Novels of initiation : a guidebook for teaching literature to adolescents

Intended as a guidebook for high school English teachers, this book contains analyses of American novels commonly read in high school English classes. Each chapter is divided into two sections: an analysis of the novel, including discussions of story and setting, characters, themes, and language and style; and a guide to teaching the novel in the classroom, containing suggestions for approaching the novel, writing and discussion topics, and bridges to related literary works. Two appendixes provide sample thematic units, with listings of appropriate titles, and a selective list of other American novels of initiation. A glossary lists literary terms discussed throughout the book. Novels covered in the book consist of: (1) "The Catcher in the Rye" (J. D. Salinger); (2) "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (Mark Twain); (3) "The Chocolate War" (Robert Cormier); (4) "Ordinary People" (Judith Guest); (5) "The Bell Jar" (Sylvia Plath); (6) "The Great Gatsby" (F. Scott Fitzgerald); (7) "The Red Badge of Courage" (Stephen Crane); (8) "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Harper Lee); (9) "Member of the Wedding" (Carson McCullers); (10) "The Red Pony" (John Steinbeck); (11) "A Day No Pigs Would Die" (Robert Newton Peck); and (12) "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" (Mildred D. Taylor). (MM)