The authors argue that although "freshman survival guides" do address the common concerns of entering college students, these books largely entertain, placate, and enable students to circumvent expert advice on how successfully to navigate the transition to college. A content analysis of 10 popular first-year advice books revealed an…

The concept of "Ubuntu" has recently received a lot of attention in spite of the fact that there is no consensus about its meaning. African scholars have strived to attain a common meaning and English translation, and while they agree that it is typically and solely African, the closest some have come up with is "African humanism". A South African…

Young adults read not only to experience real-life problems, but also to "escape" from those problems. The two most popular types of novels available to teens are the contemporary realistic problem novel and the formula romance novel. A study examined the incidence of specific adolescent developmental tasks (adolescent problems/concerns)…

Examined drawings and transcripts of accompanying narratives made by 3- to 7-year-old children in a preschool setting. Analyzed the symbolism of the pictures and the children's stories about them that formed a background or explanation of each picture, noting developmental differences between the age groups. (JPB)

A study was conducted to determine if the "New Realism" in adolescent literature provided a more realistic picture of the psychological and social characteristics of adolescents than did earlier forms of the genre. An analysis was conducted of five novels written before 1960 and five written after that date to determine themes of identity and the…

This study utilizes content analysis to compare and contrast the female protagonists in award-winning contemporary adolescent fiction. R. J. Havighurst's developmental tasks are discussed in reference to diverse female protagonists from approved school reading lists in Montgomery County, Maryland. Sara, from "Summer of the Swans" (Byars,…

Context analysis of 10 adolescent novels revealed that the primary female characters of pre-1971 novels attempted only low-level tasks which involved self-concern and peer relationships. The primary female characters in post-1980 novels attempted tasks of practical and abstract skills that involved planning for the future. (BB)