P Nicolaus Thesis
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MOON AWAY by Paul D. Nicolaus A Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts-English at The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Oshkosh WI 54901-8621 May 2009 COMMITTEE APPROVAL INTERIM PROVOST AND VICE CHANCELLOR _4-(2_.:"'Y""Y"\.---=--":!"~__--'-o£.- ___ Advisor Date Approved ~/"??/,,}()P 1 Date Approved ~~~ Member FORMAT APPROVAL 5 • ao · 09 Date Approved ~~ Member S;;;.pz()09 Date Approved ~. 2-6. o~ Date Approved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although you are far too numerous to thank individually, my sincere gratitude goes out to all family, friends, and acquaintances who have provided any sort of feedback or encouragement. Many thanks to Dr. Ron Rindo for his wise insights and advice along the way, Professor Laura Jean Baker for her extremely thoughtful reading and line of questioning, Professor Douglas Haynes for his involvement, Dr. Crystal Mueller for the amazing opportunity to learn about the entire writing process, Dr. Laurie MacDiarmid for introducing me to the wonders of fiction writing and suggesting stylistic compadres, and Dr. John Neary for his friendship and guidance, and for helping me discover the extraordinary within the ordinary (and vice versa). Special thanks to Mom, Dad, Carla, and Kate for their never-ending love and support, and for being the people I always look up to. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CRITICAL INTRODUCTION: MOON AWAY………………………… 1 TUMBLE DRYING INTO MANHOOD SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………. 11 TRAIN TRACKS AND COOKIE DUSTERS SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………. 25 SUPER STREAKER, WHITE LIGHTNING, AND BALLS MAGEE SAVE THE DAY SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………. 29 SEPTEMBER 1999……………………………………………………... 36 OCTOBER 1999………………………………………………………… 44 THE BIG BANG SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………. 56 THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND SUMMER 1999………………………………………………………….. 60 NOVEMBER 1999………………………………………………………. 76 DECEMBER 1999……………………………………………………….. 88 PRICK OF A PEA SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………... 91 SLAP BALLS, SOMBREROS, AND SWARBRICK SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………… 101 JANUARY 2000………………………………………………………….. 112 FEBRUARY 2000………………………………………………………… 119 SHOPPING AND MOPPING SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………… 127 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page MARCH 2000…………………………………………………………….. 137 APRIL 2000………………………………………………………………. 145 MOON WARS SUMMER 1999…………………………………………………………… 154 MAY 2000………………………………………………………………… 166 JUNE 2000………………………………………………………………… 170 WORKS CONSULTED…………………………………………………... 177 iv 1 CRITICAL INTRODUCTION: MOON AWAY Although there is no definitive answer as to when the young adult genre began, and works were written with a young audience in mind much earlier, it wasn’t until the mid 20th century that this genre gained momentum and started to be taken seriously by writers, librarians, publishers, and others within the greater literary community. In its relatively short history, the young adult genre has evolved and grown, yet it still consistently draws upon the tradition set forth by its earliest writers. In the early 1950s, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye helped pave the way for other groundbreaking works to follow. Although it was published with an adult audience in mind, this work caught the attention of adolescent readers before a category of fiction was devoted to this group. To this day, Salinger’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield, remains a popular icon for teen angst, and many contemporary works continue to resemble this novel, where the protagonist is lonely, troubled, and seems to be dangerously close to suffering a nervous breakdown. In the late 60s and early 70s, during a period of social, cultural, and political rebellion and a prolonged defiance of authority, books such as S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, Paul Zindel’s The Pigman, Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, and Robert Lipsyte’s The Contender emerged. These books broke the common conventions in literature geared toward adolescents and, like Salinger’s novel, portrayed the darker side of teen life. Authors such as M.E. Kerr, Richard Peck, and Judy Blume added to this body of work that is now considered to be the classics of YA literature. As Frances 2 FitzGerald notes, they created an inward-looking world set apart from adults where the teens suffer, usually because of wrongdoing by individual authority figures or society as a whole. They inspired a form that utilizes very minimal description of surrounding places or characters, and the teen characters use their own sort of language (6-7). These early authors and their works essentially became the models for all YA literature that has since followed. Authors intending to write young adult literature must understand that while the genre shares many qualities with adult fiction, there are certain aspects that set it apart. Because many young adults choose to read adult literature that deals with mature themes, it is essential that YA authors respect this audience and realize that their place in life warrants a type of writing that speaks directly to them and the issues they either deal with or wonder about. K.L. Going states, “the intent of the teen novel isn’t to ‘write down’ to them, but rather to give them a body of literature that is uniquely their own” (13). The definition of YA literature is debatable and there will always be exceptions that challenge the boundaries of the field, but the works that fall into this genre do often share some general characteristics. Most YA critics, scholars, and historians agree that the primary audience is made up of people ages twelve to eighteen, the work is longer than that geared toward children and shorter than an adult piece, the pace is quick, the treatment of theme is fairly straightforward, and a teen protagonist and teen perspective is featured. The treatment of theme in young adult literature tends to be less complex than that found in adult literature, but contemporary authors of the YA novel do not shy away from the difficult issues many teens have to face in today’s world. Difficult topics such as teen 3 parenthood, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, and serious mental illness are dealt with on a regular basis. For instance, Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee features a protagonist that brings the warring racial sections of a town together, and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower portrays the struggle one teen goes through to deal with a friend’s suicide and to eventually realize that he was molested by a relative. While teen problems continue to evolve and change with the times, FitzGerald concludes that the way teens solve these dilemmas has not, for the most part. Turning to art and nature continues to be popular, leaving town in some fashion is common, and finding love or a sense of companionship helps as well (9). The combination of writing about complex issues while also capturing the intensity of adolescence makes it difficult to avoid venturing into melodrama, but this is a challenge that must be conquered in order to write an effective piece of YA fiction. While the young adult genre embodies numerous subgenres, the largest has always been contemporary realism. The vast majority of these stories have followed the same basic pattern. They are problem novels where the protagonist must attempt to overcome some sort of tragedy or traumatic experience. Marc Aronson describes a coming-of-age as the development portrayed by a character whose personality has been shaped by the smaller, more isolated worlds of school, family, and friends, but then moves into a larger world and begins to gain a new sense of identity (20). Young adult novels inherently take on a sense of wonder because the characters, in their process of coming-of-age, often grapple with new and exciting experiences that provide the spark needed to change and grow. 4 In a number of ways, characteristics of the YA novel intersect with that of the novella, a form that has been developed by some of the most accomplished and respected writers who have ever lived. It can be extremely useful, therefore, to refer to works such as John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. These works, like YA novels, utilize concise language and a focused storyline, and they can be examined in order to better understand the elements that come together to make a quality work of fiction. In comparison with the short story, the novella’s length allows for a longer cast of characters, more scenes, a more complex plot, and a story that can take place over longer stretches of time. While short stories portray a sudden illumination and novels usually take on longer narratives of growth and development, the novella has the opportunity to do either or a combination of both. In addition, chapters can be utilized as a means of controlling the pace and building a sense of anticipation. The best works in both the YA and short novel genres are quality, timeless pieces of literature that are able to attract and speak to readers of all ages and walks of life. For my thesis, I drew on both of these literary traditions with the intentions of creating a work geared first and foremost toward a young adult audience, yet one with the potential to speak to adult readers as well. I knew from the start that I wanted to create a YA novel within the realm of contemporary realism. I also believed the story I had in mind would be best told in the first person using a male narrator somewhere around the age of fourteen, so I consulted several recent and applicable YA novels. Works such as Sherman Alexie’s The 5 Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, John Green’s Looking for Alaska, and David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green provided examples of the unique and varied narrative voices some modern-day authors have put forth. Reminding myself of the intended audience during the writing and revising process proved to be both helpful and difficult.