Definitions

A coming-of-age story is a genre of literature and film that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood ("coming of age"). Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or internal monologue over action, and are often set in the past.

 E.g. Great Expectations , The Kite Runner, Gone with the Wind，etc.

An initiation story, in its simplest sense, is a story about the moral and psychological growth of a young man or young woman.

 

Point of view  

* First-person narration from the viewpoint of an innocent child --- curiosity, objectivity and better observation and illumination. 

Narrator

A reliable narrator: authoritative description of fictional truthAn unreliable narrator: an innocent narrator (not understand all the complicated and the difficult of the world), e.g. Huckleberry Finn

A naïve narrator: deceptive, self-deceptive, cheated or mad 

Epiphany

A sudden revelation of truth about life inspired by a seemingly trivial incident;

A usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something;

An illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure;

A moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way

 Irony

Verbal irony is a figure of speech that occurs when a person says one thing but means the opposite.

Dramatic irony creates a discrepancy between what a character believes or says and what the reader or audience knows to be true.

Situational irony exists when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Situational Irony in "My Wonderful Lousy"

The boy anxiously and confidently waited for his father's appreciation of the "wonderful" poem, but unexpectedly he received his father's criticism.

Message of "My Wonderful Lousy"

Both the mother's praise and the father's criticism are manifestation of love, and represent two conficting and complementary forces which may keep and promote the growth of the child in the right track.

Shift of Point of View in the Story

A child's perspective (naive narrator) → an adult's perspective

3 Phases of the Boy's Growth

1. Childhood: writing a poem

2.Youth: writing a short story

3.Adult: writing a novel

Different understanding about  writing and life in different phase of  growth

Message of “My Christmas Carol”

   When the narrator’s father was in power, their house used to be crowded with visitors (门庭若市)with all kinds of gifts, but now visitors are few and far between (门可罗雀)because his father lost his power.

 The Boy’s Epiphany

    From now on he would have to face a world in which there was not only no Santa Claus, but very, very few on-the-level Santa Claus’s helpers.

    Snobbery and sycophancy are often displayed in the name of love and friendship.

1.Message of “My Wonderful LousyPoem”

ssage “My Wonderful LousyPoem”

    Both the mother's encouragement and thefather's criticism are manestationof love and represent two conflicting and complementary forces which may keepand promote  the growth of a child in theright track.

Message of “My Wonderful LousyPoem”

    Both the mother's encouragement and thefather's criticism are manestationof love and represent two conflicting and complementary forces which may keepand promote  the growth of a child in theright track.

Shift of Point of View

 achild's perspective （naïvenarrator）→

                                     anadult's perspective