Generation Me by Jean M. Twenge | Teen Ink

Generation Me by Jean M. Twenge

February 9, 2009
By Chelsea Fricke BRONZE, Dallas, Texas
Chelsea Fricke BRONZE, Dallas, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

In Generation Me, Twenge writes to, what I believe is, a more adult or mature audience. With a very logical and informational writing style, she appeals to a more mature reader. Twenge is appalled by our generation's teenagers and their morals and lifestyles. She compares the teenagers of our generation with that of generations in the past to reveal a much more troubled youth our generation. The main idea of this piece of literature is to allow the reader why teenagers in our generation are miserable under all the stress they have been put under to succeed. I feel how Twenge applies this knowledge allows the reader to be more aware of the situation at hand. Jean Twenge not only is an author, but she is also a Psychology Researcher, Professor, and a Speaker. When Twenge created the innovative title of 'Generation Me', she made it apply to the text in an interesting way. This allows the reader to be captivated by the arrogant title and discover why teenagers of our generation are self-centered. She also provides information about the book in the Title: 'Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled'and More Miserable Than Ever Before' presenting the moral of the book right off the bat. The book is arranged by chapters. Twenge uses a writing style that allows the reader, if within the 'GenMe' era, to feel like a complete failure as a human being for the first part of the book then the second part of the book is her basically feeling sorry for our generation. I have to say that this ruffled my feathers but the more and more I allowed it to absorb, I realized that it's all true. Our generation is ridiculous, but the only thing Twenge failed to point out was the fact that teenagers in our generation are influenced by so many other things such as the gay/lesbian influence. Twenge never once talks about this subject (I think in fear that she would offend the reader). However, Curt Smith agrees with what Twenge has to say by admitting, 'Many are rude, narcissistic, and spoiled to the gills.' I personally feel that not all teenagers are spoiled and rude, just the majority of them. Aaron Shulman shares a common opinion with me and my group as he says, 'Generation Me is cogent, thoughtful, and fun to read, but over the course of the book I couldn't shake my discomfort with the sensationalistic use of the word miserable to describe my generation.' Twenge reveals the difference in values and individualism as opposed to conformity among America's youth through out different generations. In earlier generations, teenagers were more accustomed to conformity and obedience. However, teenagers now in our generation are seeking radical individuality and do not wish to adapt to conformity and refuse to obey to authoritative figures in order to express their opinions. This was easy to portray for our group, not only because we are teenagers, but because we enjoyed reading this novel and interpreting older generation's behavior as opposed to ours. The book appealed in a logical way, providing a lot of evidence and scientific data.


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