Keywords

student naivete, cultural understanding, adolescent perspectives

Abstract

Unfortunately, I made little headway with my students. From their perspectives, people living on the other side of the world, especially "enemies," were so abstract they hardly seemed real. Because my students knew almost nothing about Soviet or Chinese people, the idea of exterminating all the "Commies" seemed about as horrifying or realistic to them as a Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon.

Part of their naivete resulted from the fact that they were typical teenagers: egocentric, unfamiliar with many of the ugly realities of the world, and prone to simplistic notions of right and wrong, good and evil.

Original Publication Citation

“Finding Common Ground: Multicultural YA Literature” English Journal 88.2 (November 1998): 124-126.