Evolution of the Teen

When thinking about possible topics for the upcoming essay, I was most intrigued by the perception of teenagers throughout the short history of the United States. It seems little attention was paid to the transition time between childhood and adulthood during the early years of our country. It was viewed, rather, as a time when children were able to make a more significant contribution to the labor force or as an additional hand to help with farm work.

I am interested to discover just what changes were happening in our American society that led to more insightful perceptions of the teenager, as well as uncovering other forces that were forging this new awareness, including significant events and people. Although the evolution of the teen is probably far from over, it is interesting to see the effects of these different perceptions on teens, as we are able to examine its effects as time passes. It's almost if society is the petri dish that is turning out variations on the teen. As always, history is a very good teacher, and a lot can be learned by looking back.

Charlotte goes to Hollywood

I think updating Charlotte Temple for the twenty-first century would be a great project for any writer. After all, several of Jane Austin's novels have been introduced to a new generation on film. I know how difficult it was to even find Charlotte Temple in print, and if Rowson's work can be passed on in an updated novel, then her work truly lives on; not just for a select group of American lit students.

I imagine Charlotte as an ambitious junior high school student who has a natural talent for acting. Charlotte, an only child lives with her parents in a conservative small town with good mid-Western values. Charlotte is beautiful and talented; and often dreams of leaving her sometimes-dreary life behind. Her parents overprotectiveness, however, often crushes her dreams of going to Hollywood. Praised in her drama class and the community theater, Charlotte's dream only continues to grow, and one day an opportunity to hold that dream comes her way. Overhearing a classmate at lunch one day telling a friend that she's heading to Los Angeles to follow her musician boyfriend, Charlotte senses that this is her opportunity and rushes to make her plan.

After a weeks' worth of travel, Charlotte and her accomplice Rachel arrive in Los Angeles. During that long and exhausting week Charlotte became intrigued by Rachel and her lack of inhibition. Although they were both only 17, Rachel loved vodka, cigarettes and older men. Charlotte had only recently been alone with a boy for the first time; and it was only to go over the script for "Footloose" at the local community theater. Once they arrived in Los Angeles, the vultures on Melrose Avenue descended. It was as if the two girls had tattoos on their foreheads saying, "We're new in town, take advantage of us!!" It wasn't long before a charismatic Beverly Hills talent agent noticed Charlotte and promised her the career of her dreams, along with a shopping trip and dinner at a very sophisticated restaurant. Well as you can guess, Charlotte accepted his offers and believed every word he said, just as she did with the people back home in her little mid-Western town. Only back home there wasn't a price for believing. But here in Los Angeles, Charlotte believed him when he said that if she had a drink or two she'd have more fun. Well, Rachel sure seemed to, so why not? But after a drink or two, a snort or two didn't seem unreasonable, so Charlotte was initiated into her new life.

As time passed, Charlotte realized that the promises were empty ones, only now she needed a drink to start her day because it made the pain of all the disappointments go away. She'd had a casting call or two, but no call backs. She hadn't seen or spoken to her family for over 6 months, and worst of all, the man who promised her the world was long gone, and he didn't even know he was going to be a father. Maybe that would have made a difference. Rachel had met another musician and they had left for Vancouver a few months back. She often thought that no one deserved to be so lonely in this beautiful place where the sun was always shining.

After losing her night job stocking the drug store's shelves, Charlotte spent what little she had on alcohol and whatever else she could find t0 numb the pain. People walking by the corner where she sat, looked at her with disgust. She was still so young, in the last days of her pregnancy, and drunk. Charlotte couldn't even remember anymore why she came to this place to begin with.

Someone had called for help on their cell phone after hearing about the accident. The girl couldn't have been any more than 15 or so when she walked right out into traffic. The paramedic's only hope now was to save the baby, since the young woman without any i.d. was already gone.

When Charlotte's father got the call from the L.A.P.D. early one winter morning, he prayed that she'd been found. When he arrived in the city later that night and was handed his new granddaughter by the officer, he realized a piece of Charlotte lived on.

Research Paper Revised

When thinking about possible topics for the research paper, I originally thought that it would be interesting to learn what social changes were happening in America that led to the formation of the modern-day "American" teen. I began to wonder why the American teen was considered different from any other teen in the world. In other words, what makes the American teen wholly unique? Are they different? I remember in the last decade when China was opening up to new modern and western ideas, the companies that marketed to American kids were doing incredibly well in China. All that teens value here -- Coke, rock music, McDonalds and brand-name jeans was in hot demand there. Although it's a fascinating topic, I may change my research project to cover our current book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I read Tom Sawyer many years ago, and I don't remember being struck by the racist content.

Huck Finn Criticism

I felt that the selected literary criticisms of Huckleberry Finn were an excellent mix from a diverse group of writers. Two of the most interesting were Victor Doyno's insights into Twain's creative process and T.S. Eliot's assessment of the classic work. In Doyno's piece it becomes apparent that Twain's writing process was painstaking and deliberate. Because the novel is told in first-person by Huck using language that was spoken by an unsophisticated southern boy during that period of time, we as readers tend to think that it was a casual, spontaneous process without a lot of revision or anguish. What Doyno is able to do in his research is debunk that idea. Every word is carefully chosen to accurately paint the characters' as Twain envisions them. What's amazing to me is that he is able to do so through the len's of a 14 year-old boy. Doyno's piece shows the chronological events that led to the creation and development of Huck which reveals a great deal about Twain's creative process.

I also loved the T.S. Eliot insights into the novel. Although Eliot, a writer approaches his criticism from a literary point of view, his psychological insights into Huck's psyche give readers a fuller understanding of his character. After I read his piece, I felt I had a better understanding and more sensitivity toward Huck and Jim.

It was also interesting to contrast Eliot's piece with Toni Morrison's. At times it was hard to believe that they were discussing the same piece of literature because their opinions were so opposed.

Critiquing Charlotte

I didn't really care for Charlotte Temple. I can appreciate the setting in that period of time, because it's always interesting to contrast the past with the present. I felt that the story was overly dramatic, whatever could go wrong, did, and to the most extreme degree. Although I realize one of the purposes of the story was to instruct young women of the dangers of pre-marital sex, I feel that it could have accomplished this by less terrifying means. The lesson here is: if you have sex before marriage, you will not only ruin your life, but those around you, those who put you in that condition, and then you'll die! I also felt the story could stand on its own without the preachy input of the author. If her story wasn't making the point, then Rowlandson's commentary would have been necessary. But because the story was so black and white and the consequences so clear cut, the commentary was too much and redundant. I also felt the characters were not well developed and were one-dimensional. Bad was really bad, good was good and there was little crossover. I think in order to make a successful argument, the characters and the situations have to be relatable to the reader. When both are so "unbelievable" the message is not taken seriously. Would that type of story/lesson work today? Well, teen pregnancy and teenage rebellion are so commonplace that I don't think it would stand a chance, even in an updated form. I think the audience in Rowlandson's day were very different than they are now. Prior to Charlotte Temple, most literature was religious in nature, so readers were probably thrilled to be getting something "new."