Young adult literature as a means for creating empathy on the example of John Green’s The Fault in our Stars

Abstract

One of the possible reasons for the popularity of young adult literature is its ability to create strong empathic responses in the audience. The thesis aimed to find out what techniques can be used by the authors to induce this response, based on John Green’s The Fault in our Stars. The thesis consists of an introduction, a literature review, and an empirical analysis of the novel. The introduction focuses on the phenomenon of young adult literature. It discusses what makes the genre so popular today and brings out the positive aspects, related concerns and the negative criticism it has received. The literature review explores, supported by various research papers and articles, in more depth the benefits of reading fiction and the essence of empathy and how and when it can occur while reading. This section also focuses on the role of authors in creating empathy and the techniques available for them to induce an empathic response in the readership. In the empirical analysis, The Fault in our Stars was discussed. The analysis brings out the potential moments in the novel where readers could have an empathic response to the text. It also discusses the various techniques the author has used in the book and how they are effective.