ENG 306 Children's Literature
Tentative Schedule
Semester Overview
WEEK ONE: Sept 2 & 4
Tues: INTRODUCTIONS
Thurs: Ideology and Childhood, Determine Book/Author Presentation Groups
WEEK TWO: Sept. 9 & Sept. 11
Tues: All of Perrault's Fairytales (except "Little Red Riding Hood")
Thurs: Perrault cont...
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
Brief Perrault Biography
More on Perrault
French Fairy Tale Resource Page (beware, many of the links are defunct)
WEEK THREE: Sept. 16 & Sept. 18
Tues: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm: Kinder und Hausmärchen (see on-line reading below)
On-line READING (REQUIRED BY TUESDAY):
The Frog King or Iron Heinrich
Rapunzel
Hansel and Gretel
Rumpelstiltskin
Thurs: "Little Red Riding Hood" Bring into class picture book version of Little Red Riding Hood. And remember to bring Perrault's Fairy Tales to class as well.
On-line READING (REQUIRED BY THURSDAY)
Little Red Riding Hood; all four tales on site: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Perrault, Italian/Austrian, and French
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
WEEK FOUR: Sept. 23 & 25
Tues: Julius Lester, Black Folk Tales
Thurs: Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
Mr. Lester's Homepage
Julius Lester's Badasssss Song
More on LOOK OUT, WHITEY! BLACK POWER'S GON' GET YOUR MAMA
More on Mr. Lester and his works
WEEK FIVE: Sept. 30 & Oct. 2
Tues: Ken Mochizuk, Baseball Saved Us
Thurs: Josepha Sherman & T.K.F. Weisskopt, Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
BookPage Interview
The Artistry and Influence of Maurice Sendak
Sendak Exhibit at the R. Michelson Gallery
BACKSTAGE Interview with Sendak
WEEK SIX: Oct. 7 & 9
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"I'm Popeye the sailor man. |
Tues: Gary Soto, A Fire in My Hands & Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts cont.
Thurs: Gary Soto, A Fire in My Hands
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
Dictionary of Playground Slang (Look for the links--you'll also find Ghastly Games, Hymns and Arias, and Seedy Songs and Rotten Rhymes. Keep in mind, this is an Australian site.)
Recess Counting Games
WEEK SEVEN: Oct. 14 & 16
Tues: Begin Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Thurs: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
WEEK EIGHT: Oct. 21 & 23
Tues: MIDTERM EXAM!!!
Thurs: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
WEEK NINE: Oct 28 & 30
Tues: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Thurs: E. Nesbit, Five Children and It
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
Victorian Web: Carroll
Internet School Library Media Center Lewis Carroll Page
Lewis Carroll
Carroll Photography
More Photography
WEEK TEN: Nov. 4 & Nov. 6
Monday: Come by my office and pick up your mid-term! 11:00-4:30
Thurs: Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
Boondocksnet: Mark Twain
Mark Twain in his Times
Mark Twain House
Hannibal MO
Twain Electronic Texts
WEEK ELEVEN: Nov. 11 & 13
Tues: November 11--Holiday— Veteran's Day.
Thurs: Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
WEEK TWELVE: Nov. 18 & 20
Tues: Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising
Extra (brief) reading, relating to our discussion of race relations in the U.S., and how "far we've come" since the 1930s:
"Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes," By JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer
Thurs: Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising
Online Resources (RECOMMENDED):
WEEK THIRTEEN: Nov. 25 & Nov. 27
Tuesday: IMPORTANT: Early Review Day for Final
November 27 - 29 Holiday— Thanksgiving recess
WEEK FOURTEEN: Dec. 2 & Dec. 4
Tues: Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons
Thurs: Creech cont...
WEEK FIFTEEN: Dec. 9 & Dec. 11
Tues: Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia
Thurs: Terabithia cont...
WEEK SIXTEEN: FINAL EXAM WEEK
(Exam Questions: Two of these questions will appear on the final exam. Of those two, you will choose ONE to respond to. Thus, you will need to prepare for two questions.)
1.
Over Coronas at Nunu’s, your friend Carlos asks you about Where the Wild Things Are. It seems Carlos finds the way gender is represented in the book interesting. Using Where the Wild Things Are, Esperanza Rising, Walk Two Moons, and a single fairytale of your choice, enter into this discussion, analyzing how both males and females are depicted in these texts, which depictions are the most conservative, most progressive, and why. Use Bakhtin’s notion of the carnivalesque to inform your discussion (consider the “pandemonium” at Mary Lou’s house in Walk Two Moons, for instance, and how that might relate to Sal’s mother’s desire to have a house full of noisy children). Also, don’t forget to discuss the ideas of fatherhood and motherhood, particularly when a mother or father is absent. Be specific in your discussion, pointing to moments in the texts that prove your points. But, as always, avoid excessive plot summary.
2.
You’re heading towards San Francisco on the PCH in your Mini Cooper, when you and your pals Njord and Sarah begin discussing the difference between adult-centered literature and child-centered literature. Njord insists that both Baseball Saved Us and Walk Two Moons are adult-centered and didactic. “Walk Two Moons is just trying to turn children into feminists, and Baseball Saved Us is just a treatise on how non-Anglos need to assimilate into the dominant culture of the United States” he proclaims, tossing a cigarette out the sunroof. He continues, “These books don’t encourage kids to think for themselves; they try to get kids to think just like the author.” After slapping Njord for potentially setting off a wild-fire, Sarah disagrees, arguing that while the Grimm Brothers are obviously didactic, Mochizuki and Creech have written ambiguous, progressive stories. Contribute to their discussion, defining the differences between adult-centered and child-centered literature. Then, making sure to use plenty of specific, textual evidence from Baseball Saved Us, Walk Two Moons, and two books or stories of your choice, take Njord’s or Sarah’s side, or, if you prefer, create a new position.
3.
It’s around 12:30 am, and you and your friend, Weston “Swamp Water” Malone, have just emerged from Spaceland, your ears still ringing from the indie stylings of Baby Upchuck, the new darling of the LA music scene. As you stare into the starless skies of Silver Lake, good old Swampy asks you about your courses, particularly children’s literature (“Seeing,” he says, “as we’ve just seen Baby Upchuck.”) First, describe for Swamp Water children’s literature as a genre. Then, thinking about the various authors and texts we’ve encountered, describe for him the roles--interpellative or otherwise--these children’s literature texts may perform in our culture. What do they do? What do they sometimes fail to do? Of the texts that we’ve read, which best realize the potential of this multifarious genre. That is, which do you find most interesting, compelling and why? Which are more progressive or conservative? Why? Remember, avoid generalizing when possible: use specific examples from your selected texts. Employ four books in your discussion: including Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Black Folk Tales, and two books of your choice from the syllabus.
