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Young Adult: Universal Themes Take Two 341 Views


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Description:

If you classify yourself as a "young adult," then you'll probably identify with a lot of these themes. If you don't...well, grow up already, won't you?

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Transcript

00:04

Universal Themes, Take Two, a la Shmoop. Remember back when we finished talking about

00:10

Universal Themes…

00:11

…and you cordoned off that section of your brain, certain you’d never need to use it

00:15

again?

00:16

Well, it’s time to dust off those brain cells and bring ‘em back out of storage…

00:19

…because it’s time for Universal Themes… the revenge.

00:26

Back in Unit One, we talked about two universal themes…

00:28

…Individual versus Society…

00:31

…and Individual versus Self. Remember when Junior from The Absolutely True

00:38

Diary of a Part-Time Indian had to fly in the face of his community and seek his education…

00:43

off the reservation?

00:46

For his senior prank, we wonder if he… TP’d his teepee…?

00:53

Or the way that Esperanza from The House on Mango Street had to work so hard to avoid

00:58

being trapped in one of her culture’s typical… women roles?

01:03

Those are both examples of the Individual versus Society.

01:06

They’re both fightin’ the Man. And then there’s the universal theme of

01:13

Individual versus Self.

01:15

We see that one rear its head when Junior has doubts about where he belongs…

01:18

…or what choices he should make.

01:21

And in Speak, when Melinda has to deal with the shame she feels for being raped.

01:26

We have also discussed the theme of Individual versus Individual…

01:29

…where one person is pitted against another.

01:32

Face to face. Mano a mano. Live on Pay per View.

01:41

We see this theme when Melinda goes against Andy in Speak…

01:44

…and when Junior finds himself at odds with his best friend, Rowdy.

01:49

All these guys are missing is a mud wrestling ring.

01:52

Well, wouldn’t you know it…

01:55

…there is yet a fourth universal theme centering on the struggles of an individual…

02:00

…Individual versus Nature.

02:05

Like when Moby Dick continually thwarts Captain Ahab’s attempts to capture him…

02:10

…or when Robinson Crusoe runs into a slew of problems on a desert island…

02:15

…or when those nasty trees start throwing apples at Dorothy.

02:21

Okay, so they feel she could use more fruit in her diet. There’s a nicer way to get

02:26

the point across. But nature isn’t limited to physical elements.

02:29

Sometimes a person’s biology can cause just as many headaches as a great white whale.

02:36

Plus, your biology is much trickier to… harpoon.

02:40

This is the type of struggle Shawn undergoes in Stuck in Neutral.

02:45

It’s a battle royale between his consciousness and his biology.

02:49

It seems a little like Individual versus Self…

02:51

…and yeah, there’s a little of that thrown in there, too…

02:54

…but it’s not just a moral, ethical or spiritual dilemma he’s dealing with.

02:58

Shawn really has no choice… his biology, i.e. his condition of cerebral palsy, is an

03:04

obstacle for him…

03:05

…and prevents him from talking to his father.

03:07

He may not have to track his biology for months on end in a whaling boat…

03:11

…but, in the end, his ordeal can result in just as much… blubber.

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