This is a short chapter, where Dag talks about his life between leaving the Basement People and is life next to Claire and Andy. This is a chapter that probably a lot of people can relate to. Dag felt this new low of his life and he couldn’t, for a long time it seems, find a way out. Many people during the pandemic tried to find new ways to entertain themselves. And when that didn’t work, some people tried again. But, I think a lot of people gave up. Especially seen in Gen Z, as came out of the pandemic different from when they went in. They had this depressive time like Dag did and they found what they actually wanted out of life. They have this journey where they come out stronger. It relates back to Greer’s idea of why people love YA novels so much. They get to see themselves as someone they wish they were, or as more interesting. In a similar way, Dag has come out of this depressive time of his life as something new and something better.
I believe you were summarizing Gen X about the chapter Dead at 30, Buried at 70. I think this was a good choice since you talked about what the chapter was talking about and what was meant from the chapter in your eyes.
I believe you were quoting your non-fiction source about Greer and YA novels. I think this was a good choice because it talked about the idea of why YA novels were so popular and how they could be associated with Coupland.
I believe the relationship between the two texts was well developed but could be pushed forward. A possible way to do this would be to talk about a certain YA novel and why this YA novel was popular, especially to Gen X. You could also talk a little more about Dag and what exactly he was going through and how this can further be related to Gen X and YA novels. For example, he talked about when he went outside and wanted a new future and how he was going to change his life. There could be a possible correlation of someone reading a YA novel and wanting to change their life from reading it.
Erin, I think Thomas’ last point is worth picking up on: the characters in Gen X are themselves both storytellers and readers/listeners. And the idea of looking at narratives to find alternative versions of the self lets you connect these characters to Greer’s ideas. Notice what Dag says in the last paragraph of the chapter (31): he is thinking about himself as “reader” of his own life!
(Quotation from the chapter would be needed to develop in this direction, so as to show your reader the language of storytelling…)