culture is quite central in how we approach, explore, and express through any medium. The chapters consider ways to motivate students to become critically-conscious and active writers who are aware of their surrounding world, and the competing multiple discourses in which they are positioned. This requires intimate knowledge of audience, purpose, and genre and/or writing forms. We provide practical advice for teachers who wish to guide their students toward these goals. Additional features of this book include:

• Authors/Contributors’ professional experiences of teaching writing using literature

• Practical pedagogical practices that may transform the way teachers teach writing and use literature

• Interviews with authors that give insight into their writing process

• Writing practices for twenty-first-century adolescents using new literacies