Adolescence in American Fiction and Film

Module code: EN3004

According to F Scott Fitzgerald, growing up "is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another". Because adolescence is such a challenging and exciting life stage, the coming of age story, or Bildungsroman, is one of the most popular forms in American culture. The texts we study on this module depict a range of experiences, from that of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye – one of the best-known teenagers in literature – to the film Moonlight, whose protagonist contrasts with Holden in almost every way. We read and view diverse coming of age narratives in fiction and film, and consider not only what is typical of these stories, but also the purpose and effect of texts that diverge from the genre’s traditional focus on white, heterosexual male experience. Students may write on fiction, film, or any combination of these in the assignment.