Writing About Work and Coming Of Age

Reading (& Writing) About Work: For Teens and Young Adults

Reading (& Writing) About Work:
For Teens and Young Adults

Readings

Activities

For discussion (including jigsaw discussions) and table completion:

Readings

Activities

For discussion (including jigsaw discussions) and table completion:

FICTION
- EASY Sci-Fi Novel
  
  Stine, R.L. The Beast
  
  Position: carnival worker/roller coaster conductor
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc: white working-class, male, urban, US-born; earlier in century, urban setting.
  Two youngsters find themselves in a time warp when they ride "The Beast"--and meet its 'conductor' who hails from the past.
  
  (Themes: time warps, time travel, early 20th century amusement parks)
- EASY Short story
  
  Oates, Joyce Carol. "Susannah and the Shepherd"
  
  Position: herdsman
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc: White working-class, male, rural, immigrant (Basque) young; earlier in century, rural setting.
  
  This youth from Basque country comes to Nevada to tend sheep, make money, then go home, but falls in love with his new country. He becomes engaged to the boss's very lovely daughter.
  
  (Themes: arranged marriages, 'Westerns,' western humor)
- EASY short story (this story is one of a series, part of a "novel in stories")
  
  Salisbury, Graham. "Get Mister Red a Beer." In Blue Skin of the Sea, A Novel in Stories. By Salisbury.
  
  Position: tour boat worker
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc: Hawaiian (half-French), male, teenager; Hawaiian setting.
  
  Sonny goes to work for his uncle who runs a charter boat. Mister Red and his new bride Honey are the really cool customers looking for a souveneer they can bring home, something to decorate the bar in the club they own.
  
  (Themes: the sea, environment, coral reefs, development, 'selling out')
- MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) short story
  
  Updike, John. "A & P."
  
  Position: grocery store clerk
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White working-class, male, teenager; set in beach town.
  
  When three young ladies--visitors to the beach town this story is set in--come into the store where the story's hero works seeking a jar of "pickled herring snacks" and dressed in their swimsuits, the hero decides he's standing up for what he believes, whatever the cost.
  
  (Themes: principles and selling-out, generation gap, plus something similar to the 'town-gown' controversy as it might play out in a beach town)
- MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) novel within a novel ('Western')
  
  Dorris, Michael. "Rayona," in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. By Dorris.
  
  Position: worker in a state park/summer camp
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc.: Mixed (Native American and Black), female, teenager, urban but has moved back to reservation; reservation and wilderness setting.
  
  When Rayona's Mom, dying of liver problems from drinking, and a bit mixed-up, decides to move back to the reservation, Rayona's reservation cousin Foxy (good looking but hard drinking) and his girlfriend Annabelle won't let her be. The local priest feels sorry for her--or so he says, but his approaches to Rayona are a bit wierd. Carted off from the reservation by the priest who leaves her by the side of the road, fourteen-year-old Rayona, tall and awkward, feels more confused than ever. She lies about her age to get a summer job working in the wilderness and meets Sky--the gas station owner Rayona's Mom drove off on enroute to the reservation--who looks after her for the summer. Rayona makes up a story about the 'normal family' she's always longed for based on a letter she finds discarded in the park. But Sky is not that easily duped. Rayona returns to the reservation a bit more sure of herself with Sky and his girlfriend in tow. But it looks like Foxy will get the better of her yet when he forces her (at knifepoint) to ride for him in the rodeo, being too drunk to ride himself. Rayona will look just like Foxy with his hat on her head--except she'll have a suntan, Foxy sneers. Rayona does not know a thing about riding, but she hangs on, and gets a sort of prize.
  
  (Themes: fitting in, dealing with families that diverge from the 'norm', plus there is a 'Western' good guys, bad guys plot that runs through this story)
- MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) short story (humorous)
  
  Welty, "Why I Live at the P.O."
  
  Position: post office worker
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White (southern), female, young adult
  
  When the heroine of this story's family throws a firecracker into her room, waking her up, she moves herself (and, to make sure she is more comfortable, a number of her family's goods) into the post office where she works. Some of the people side with her, some with her family; the rest of the business at the P.O. is from her family anyway; can't remember if they are boycotting the P.O.
  
  (Themes: the family feud.)
- Crane, Stephen. "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" http://historyofideas.org/toc/modeng/public/CraBrid.html(University of Virginia Electronic Text)
  
  Position: sheriff
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc. White, male, young adult, set in a small Texas town when it was a 'frontier.'
  
  When Sheriff Potts returns to Yellow Sky, Texas with the new bride he's just met for the first time and brought back from the East after getting acquainted by mail, "Scratchy" (the sort of 'town bad guy'--but he's only trouble when he is drunk) is shooting it out again--and the just married Sheriff does not even have his gun.
  
  (Themes: Arranged marriages, Humor, the Texas Frontier, pullmen trains; you might also want to compare the Native American version of 'Scratch'--the 'devil'--with the traditional version--do you think Crane chose the name 'Scratchy' thinking of the devil narratives?)
- DIFFICULT novel
  
  Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved.
  
  Position: crab fisherman; later doctor
  
  Ethnicity, gender, etc. White, female, teenager or young adult; set in the Chesapeake Bay; 1940's.
  
  Louise loves crabbing in the Chesapeake with her friend, and her work is important to her family took, but her friend marries her sister Caroline. How unfair can life be? It seems to Louise that she has suffered the same fate as the Biblical Esau. But God's favoring of Jacob did not mean that others would not be saved. Indeed God has hope for all people. This novel about finding oneself is set against the backdrop of World War II, and Louise grows from crabbing as a youth to a career as a doctor, and yes, she finds a husband of her own. (And yes, this novel does have a spiritual side; it is not just about getting your share too.)
  
  (Themes: Finding your place in life, the sea, World War II)
NONFICTION
- MODERATE Short Essay (autobiography)
  
  Armstrong, Louis. "My Boyhood in New Orleans." In Alice Baum, ed, Designs in Non-fiction.
  
  Position: Jazz Musician
  
  Ethnicity/gender/etc: Black, male, youth; urban setting (New Orleans), 1920's.
  
  When young Louis Armstrong (age 7) accidentally discharges his stepfather's pistol, and is sent to the "Colored Waifs' Home," he learns to play the trumpet.
  
  (Themes: community, family support, youth, incarceration, music)
  
  Supplemental reading: Carl Sandburg "Jazz Fantasia" (www.amblesideonline.org/CarlSandburg.html)
- MODERATE short exerpt (autobiography)
  
  Angelou, Maya, Excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
  
  Position: streetcar conductor
  Ethnicity/gender/etc.: Black, female, youth; urban setting (San Francisco, 1940's)
  
  As a teen, living in Oakland with her mother encouraging her, Maya Angelou manages to get a job as a streetcar conductor.
  
  (Themes: independence, family support)
- MODERATE-to-DIFFICULT full-length autobiography
  
  Rodriguez, Richard. Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood.
  
  Position: not so much about a job as about overcoming a hurdle--not speaking English. However Rodriguez does become a public speaker.
  Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White--Hispanic, Male, immigrant (from Mexico).
  
  Themes: bilingualism, identity, school success)

'Jigsaw' discussions (these are where students rotate between teams with the same focus and teams with a different focus; often students' home team is the one where everyone's interest is different; they teach each other what they learn on their 'same' teams, then compete against other home teams)
Table completion (complete tables with information about characters)
Stickmen (stick outlines representing characters, with spaces to write hopes/dreams (across the head), visions (across the eyes), loves/desires (across the heart), strengths (across the arm), weaknesses (across the heel)
Creating advertisements for brides/grooms and writing letters back & forth between the various characters (perhaps seeking to marry--as Sheriff Potts in the "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" must have exchanged with his bride-to-be)
Write your own story about a job you've had
Research any of the themes in the stories/essays (such as, arrranged marriages, time warps/time travel, coral reef health, sustainable development, the Texas frontier in the late 19th century, the jazz era, fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, street cars)

Compare settings, jobs, etc., who supports characters--who backs them--do they have to find people to back them like Rayona who has absolutely no one? Do their families back them? Their communities?

Reading (& Writing) About Work:
For Teens and Young Adults

Readings

FICTION

EASY Sci-Fi Novel

Stine, R.L. The Beast

Position: carnival worker/roller coaster conductor

Ethnicity/gender/etc: white working-class, male, urban, US-born; earlier in century, urban setting.
Two youngsters find themselves in a time warp when they ride "The Beast"--and meet its 'conductor' who hails from the past.

(Themes: time warps, time travel, early 20th century amusement parks)

EASY Short story

Oates, Joyce Carol. "Susannah and the Shepherd"

Position: herdsman

Ethnicity/gender/etc: White working-class, male, rural, immigrant (Basque) young; earlier in century, rural setting.

This youth from Basque country comes to Nevada to tend sheep, make money, then go home, but falls in love with his new country. He becomes engaged to the boss's very lovely daughter.

(Themes: arranged marriages, 'Westerns,' western humor)

EASY short story (this story is one of a series, part of a "novel in stories")

Salisbury, Graham. "Get Mister Red a Beer." In Blue Skin of the Sea, A Novel in Stories. By Salisbury.

Position: tour boat worker

Ethnicity/gender/etc: Hawaiian (half-French), male, teenager; Hawaiian setting.

Sonny goes to work for his uncle who runs a charter boat. Mister Red and his new bride Honey are the really cool customers looking for a souveneer they can bring home, something to decorate the bar in the club they own.

(Themes: the sea, environment, coral reefs, development, 'selling out')

MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) short story

Updike, John. "A & P."

Position: grocery store clerk

Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White working-class, male, teenager; set in beach town.

When three young ladies--visitors to the beach town this story is set in--come into the store where the story's hero works seeking a jar of "pickled herring snacks" and dressed in their swimsuits, the hero decides he's standing up for what he believes, whatever the cost.

(Themes: principles and selling-out, generation gap, plus something similar to the 'town-gown' controversy as it might play out in a beach town)

MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) novel within a novel ('Western')

Dorris, Michael. "Rayona," in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. By Dorris.

Position: worker in a state park/summer camp

Ethnicity/gender/etc.: Mixed (Native American and Black), female, teenager, urban but has moved back to reservation; reservation and wilderness setting.

When Rayona's Mom, dying of liver problems from drinking, and a bit mixed-up, decides to move back to the reservation, Rayona's reservation cousin Foxy (good looking but hard drinking) and his girlfriend Annabelle won't let her be. The local priest feels sorry for her--or so he says, but his approaches to Rayona are a bit wierd. Carted off from the reservation by the priest who leaves her by the side of the road, fourteen-year-old Rayona, tall and awkward, feels more confused than ever. She lies about her age to get a summer job working in the wilderness and meets Sky--the gas station owner Rayona's Mom drove off on enroute to the reservation--who looks after her for the summer. Rayona makes up a story about the 'normal family' she's always longed for based on a letter she finds discarded in the park. But Sky is not that easily duped. Rayona returns to the reservation a bit more sure of herself with Sky and his girlfriend in tow. But it looks like Foxy will get the better of her yet when he forces her (at knifepoint) to ride for him in the rodeo, being too drunk to ride himself. Rayona will look just like Foxy with his hat on her head--except she'll have a suntan, Foxy sneers. Rayona does not know a thing about riding, but she hangs on, and gets a sort of prize.

(Themes: fitting in, dealing with families that diverge from the 'norm', plus there is a 'Western' good guys, bad guys plot that runs through this story)

MODERATE (Neither Easy nor Difficult) short story (humorous)

Welty, "Why I Live at the P.O."

Position: post office worker

Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White (southern), female, young adult

When the heroine of this story's family throws a firecracker into her room, waking her up, she moves herself (and, to make sure she is more comfortable, a number of her family's goods) into the post office where she works. Some of the people side with her, some with her family; the rest of the business at the P.O. is from her family anyway; can't remember if they are boycotting the P.O.

(Themes: the family feud.)

Crane, Stephen. "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" http://historyofideas.org/toc/modeng/public/CraBrid.html(University of Virginia Electronic Text)

Position: sheriff

Ethnicity/gender/etc. White, male, young adult, set in a small Texas town when it was a 'frontier.'

When Sheriff Potts returns to Yellow Sky, Texas with the new bride he's just met for the first time and brought back from the East after getting acquainted by mail, "Scratchy" (the sort of 'town bad guy'--but he's only trouble when he is drunk) is shooting it out again--and the just married Sheriff does not even have his gun.

(Themes: Arranged marriages, Humor, the Texas Frontier, pullmen trains; you might also want to compare the Native American version of 'Scratch'--the 'devil'--with the traditional version--do you think Crane chose the name 'Scratchy' thinking of the devil narratives?)

DIFFICULT novel

Paterson, Katherine. Jacob Have I Loved.

Position: crab fisherman; later doctor

Ethnicity, gender, etc. White, female, teenager or young adult; set in the Chesapeake Bay; 1940's.

Louise loves crabbing in the Chesapeake with her friend, and her work is important to her family took, but her friend marries her sister Caroline. How unfair can life be? It seems to Louise that she has suffered the same fate as the Biblical Esau. But God's favoring of Jacob did not mean that others would not be saved. Indeed God has hope for all people. This novel about finding oneself is set against the backdrop of World War II, and Louise grows from crabbing as a youth to a career as a doctor, and yes, she finds a husband of her own. (And yes, this novel does have a spiritual side; it is not just about getting your share too.)

(Themes: Finding your place in life, the sea, World War II)

NONFICTION

MODERATE Short Essay (autobiography)

Armstrong, Louis. "My Boyhood in New Orleans." In Alice Baum, ed, Designs in Non-fiction.

Position: Jazz Musician

Ethnicity/gender/etc: Black, male, youth; urban setting (New Orleans), 1920's.

When young Louis Armstrong (age 7) accidentally discharges his stepfather's pistol, and is sent to the "Colored Waifs' Home," he learns to play the trumpet.

(Themes: community, family support, youth, incarceration, music)

Supplemental reading: Carl Sandburg "Jazz Fantasia" (www.amblesideonline.org/CarlSandburg.html)

MODERATE short exerpt (autobiography)

Angelou, Maya, Excerpt from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Position: streetcar conductor
Ethnicity/gender/etc.: Black, female, youth; urban setting (San Francisco, 1940's)

As a teen, living in Oakland with her mother encouraging her, Maya Angelou manages to get a job as a streetcar conductor.

(Themes: independence, family support)

MODERATE-to-DIFFICULT full-length autobiography

Rodriguez, Richard. Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood.

Position: not so much about a job as about overcoming a hurdle--not speaking English. However Rodriguez does become a public speaker.
Ethnicity/gender/etc.: White--Hispanic, Male, immigrant (from Mexico).

Themes: bilingualism, identity, school success)

Activities

'Jigsaw' discussions (these are where students rotate between teams with the same focus and teams with a different focus; often students' home team is the one where everyone's interest is different; they teach each other what they learn on their 'same' teams, then compete against other home teams)

Table completion (complete tables with information about characters)

Stickmen (stick outlines representing characters, with spaces to write hopes/dreams (across the head), visions (across the eyes), loves/desires (across the heart), strengths (across the arm), weaknesses (across the heel)

Creating advertisements for brides/grooms and writing letters back & forth between the various characters (perhaps seeking to marry--as Sheriff Potts in the "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" must have exchanged with his bride-to-be)

Write your own story about a job you've had

Research any of the themes in the stories/essays (such as, arrranged marriages, time warps/time travel, coral reef health, sustainable development, the Texas frontier in the late 19th century, the jazz era, fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, street cars)

For discussion (including jigsaw discussions) and table completion:

Compare settings, jobs, etc., who supports characters--who backs them--do they have to find people to back them like Rayona who has absolutely no one? Do their families back them? Their communities?