George 1

Tsoukalas, George

Dr. Webb, Peter T.

Engl. 370 – Canadian Literature

February 14th 2010

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Growing up can prove to be a challenge especially for teenagers. An important recurring

theme in Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women is that of growing up or becoming an adult.

This ‘Bildungsroman’, or more specifically ‘Kϋnslerroman’, describes the development process

of Del Jordan an aspiring young artist. This novella is broken down into fragments or episodes of

Del’s life. Jane Smiley uses the term: ‘kaleidoscopic’ in order to sum up the overall vision or

intrigue within the structure of this bildungsroman’s plot (Munro XI). Del encounters her first

sexual contact with a man by the name of Art Chamberlain who, this section of the novel is an

essential part of Del’s entry into adulthood. she escapes the confines of the Freudian

psychosexual stage of latency and is able to enter adulthood.

In the chapter entitled: “Lives of Girls and Women”, the narrator Del confronts her first

sexual encounters with the opposite sex. It is a crucial period of her life where she is able to

mature escaping her childhood and entering into adulthood. (Topic sentence)
 George 2

Works Cited

Munro, Alice. Lives of Girls and Women. Toronto: Penguin, 2005. Print.