In his New York Times article, “Teenage Wastelands,” Charles McGrath moves to classify the up and coming dystopian, young adult novel. He references the widely popular, I Am Number Four, Twilight, Matched, and The Hunger Games to assert that the themes of distant authority and staying true to one’s self are the mainstays of the new genre. He does this to present the idea that perhaps adults are projecting and that teenagers possibly care less about these issues than perhaps adults think they do. I believe McGrath’s intended audience is simply the general public—certainly those who read and perhaps even write the type of novel in question.
Honestly, the précis I wrote above is complete guesswork. I read McGrath’s article four times and I still don’t have a real idea of what he was trying to argue. A large portion of his article was plot summary of the aforementioned novels which I believe detracted from whatever point he was trying to make. Additionally, I believe that McGrath was attempting to make a point about what adults think teenagers think, and in doing so made an example of himself. As a teenager, I can say a large number of my peers are indeed quite worried about “caving into authority and…finding the right person to love” (3). Finally, McGrath’s final sentence seemed completely random. It was an interesting point, but it seemed to me that where another paragraph should have gone, the article just ended.
Honestly, the précis I wrote above is complete guesswork. I read McGrath’s article four times and I still don’t have a real idea of what he was trying to argue. A large portion of his article was plot summary of the aforementioned novels which I believe detracted from whatever point he was trying to make. Additionally, I believe that McGrath was attempting to make a point about what adults think teenagers think, and in doing so made an example of himself. As a teenager, I can say a large number of my peers are indeed quite worried about “caving into authority and…finding the right person to love” (3). Finally, McGrath’s final sentence seemed completely random. It was an interesting point, but it seemed to me that where another paragraph should have gone, the article just ended.