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Educational Issues in Diaries of a Wimpy Kid

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Educational Issues in Diaries of a Wimpy Kid MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English language and literature Educational Issues in Diaries of a Wimpy Kid Final Thesis Brno 2020 Supervisor: Author: Mgr: Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. Mgr. Tereza Langová Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem studenta Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb. o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon) ve znění pozdějších předpisů. V Brně dne Mgr. Tereza Langová Acknowledgement I would like to express my gratitude to Mrs Lucie Podroužková, supervisor of this thesis, for her valuable comments and advice on writing this work. Annotation: This thesis deals with problems of adolescents, especially in their relationships, through the analysis of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. Third and fourth chapters summarize basic information about the author, main characters and topics contained in this book series. The main purpose of this work is to analyze relationship of the main character Greg to his best friend Rowley as an inappropriate example of a friendship with signs of bullying for young readers. Keywords: adolescents, relationships, friendship, bullying, young adult literature Anotace: Tato práce se zabývá problémy adolescentů, především pak v jejich vztazích, skrze analýzu knižní série Deník malého poseroutky. Třetí a čtvrtá kapitola shrnuje základní informace o autorovi, hlavních hrdinech a tématech obsažených v této knižní sérii. Hlavním cílem práce je analyzovat vztah hlavního hrdiny Grega s jeho nejlepším kamarádem Rowleym jako nevhodný příklad přátelského vztahu vykazujícího známky šikany pro mladé čtenáře. Klíčová slova: adolescenti, vztahy, přátelství, šikana, literatura pro mládež Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 7 2. ADOLESCENCE ................................................................... 9 2.1. Adolescents and relationships .......................................... 10 2.1.1. Self-concept in adolescence ............................................... 10 2.1.2. Family members ................................................................ 10 2.1.3. Friends and Peers ............................................................... 12 2.2. School problems ............................................................... 13 3. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID ................................................. 15 3. 1. The genre of diary literature ............................................ 15 3. 2. Jeff Kinney ...................................................................... 17 3. 3. The main characters ........................................................ 18 3.4. Topics in Diary of a Wimpy Kid ..................................... 24 3.4.1. Family ................................................................................ 24 3.4.2. School ................................................................................ 28 3.4.3. Friendship .......................................................................... 31 4. FRIENDSHIP OF GREG AND ROWLEY ......................... 33 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................... 42 6. REFERENCES ..................................................................... 45 7. APPENDIX ........................................................................... 49 1. INTRODUCTION This thesis deals with the analysis of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. The books are written as a journal narrated by a teenage boy who experiences many troubles and solves many problems typical of the stage of adolescence. Adolescents try to define their own identity and they want to find answers to many questions about their personality as well as the world around them. As a result, their relationships with family members, authorities, peers and friends are usually changed because of different opinions, ideas, interests, etc. The author Jeff Kinney loved comics when he was a child, and so he wanted to be a cartoonist. However, he started to write notes about his experiences from childhood with his older brother after his dream to be a professional cartoonist was not fulfilled. This text was completed with pictures which seemed as they were drawn by a child. And the idea of writing a diary from a child’s point of view was born. (Wimpy Kid.com) Jeff wrote all books humorously for adults, and he could never imagine them as children’s literature. (Parker-Pope) There is a question if this type of humor is really suitable for emerging opinions of adolescents. However, young readers so much love this book series that all books became bestsellers. The first Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published in 2007 and so far the last book titled Wrecking ball in 2019 (see table 1). Besides this book series there are available do-it-yourself book, movie books and spin-off written by Rowley’s perspective, the last one with title Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure will be on sale in April 2020. (Wimpy Kid.com) Greg Heffley is the main character and the narrator of the diary. This thirteen-year-old boy writes down all his experiences, problems and troubles from family and school life. Greg’s dream is to be famous and so many decisions he made are geared towards popularity. He also often mentions his best friend Rowley and the reader gradually finds out that their friendship is 7 not full of fairness, trust and understanding. Greg usually only wants to take advantage of being a friend of Rowley and quite often treats him badly. This book series have engaged millions of 8-12 year old readers, and there were more than 200 million copies sold in 64 languages. (Wimpy Kid.com) However, the books became very disputable topic among parents who consider moral questions contained in diaries to be a bad example for young readers. Many psychologists provided comments to this book phenomenon and according to them parents should learn from Greg and the diary can help them to find out more about children’s minds. In addition, this book series has turned many children into readers and they so love the books that the publisher was forced to increase the number of copies in initial print. (Parker-Pope) The thesis is divided into four main chapters apart from the introduction and the conclusion. Chapter two represents a theoretical basement for the analysis of books and provides information about changes in adolescents’ relationships, behavior and interests. The next chapter is focused on the introduction of the genre of diary literature with the analysis of a style of the Wimpy Kid books, next there is introduced the author’s motive to write this type of books, and there are also described the main characters of the books. This part of the thesis also provides an overview of interesting topics contained in Greg’s narration. The main character’s life is full of humorous scenes as well as troubles happened in family, school or with his best friend Rowley. The main fourth chapter argues that despite the fact Greg keeps pulling his audience on his side, his motivation and behavior needs to be questioned. It will be shown that his attitude to Rowley is an inappropriate example of friendship for young readers. 8 2. ADOLESCENCE The term adolescence was derived from the Latin verb “adolescere” which means to grow up, to become adult, mature (Lesser 75). As the term for the specific stage of human life it is used differently in psychology, medical science as well as in sociology and pedagogy. The teenage phase is defined differently according to science and various literature sources. “Adolescence is the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood that occurs between ages 13 and 19. But the physical and psychological changes that take place in adolescence often start earlier, during the preteen or "tween" years: ages 9 and 12” (“Adolescence” 2020). The World Health Organization specifies this period of development as the period between the ages of 10 and 19 years: “Adolescence begins with the onset of physiologically normal puberty, and ends when an adult identity and behavior are accepted”(“Age limits and adolescence”) The period of adolescence is considered to be the imaginary bridge between childhood and adulthood, and it is really important not only for individuals but also for the whole society. Teenagers during adolescence move: “from the pre-conventional to the conventional level of moral thinking in which moral thinking is guided by the individual’s interpersonal relationships and place in society” (Hazen et al. 166). Teenage age is time of: “instability, of development and transition, physical and psychological” (“Adolescence” 1954). Children at this age often test their limits, try to find answers to questions about their personality, who they are and who they want to be. This exploration leads to identity formation (Cherry). Many questions about independence and identity may lead to difficult choices regarding friendship, family, school, sexuality, gender identity, alcohol and drugs (“Adolescence” 2020). Adolescence is a period of life which is very different from any other period. It is necessary to divide this phase of life into three stages: early adolescence is typical for children aged twelve to fourteen years, middle adolescence lasts from fifteen to sixteen years and late adolescence for people aged seventeen to nineteen. Each
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