Date of Award:

5-2015

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Department name when degree awarded

Teacher Education and Leadership

Committee Chair(s)

Amy Alexandra Wilson (Committee Co-Chair), Sylvia Read (Committee Co-Chair)

Committee

Amy Alexandra Wilson

Committee

Sylvia Read

Committee

Martha Dever

Committee

Martha Whitaker

Committee

Wendy Holliday

Abstract

This study examines how girls and women related to a strong female protagonist in Scott Westerfeld's book Uglies, a dystopian young adult novel. I chose the text, Uglies, as a common experience shared between both participant groups. Two main research questions framed this study: How do girls and women relate to the female protagonist in dystopian YAL? and, How are the responses to dystopian YAL similar and different for the targeted teen audience and the adult audience? This study utilized third-wave feminism and reader response theory for its critical framework. Third-wave feminism calls for researchers to foreground personal narratives as a way for people to make meaning from their experiences. Reader response theory posits that meanings are created when the reader engages with a text.

The analysis revealed that women related to the protagonist as an agent for societal change, and the girls related to the protagonist as an individual who desired societal acceptance. The findings from this study affirm and extend reader response theory's view that generational positions factor strongly in responses to literature.

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