Introduction: My research into the well known author Jodi Picoult was extremely intriguing and highlighted some important types of issues in today’s society. The narratives’ I studied were My sister’s Keeper, Nineteen Minutes and Handle with care. What are the orthodox issues in Jodi Picoult’s writing? Jodi Picoult’s approaches one particular type of issue in all of her texts. These are modern day adolense issues. These issues are easily adapted to fix a multi character text. This highlights that adolescence issues affect everybody. Jodi Picoult’s uses this universal theme through all of her novels.

This theme also adapts other crucial themes such as betrayal and medical problems. Adolescence issues: Teenaged Amelia O’Keeffe is no regular adolescent. She has a serious self caused medical issue. This is Bulimia and self infliction. She feels her life is not worth living. Everything causes her pains he does not understand and this is the easiest escape out. Her parents are divorcing, while her mother is suing her best friend’s mother for the birth of her sister. This sobering situation in Handle with care is too much for a teenager to comprehend. Amelia just wants “to hurt and understand exactly why I was hurting. his made sense: you cut, you felt pain , period.. : I was just breathing . I closed my eyes anticipating each thin cut , feeling that wash of relief when it was done . God, it felt so good. ” Amelia has fallen into an increasingly common rut that millions of teens experience. This confused life style is a typical basis for self infliction and bulimia. This is because the person is unstable leading them to feel insecure and confused. Jodi Picoult’s stresses these issues to the audience. She describes how loved ones feel about Amelia and how they assist her to live a healthy life. Picoult’s is expressing her concern towards these situations.

She develops character Josie Cormier into a similar situation as Amelia. In Nineteen Minutes Josie‘s thoughts are deluded with confusion making her unable to decipher between reality and fantasy. She is trapped “She understood how she was supposed to look and supposed to act. ” However it did not seem irrelevant to her because she “didn’t belong there”. Jodi Picoult’s is highlighting how dangerous these situations can be. This is of significance importance, because it brings home the need for us teens to “speak up and ask for help”. Our physical pains and emotional pains can be hidden . But they can also be ceased with help.

Picoult’s literature is extremely moving. She often over indulges the audience with the harsh reality of apparently normal situations. Peter Houghan from Nineteen Minutes pursues his ultimate fantasy. He had been bullied from day one at school and he’s had enough. He wants to make his peers pay. He’s decides to silent their taunts forever, when he realises “In nineteen minutes you can get revenge. ” Bullying is normal, it is believed that almost everybody will experience a form bullying in their lives. Some more than others. However bullying can be so harsh, it psyhicoally dams some people. E. G. 7 year old Peter Houghan from Picoult’s novel. Peter ends up being “charged with ten counts of first degree murder and nineteen counts of attempted first degree murder. ” According to Peter “They started it”. This highlights the effects of bullying and how horrendous the results can be. Peter ends ups being incapable of understanding his actions, because he has been so violated from bullying. Jodi Picoult’s carefully expresses this in her novel. This is because she does not want give any ideas or become too comfortable with the audience. In My sister’s keeper young Anna Fitzgerald experiences a different type of bullying.

She is pressured by her family to remain being a donor for her older sister Kate . Anna is unsure how to react, she is torn by her own values and her family. Anna ends up deciding on filing for “legal emancipation for medical purpose”. Picoult’s uses this story and Nineteen Minutes as an exemplar of what could happen if you took bullying into your own hands. . Which leads to the message of the story, “speak up if you need help” Bullying can lead to serious physiological disorders and disturbing actions. As a teenager I can relate these situations because I have been a recipient of bullying.

If I had not read Jodi Picoult’s novel Nineteen minutes, I would have reacted differently to the situation. Picoult’s novel taught me to “speak up and ask for help”. How do narrative techniques highlight these dramatic issues? Picoult’s uses a variation between 1st and 3rd person narrative techniques. Picoult’s allows the audience to engage and relate to the characters in each of her novels. She lets the audience step into the role of the narrator in Nineteen Minutes. This helps the audience develop a deeper connection with characters Josie Cormier and Peter Houghan.

In the novels My sister’s Keeper and Handle with care Picoult’s uses the same body structure by having the audience as the 3rd person. She lets each character tell the 3rd person their stories and point of view. This is extremely effective and engrosses the audience attention. This also allows the audience to adapt their personal experiences into these novels. I find this extremely intriguing because I can become somebody else while reading novels such as My sister’s keeper. This technique makes me realise how fortunate I am and how lucky my family does not have to endure the Fitzgerald’s situation.

Does Jodi Picoult personally relate to the issues in her novels? Picoult can’t be personally linked to any of the orthodox issues in her novels. Instead she is inspired by outsiders. She constantly reads and researches topic that could have potential stories. Although she can’t relate herself to any of her novels she involves her real life conversations, into her fictional characters. You can tell all of her work is well researched. This is because none of these issues have happened to Picoult’s. She uses her books as a safe haven, she believes “Alot of my books are superstitions for me- I think “whew, I wrote about… hat means were safe from teen suicide/children illness/kidnapping… ”. Although she has not experienced any of these conflicts she portrays these issues to the world beautifully. She is working for society trying to encourage a better head space for teenagers. Her message “speak up and ask for help”, is what our generation needs. I think Jodi Picoult is a role model writer and citizen for teenagers today. Conclusion: Jodi Picoult’s orthodox theme of “adolescence issues” is carefully portrayed throughout her novels. Picoult develops relationships that involve and engage the audience.

Her multi dimensional characters form a memorable bond with the audience, leaving them engraved with the message of “speak up if you need help”. In her texts you are drawn to the reality of the situations Picoult develops her characters in. Jodi Picoult’s literate can be applied to any modern day teenager and their families. She expresses issues that relate to the public, this is why I believe her books are so successful. Bibliography: Picoult, J. Handle with care. Allen & Unwin, 2009 Picoult, J. My sister’s keeper. Allen & Unwin, 2004 Picoult, J. Nineteen minutes. Allen & Unwin, 2008