Coming-of-Age

Today, we talked about bildungsroman, the literary theme and genre of a child growing to adulthood. Almost every YA book or movie has elements of bildungsroman as the protagonist experiences challenges that force him or her to grow into a more responsible, knowledgeable person.

Esperanza is stuck in the crossroads between being a child and an adult: she talks with the neighborhood girls about getting hips, but is playing double-dutch with made-up rhymes! We added many examples to our notebooks, to further document her coming-of-age (PPT slide 82ish).

Many cultures have ceremonies of recognition for burgeoning adulthood: the Jewish Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Christian Confirmation or Baptism, Spanish Quinceñera, Australian Walkabout, the Hindu Upanayana or Ritushuddhi, and many others. We watched this National Geographic video of an Apache girl's coming-of-age ceremony (below).

Students should take these thoughts and inspirations to draft their own choice vignette that represents a moment where they experienced this tension of coming-of-age. These drafts will be due Wednesday so we can peer edit.