by Paola Barros
“Humans vs. Zombies” seems to be a popular attraction when it comes to grab people’s attention, especially teenagers. Zombies are odd freakish creatures whose origin is unknown, but for some reason, these non living people are appealing to adolescents. Teens are fascinated with issues such as death, blood and flesh. So, one may affirm that zombies’ stories were and are made for teens. However, not all bloody stories about zombies are intended for them since there are some aspects that are required to be present in any story to be accepted as a case of Young Adult Literature (YAL). “Bodies and heads”, a zombie short story by Steve Rasnic Tem, can be taken as an instance of YAL.
According to Robert C.Small Jr., who is dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Radford University, a piece of text can be considered YAL if it follows certain characteristics. Among them, the main character is a teenager and he/she is the centre of the plot. Although “Bodies and heads” doesn’t contain a character who is a teenager, the main character resembles teenage speech and slang. The story is centred on Nurse Elaine, who takes care of a boy called Tom. He is admitted in the hospital as a consequence of the so called “Zombie-virus” which kills people and turns them into living dead. Furthermore, Nurse Elaine is perceptive, intelligent, sensitive and independent. The interpretation of events and people are presented from her point of view, which at the same time shapes up another YAL’s features.
Apart from that, Elaine is constantly questioning herself about what she has to believe in and what is happening outside the hospital she is working at, since the building is under quarantine. During the whole story, she is in an internal conflict with herself: what is true and what is not. She needs some explanations about the “zombie situation” which is threatening people’s lives. Undoubtedly, young adults will feel identified with this character because she possesses similarities to them, such as questioning and trusts. Adolescents are in a persistent search for truth and their place in the world and this concern about the search for self is a YAL universal theme.
In addition, literature directed to young adults deals with many topics, such as sexual issues. In “Bodies and heads” we also can find a sex scene between Elaine and her lover Mark. For sure, this sexual scene will catch teens’ attention because in adolescence period they experiment hormone changes and that makes them curious about sexual matters among others. However, sexuality is not the only appealing topic to teens. No matter the genre, young adults possess a morbid fascination for stories and novels in which people are being ripped and killed. This story contains it all: death, blood and body mutilation.
Finally, a YAL text is expected to be short and, in the story written by Steve Rasnic Tem this feature is present.
Adolescents will enjoy reading “Bodies and heads” since is short and easy reading. It is a narrative addressed to them. It is unquestionably that the narrative contains many YAL’s features and we can also find in it zombies, horror and sex. Definitely, “Bodies and heads” is a clear instance of YAL.
Very interesting essay! I think that both the topic and the plot of the story were clearly presented and that the information was well organized. Perhaps, at the beginning, I felt a little bit confused, because I believed that you were about to deal with a story that wasn't a case of YAL, since you wrote "However, not all bloody stories about zombies are intended for them (teenagers) since there are some aspects that are required to be present in any story to be accepted as a case of Young Adult Literature ". Anyway, in the second paragraph it became evident that you were writing about a clear instance of YAL, and the confusion disappeared.
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Good job Pao! Your essay is really clear. I didn't have any problem through the reading of it, though I would like comment on a couple of things. First, I have the same problem that Laura had. Second, when you say that the main character makes use of teenage speech and slang, why didn't you use an example to illustrate? I know that exemplification is sometimes a very simple device, but when you have these kind of things that for sure are funny is good to include them, haha. Finally, it caught my attention the one-line paragraph. It's kind of weird to see it alone standing there. I think your argumentation was clear enough, and you could've done away with it. Anyway, these are just suggestions and things that came to my mind while reading. It's a fantastic essay!
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