Abstract
The paper shows how Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Chaim Potok's "My Name Is Asher Lev", and Jane Austen's "Emma" all deal with the growth of self-awareness in adolescence and early adulthood. The paper shows how although these works utilize protagonists of various ages and vastly different circumstances, they all have in common the use of narration, characterization and plot to convey the protagonist's growing self-awareness.

From the Paper
"The growth of self-awareness in adolescence and early adulthood is common subject matter for novels. Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, My Name I Asher Lev by Chaim Potok, and Jane Austen's Emma all deal with this topic using protagonists of various ages and vastly different circumstances. Huckleberry is right in the middle of adolescence during he novel, working to make sense of himself and the world he inhabits while floating down the Mississippi with an escaped slave. Asher Lev is the youngest of these three when Potok's novel opens, and his journey takes him into early adulthood and complete independence. Emma is a wealthy young woman who is to busy invading other people's affairs to notice and tend to her own problems, a situation which she gradually encounters and, with help, surmounts. Despite their differences, these novels all deal with characters encountering themselves and growing from the experience. Similar literary elements are used by the three novelists to signal this growth. Narration, characterization, and plot are three of the most effective ways these authors signal the protagonist's growing self-awareness."

Tags:narration, characterization, plot, protagonists

Abstract
This paper examines the manner in which a key event and its impact on the protagonist is a common literary device in adolescent fiction. In each novel--"Seedfolks" (1997) by Paul Fleischman, "Monster" (1999) by Walter Dean Meyers and "Make Lemonade" (1993) by Virginia Euwer Wolff--the key event or obstacle for the protagonist is identified and its consequences are explored.

Abstract
The paper describes the dangers inherent in writing about adolescents. The paper claims that an adult writer has difficulty creating an adolescent character since the character is less developed then he is. The writer and the reader can both be guilty of viewing the adolescent character either condescendingly or sentimentally. The paper then explains how the book by James Joyce avoids these problems by using three methods: The book is written in the first person and narrated by the adolescent character; the narrator speech is linked directly to the adolescent's inner state of mind and by writing an honest account of the journey of youth. The paper explains why these three methods are effective in portraying the adolescent.

From the Paper
"In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the main character, Stephen, says that great art carries the qualities of wholeness, harmony, and radiance. Yet Stephen is making this statement as an adolescent, one who is not yet whole nor harmonious, but one who is still developing and adapting to himself and his world. As literary art, the problem this leads to is how an adult writer can create an adolescent character honestly, a character less developed then he is. The reader then has the same challenge, to read about this character and judge him for who he is, without directing his own biases on the character."

Tags:adolescent, writer, reader

Abstract
There are many predictors of juvenile delinquency including drug addicted parents, gender differences, single parent homes, violence exposure, early adolescent aggression, psychological condition and school performance. This paper provides a literary review on the predictors of juvenile delinquency. The literary review was constructed using material from various sources including, "The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse," "Mental Health Weekly," "The Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology" and the "Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry." The paper also includes a section on theoretical constructs, the ways in which these predictors impact the application of psychology and a critical analysis.

From the Paper
"The literature demonstrated that the predictors of juvenile delinquency in high income neighborhoods are different from those of low income neighborhoods. (Beyers, 2001) Beyers reports that predictors of repeated delinquency from the ages of 13-19 were explored in a longitudinal sample of 420 urban adolescent males living in high income neighborhoods. (Beyers, 2001) The study concluded that juveniles living in high income neighborhoods were less likely than juveniles living in low income neighborhoods to engage in delinquent acts. (Beyers, 2001)
The results of the study also indicated that predictors of juvenile delinquency in high income neighborhoods were more likely to be biologically based than in low income neighborhoods where predictors are usually based on "poor parent--adolescent communication and early intercourse, appeared to be context-dependent." (Beyers, 2001)"

Tags:urban, traditional, low-income, lead, exposure, dysfunctional

Abstract
This paper explains that love encompasses a wealth of different feelings, from passionate desire and intimacy to the nonsexual emotional closeness of platonic and family love, both of which are present in J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and Thomas Hardy's poetry. For both poet Thomas Hardy and Salinger's protagonist Holden Caulfield, memories are an important part of love. Whereas Holden's romantic relationship is a stereotypically adolescent, Hardy writes about his long and unhappy relationship with his first wife Emma.

From the Paper
"Another speculation is that Holden is unable to love because he is incapable of maturing. The protagonist of the novel has a curious fondness for his friend Jane, who is said to 'keep her kings in the back row.' Holden has kissed Jane on only one occasion but he becomes frantic as he learns that his roommate has a date with her; 'I nearly dropped dead when he said that.' Critic Stromwell has interpreted Holden's repeated mentions of 'keeping her kings in the back row' as representing Holden's unwillingness to mature."

Tags:memories, baseball glove, darcy death enjamblement

Abstract
This paper explains that often patients with anorexia nervosa do not know they have it and must be urged by a friend or family member to get diagnosis and treatment. The author points out that there really is no treatment, therapy and rehabilitation is lengthy and some victims die. The paper relates that, on the other side of the dietary spectrum is obesity, the most common and costly nutritional problem in the United States. The author states that, like anorexia nervosa, no cure is available for obesity; however, surgery for the morbidly obese may become necessary to prevent major complications from taking their toll. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.

From the Paper
"With anorexia, there are certain risk factors to take into consideration. Gender plays a part in the disorder because 90 percent of those affected are in fact girls/women. Athletes and several professions are also risk factors. This includes modeling, gymnastics, ballet, and other similar occupations. Those under too much stress and pressure from school and who are high achievers also are more likely to develop anorexia. Ethnic background plays a role as well. Many more people in America develop this disease such as those that are more concerned with their self-image. "

Tags:calories, self-image, surgery, thermostat, damage

Abstract
In this paper the author looks at the life and works of Herman Melville. The paper focuses on Melville's personal experiences in life combined with his unique literary style and vision, making him, in the author's opinion, the creator of novels that are considered to be some of the greatest in American history. The paper starts with a look at Melville's early life from childhood through to adolescent and how the experiences he had, shaped him for the future. The paper then explores the writing techniques that Melville used in his story telling and the attitudes to his books at the time they were written. The paper concludes that Melville was one of the greatest authors in American history even though at the time of his writing he may not have been truly appreciated.

From the Paper
"Melville's writing reflects a tremendous number of influences. He incorporates character types, allusions, philosophy, and much more from the great thinkers of his day and from those who came before them. Some of his contemporaries were Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was a good friend, and transcendental thinkers such as Thoreau and Emerson. Whitman was another contemporary influence. Melville also read Shakespeare, Dante Alighieri, and Edmund Spenser. The evidence of these writers is found in Biblical, philosophical and literary allusions throughout his novels (DelFattore 1913)."

Tags:novels, literary, readers, allusion, books

Abstract
The paper offers a brief introduction to "The Woman Warrior" and discusses the theme of the cultural heritage and cultural identities that continually tore the main character of the story apart. The paper then considers how Kingston's novel emerged from the second wave of feminist movement and looks at how Kingston presents evidence of the Saphir-Whorf hypothesis that language determines a culture's world view. In addition, the paper considers the importance of girlhood and adolescence and the Chinese mother and daughter relationship. The paper concludes with a gynocritical analysis of the novel and asserts that this work has become an American literary canon because it has addressed the many issues that confront the woman as her body develops from girl to woman, and as she acculturates into a new social construct while maintaining her heritage.

Outline:
Cultural Heritage and Identity
Amidst the Feminist Movement
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Importance of Girlhood and Adolescence
Mother-Daughter Relationship
Gynocritical Analysis

From the Paper
"Critics couldn't decide whether the novel is an autobiography or a collection of stories both fact and fiction. However, many readers agree that the book is more than a mere memoir of a woman's experiences as she goes from girlhood to a teenage college student and into adult life. Amidst all these transformations lay the cultural heritage and cultural identities that continually tore the girl apart. One end was demanding her to keep her Chinese roots intact while another required her to evolve into the American woman demanded by the times and the environment where she lived."

Tags:Saphir-Whorf, hypothesis, language, culture, identity, girlhood, adolescence, feminism

Abstract
This paper discusses the use of opposition and tension to illustrate the major themes of "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner. The paper describes how these oppositions help to create the tension and mood in the story, and serve as a literary device to illustrate the author's themes of the initiation of the adolescent into adult life, and the triumph of the personal conscience over family loyalty.

From the Paper
"Sarty's blood tie to his father versus the pull of moral imperative to society in general is likely the major opposition within "Barn Burning". As the story begins, Sartoris Snopes is in court, hoping that he does not have to testify in the arson case against his father, Mr. Snopes. Sarty knows that his father is guilty, but is willing to lie in court because he feels that his blood tie, to his father, or the "pull of blood" outweighs any moral imperative or decent behavior to society. Sarty thinks that Mr. Harris is "his father's enemy (our enemy he thought in that despair, ourn, mine and hisn both! He's my father!)". Ultimately, Sarty must warn Mr. de Spain of his father's plans to burn down the plantation, as he cannot stop his father's actions. In this warning, the moral imperative to society wins out over the blood ties to his father, and Sarty has passed through a difficult and painful initiation into adult life."

Tags:opposition, tension, adolescence, adulthood, sarty, snopes, arson, harris

Abstract
This paper discusses how the musical play, "The Fantasticks", originally strikes the viewer as both an effective and humorous parody of the Shakespearean romantic drama, "Romeo and Juliet", and the classical Greek and Roman myth of Primus and Thisbe, upon which Shakespeare's play is based. It looks at how, when examined for its deeper theatrical and literary significance, the play's "spine", or story, and structure of theatrical staging also conveys to the viewer a more coherent explanation of the moral dilemma that underlines story of thwarted, adolescent love and the purpose of Romantic theater in general.

From the Paper
"The distance of the wall that the children must overcome, emotionally, embodies this separation. "You must always leave the wall," is one of the final tropes underlined at the end of the play, by the narrative voice of the storyteller. In other words, in true love, one must also have distance as well as reinforcement of desire and connection. The play's use of the wall creates a connection not only with "Romeo and Juliet," but also with the Classical Greek myth of Primus and Thisbe, where the two mythical personas whispered to one another to communicate across the distance of the wall. An infamous balcony that barred the two of them from communicating physically likewise separated the romantic protagonists Romeo and Juliet."

Tags:shakespeare, romeo, juliet, primus, thisbe