The depiction of children in children’s literature is so different from their depiction in adult literature. In children’s literature the stories always have some sort of whimsical element. The novels and movies that we have studied this semester really showcase that whimsicality. I believe that this element is necessary because to keep children interested having that sort of magic is important. I think that the real question is what are these novels / movies trying to say about childhood. Is it innocence, insecurity, escape from a dreary reality, a need for adventure, or is it the way children learn life lessons? The answer is that children are depicted in each way mentioned above and secondly every novel or movie focuses on one or more of these questions and answers it.
Children are innocent beings because they have no real life experience meaning the literature that they read or the movies that they see prepare them for real life. All the children we have read about during this semester have been innocent but through their experiences have learned something therefore they leave some of that childhood innocence behind. Think about the children who have gone through portals and entered new worlds. These children have learned how to adapt and have learned what’s so nice and comforting about reality. They also learn to get rid of their insecurities or learn that everyone has these insecurities and that they are not unusual but just human nature. The idea of children needing to escape a dreary reality is for those children who feel sad or unhappy. These children can then sit down with a book and escape and as for the children within the novels they usually head or are forced into the alternate reality to escape from their boring lives. Perfect examples of that are The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Coraline, Alice, and Harry Potter. Each one of these characters escaped the real world. I also think that when you are a child there are necessary things that must be done; one of those things is adventure and exploring. In many cases children love to go outside and explore and have an adventure. I think that that the exploration aspect is one of the many purposes of children’s literature because it teaches these children to go outside and play ball etc. Lastly one very important part about children’s lit is the fact that there is a lesson incorporated into the story. It now seems as though it is a requirement for those who write children’s literature. Wanting children to walk away learning something makes sense because children are learning about everything when they are young, trying to teach adults a lesson is useless because they would have already learned it or experienced it. There are several ways that these themes play out and because it’s aimed toward children the fairy tale take/option is very popular.
More specifically children are depicted through this fairytale lens. This meaning that the story follows the fairytale format and that directly correlates to the depiction of children in the novel. The fairytale format consists of a protagonist that has everything until something goes wrong enter an antagonist several events occur and then the climax followed by a resolution leaving the characters to all live happily ever after. Most critics and I see the error in this format. This format is usually unrealistic but to children that element doesn’t matter. The depiction of children is similar throughout the children’s literature genre because all the same questions are being answered and commented on leading to a streamlined account of everything.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Group Presentation Reflection
Group Presentation Reflection
Our group Sinead, Angela, Kevin, Brian, and Jason were in charge of the presentation of Diana Wynne Jones’s novel Howl’s Moving Castle and the film adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki. Before this class I had never heard of either the book or the movie, and when I first started reading I thought “what did I get myself into”, I was a little confused. As I read further and did some research on the novel, I began to really enjoy the book and was excited that our group had chosen this instead of some of the literature and films I was familiar with.
The job that I was tasked with for the project was discussing the ‘portal’ part of the novel and the characters. We as a group decided that to help make our presentation about the novel/movie really clear we thought it necessary to cover every character. The characters can get confusing fast because of all the identity changes. From that point I was able to just focus on the four main characters Sophie Hatter, Wizard Howl, Calcifer and The Witch of the Waste. I thought that it would be helpful to introduce the characters to the class by book and then by movie. This way the differences between the original and adaptation would be apparent. In addition I wanted to have a little fun so I thought that including a fun question like, “Did anyone want to marry Howl?” was a good idea.
Furthermore regarding the rest of the process our group came to realize that time had been creeping up on us and that it was time to start thinking about our presentation and meeting up. During class we got an email conversation started and then decided to meet out of class and watch the movie together. We met then and watched the movie and started our preliminary outline for the presentation and assigned roles. After that we decided to get our research done so that we could meet again and put together a power point presentation and figure out the slide order. At the next meeting, all group members were present therefore, we had to reconfigure the jobs so that everyone had a job to do. Once that was done we figured out which clips of the movie we wanted to show to the class and then discussed themes, the heavy depiction of war, and deciding on all of the other things that would be important in our presentation. After that meeting we were supposed to send our slides to Angela (Our Tech Queen) and she would put them all together in one power point and make it look aesthetically pleasing, which she did. Thanks Angela it was awesome!
On our presentation day we were all ready and prepared and we decided to meet before class just to make sure that we were completely prepared for our presentation. As far as our presentation goes I think we did well. The order of our slides was carefully thought out so that the class could easily follow our presentation, I also think that we added funny anecdotes and presented insightful ideas and concepts. We did go a little over the time but I really enjoyed the end when we had a class discussion and got hear from others their ideas and opinions on the book and movie. From what I saw I believe the class was interested in what we were saying and found our presentation to be informative and interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my classmates a lot better; this was a valuable learning experience for me.
Our group Sinead, Angela, Kevin, Brian, and Jason were in charge of the presentation of Diana Wynne Jones’s novel Howl’s Moving Castle and the film adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki. Before this class I had never heard of either the book or the movie, and when I first started reading I thought “what did I get myself into”, I was a little confused. As I read further and did some research on the novel, I began to really enjoy the book and was excited that our group had chosen this instead of some of the literature and films I was familiar with.
The job that I was tasked with for the project was discussing the ‘portal’ part of the novel and the characters. We as a group decided that to help make our presentation about the novel/movie really clear we thought it necessary to cover every character. The characters can get confusing fast because of all the identity changes. From that point I was able to just focus on the four main characters Sophie Hatter, Wizard Howl, Calcifer and The Witch of the Waste. I thought that it would be helpful to introduce the characters to the class by book and then by movie. This way the differences between the original and adaptation would be apparent. In addition I wanted to have a little fun so I thought that including a fun question like, “Did anyone want to marry Howl?” was a good idea.
Furthermore regarding the rest of the process our group came to realize that time had been creeping up on us and that it was time to start thinking about our presentation and meeting up. During class we got an email conversation started and then decided to meet out of class and watch the movie together. We met then and watched the movie and started our preliminary outline for the presentation and assigned roles. After that we decided to get our research done so that we could meet again and put together a power point presentation and figure out the slide order. At the next meeting, all group members were present therefore, we had to reconfigure the jobs so that everyone had a job to do. Once that was done we figured out which clips of the movie we wanted to show to the class and then discussed themes, the heavy depiction of war, and deciding on all of the other things that would be important in our presentation. After that meeting we were supposed to send our slides to Angela (Our Tech Queen) and she would put them all together in one power point and make it look aesthetically pleasing, which she did. Thanks Angela it was awesome!
On our presentation day we were all ready and prepared and we decided to meet before class just to make sure that we were completely prepared for our presentation. As far as our presentation goes I think we did well. The order of our slides was carefully thought out so that the class could easily follow our presentation, I also think that we added funny anecdotes and presented insightful ideas and concepts. We did go a little over the time but I really enjoyed the end when we had a class discussion and got hear from others their ideas and opinions on the book and movie. From what I saw I believe the class was interested in what we were saying and found our presentation to be informative and interesting. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my classmates a lot better; this was a valuable learning experience for me.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Rough Draft Revised (this is the RD I brought to class)
Sinead Coleman
Professor Hatfield
English 312
27 April 2011
Rough Draft: Critical Essay
One of the various characteristics of children’s literature is the incorporation of a lesson. “Be careful what you wish for…” the ominous tagline from the movie version of Coraline. This tagline is part of the novel’s lesson that is forced upon the young reader. The same tagline could be used for those reading or watching Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By integrating these lessons into children’s literature are we expecting children to grow up faster? The lesson that is incorporated into children’s literature raises issues, for the reason that children are expected to learn said lesson and apply it? In the novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland a lesson is taught, causing the reader to grow up and leave childhood behind.
The protagonist Coraline Jones is very similar to Alice the protagonist of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Both leading characters are strong female individuals both on the precipice of leaving childhood behind and entering the adult world, the two characters are pushed right over the threshold into adulthood by their experiences in the portal world. These characters are similar because they enter into a parallel world. Coraline enters a seemingly perfect world populated by all the people she knows and loves. Alice on the other hand travels down the Rabbit hole into Wonderland, a fantastical world filled with nonsensical creatures and characters. The reason that the characters are forced into adulthood is through their experiences in the fantasy world.
Coraline and Alice are alike because they have similar personalities and traits, and they are both looking for something more. Coraline like Alice is an explorer; she is intelligent, courageous, resourceful, and curious. Coraline and Alice are logical ladies but out of the two, Alice is the more logical girl. Alice is from the Victorian era and she has all the virtues that instilled in children, plus she is educated and she looks at her environment consists of clear, rational, and consistent rules and features. The logical side can be seen in both characters when they are talking to themselves, or talking to others.
The reason that Coraline and Alice travel into these parallel universes is because they are in search of something more and they are just plain bored. The protagonists are lead by other creatures into their prospective “other” worlds through fate and destiny. Coraline is bored at once because she has moved into a new house where all her neighbors are boring and her parents won’t spend time entertaining her. Coraline felt alone and had no human companions in this new house and its surroundings. Alice was bored too even though the reader is told that she has an older sister. She lives her life being a careful dainty girl. All Alice wanted was a little adventure and some freedom. Coraline is helped along towards the path to the other world by cat, mouse, and her silly neighbors. Coraline felt no disregard and deliberately disobeyed all those who had warned her about what was beyond the little door. Curiosity took over and Coraline traveled through the door into the parallel universe. Once in the portal she discovers that the portal led to an exact copy of her house. All the tenants were the same but they were all puppet like with buttons for eyes. This world is exciting and scary and Coraline had to explore this new world. Alice is led from the riverbank and her sister into a rabbit hole. She fell into the rabbit hole because while at the riverbank she sees a White Rabbit in a waistcoat that is checking a pocket watch. Alice is so curious and logical that she ran off in search of answers like where is the rabbit going, what is the rabbits name and why is the rabbit late? Destiny and fate are to blame because those were the driving force behind the girl’s disappearance into the alternate reality. Without the external push from the characters each girl might not have made it into the world and the story and lesson would be nonexistent.
While in the portal world each girl is confronted with issues that only adults deal with. These events are the catalyst that causes the jump from childhood to adulthood. The fact of the matter is that both girls encounter challenges and they learn and realize exactly what they want, and what is attainable in the real world. Coraline is confronted by the seemingly perfect world filled with parents who interact with her constantly, her toys have become more amusing and life that seems ideal. Alice enters into her seemingly ideal world because it is filled with new and interesting things unlike the real world where things are boring and logical. Both leads have to figure out how to deal with the elements that the portal world sends them. This type of adapting to the elements and not giving into the trickery is what sends them out of childhood because they can no longer be dependent they are forced to grow up and solve their own problems. Coraline has to realize that she doesn’t want this world that is being offered to her. Alice has to realize that she too doesn’t like this land called Wonderland. Both characters realize that they are happy enough in the real world and that they want to return to the real world and get out of the portal/ fantasy world.
The two similar characters are the children who are stuck in the portal world because they gave into the temptation of the Beldam and the Cheshire cat. Both of these characters relay information to the main character and protagonist. The children and the cat are helpful but they never take action they only just provide advice. Both characters heed the advice given by the children and the Cheshire cat. The children provide Coraline with insight into what the plan is of the Beldam and that she must leave. The Cheshire cat explains to Alice that Wonderland is a place filled with nonsensical creatures and that she is too logical and that is why she is the mad character and the other characters are not mad.. The cat points out that Alice’s behavior and burning curiosity set her apart from the other creatures in Wonderland.
*How they have learned from lesson and have completely grown up.
*Conclusion
PS even further revision will be posted shortly
Professor Hatfield
English 312
27 April 2011
Rough Draft: Critical Essay
One of the various characteristics of children’s literature is the incorporation of a lesson. “Be careful what you wish for…” the ominous tagline from the movie version of Coraline. This tagline is part of the novel’s lesson that is forced upon the young reader. The same tagline could be used for those reading or watching Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By integrating these lessons into children’s literature are we expecting children to grow up faster? The lesson that is incorporated into children’s literature raises issues, for the reason that children are expected to learn said lesson and apply it? In the novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman and Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland a lesson is taught, causing the reader to grow up and leave childhood behind.
The protagonist Coraline Jones is very similar to Alice the protagonist of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Both leading characters are strong female individuals both on the precipice of leaving childhood behind and entering the adult world, the two characters are pushed right over the threshold into adulthood by their experiences in the portal world. These characters are similar because they enter into a parallel world. Coraline enters a seemingly perfect world populated by all the people she knows and loves. Alice on the other hand travels down the Rabbit hole into Wonderland, a fantastical world filled with nonsensical creatures and characters. The reason that the characters are forced into adulthood is through their experiences in the fantasy world.
Coraline and Alice are alike because they have similar personalities and traits, and they are both looking for something more. Coraline like Alice is an explorer; she is intelligent, courageous, resourceful, and curious. Coraline and Alice are logical ladies but out of the two, Alice is the more logical girl. Alice is from the Victorian era and she has all the virtues that instilled in children, plus she is educated and she looks at her environment consists of clear, rational, and consistent rules and features. The logical side can be seen in both characters when they are talking to themselves, or talking to others.
The reason that Coraline and Alice travel into these parallel universes is because they are in search of something more and they are just plain bored. The protagonists are lead by other creatures into their prospective “other” worlds through fate and destiny. Coraline is bored at once because she has moved into a new house where all her neighbors are boring and her parents won’t spend time entertaining her. Coraline felt alone and had no human companions in this new house and its surroundings. Alice was bored too even though the reader is told that she has an older sister. She lives her life being a careful dainty girl. All Alice wanted was a little adventure and some freedom. Coraline is helped along towards the path to the other world by cat, mouse, and her silly neighbors. Coraline felt no disregard and deliberately disobeyed all those who had warned her about what was beyond the little door. Curiosity took over and Coraline traveled through the door into the parallel universe. Once in the portal she discovers that the portal led to an exact copy of her house. All the tenants were the same but they were all puppet like with buttons for eyes. This world is exciting and scary and Coraline had to explore this new world. Alice is led from the riverbank and her sister into a rabbit hole. She fell into the rabbit hole because while at the riverbank she sees a White Rabbit in a waistcoat that is checking a pocket watch. Alice is so curious and logical that she ran off in search of answers like where is the rabbit going, what is the rabbits name and why is the rabbit late? Destiny and fate are to blame because those were the driving force behind the girl’s disappearance into the alternate reality. Without the external push from the characters each girl might not have made it into the world and the story and lesson would be nonexistent.
While in the portal world each girl is confronted with issues that only adults deal with. These events are the catalyst that causes the jump from childhood to adulthood. The fact of the matter is that both girls encounter challenges and they learn and realize exactly what they want, and what is attainable in the real world. Coraline is confronted by the seemingly perfect world filled with parents who interact with her constantly, her toys have become more amusing and life that seems ideal. Alice enters into her seemingly ideal world because it is filled with new and interesting things unlike the real world where things are boring and logical. Both leads have to figure out how to deal with the elements that the portal world sends them. This type of adapting to the elements and not giving into the trickery is what sends them out of childhood because they can no longer be dependent they are forced to grow up and solve their own problems. Coraline has to realize that she doesn’t want this world that is being offered to her. Alice has to realize that she too doesn’t like this land called Wonderland. Both characters realize that they are happy enough in the real world and that they want to return to the real world and get out of the portal/ fantasy world.
The two similar characters are the children who are stuck in the portal world because they gave into the temptation of the Beldam and the Cheshire cat. Both of these characters relay information to the main character and protagonist. The children and the cat are helpful but they never take action they only just provide advice. Both characters heed the advice given by the children and the Cheshire cat. The children provide Coraline with insight into what the plan is of the Beldam and that she must leave. The Cheshire cat explains to Alice that Wonderland is a place filled with nonsensical creatures and that she is too logical and that is why she is the mad character and the other characters are not mad.. The cat points out that Alice’s behavior and burning curiosity set her apart from the other creatures in Wonderland.
*How they have learned from lesson and have completely grown up.
*Conclusion
PS even further revision will be posted shortly
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)