Pros And Cons Of Violence In Childrens Literature
Many people have different views on whether or not they are for or against violence in children's literature. I am for children's literature due to the fact that if one is not educated, how is one expected to know. In this essay we will look at the pros and cons of including violence in children's literature.
Fairy tales originate from the past and majority of the stories include some sort of gory detail and violence. They originated from oral traditions by adults telling stories to other adults, as these fairy tales were not meant to before the children. Each tale was set for that specific era or time based on the reality which was often a morbid one. Therefore we view old literature as gory and violent. Each generation had a different reality or gore to it.
Many parents seek to have children's literature which contains violence removed or banned from all access to young children. They complain that the subject matter of these books is too much for children to handle. The parents do this as they believe it to be a form of protection from the dangerous world we live in. they know all too well that what is expressed in the books is happening in reality.by reading these violent books it evokes a sense of fear or the need to harm oneself or others. Therefore stopping the chance of them reading these books is shielding them from the hurt and pain which it is associated with. Literature and media are the main reasons for violence in the...show more content...
Children need to be exposed to violence to understand it and to help prevent violent outbursts later on in life. Awareness is everything in this century, so better to prepare your children than to let them only experience violence when something bad happens. Violence is thanks to the human race and it is something that will be in our lives forever or until we can find peace within ourselves, so better have the knowledge than to be
Benefits Of Children's Literature
Benefits of Children's Literature
Children who read literature usually have sheer enjoyment for reading, and as this continues will instils a sense of love for literature as they mature and get older. Children's literature engages the child, and creates a pattern, a ritual whereby children continue to read, and there by learn and grow from all its other benefits. There are many benefits to reading as a child, one of the main benefits of reading is a Social development, this includes emotional, cultural benefits and also reading can promote language development. 'Through reading in particular, pupils have a chance to develop culturally, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. Literature, especially, plays a key role in such development' (DfES. National Cirriculum. 2013). Reading to children may be the single most important thing that any child can do to improve children's chances for success emotionally, culturally and improve language skills.
Literature can be used in a way where children are able to understand situations and life experience that may come their way. When we think about the...show more content...
With books they are able to visit new places and gain new experiences, and discover new people. 'Stories contribute to the exploration of different cultures, they are used as bonds to tie us together, as every child has a different cultural background' (Medwell, J .2007). This suggests that children's literature that offer cultural benefits can act as a mutual ground for children to understand, and learn about a variety of cultural experiences that they may not be familiar with, it is helping the reader to value people from all races, ethnic groups and cultures. As well and building new cultural knowledge it may also expand on understanding of cultural experiences that they may already be familiar
Diversity In Children's Literature
I believe that books have one of the greatest influences on children when they are growing up. There are many different genres of books and they all have something different to teach and offer to children. For example, picture books and fictional stories spark imagination in children and teach them creativity while, non–fiction and stories incorporating diversity, teach children about a certain topic and help broaden their horizons. Keeping the importance of all the different genres of books in mind, I chose two articles from the Journal of Children's Literature pertaining to this subject. The name of the first article I read is, Drawing Stories, Writing Pictures: Reading and Composing Multimodally in Storying Studio, written by Prisca Martens. This article discusses the significance of picturebooks and how the illustrations enhance the writing and make the stories come alive. Martens also mentions a project that she is working on called, Storying Studio. According to Martens, "Storying Studio honors and values multiple ways of composing meaning,...show more content...
Koss. This article discussed the highlights of the 2015 Children's Literature Assembly, which focussed mostly on the need and importance of books revolving around and about diversity. The article mentioned that all children need to be able to see themselves represented in books. If a child can not find a book that they relate to or feel represented in, it can have a negative impact on their self–image. When a child reads a book and can see themselves in a character, it shows the child that they are not alone and that there are other people just like them. The article mentioned that diversity in books is crucial because it teaches children about other people and their different situations. Books featuring diversity also makes sure that children read out of their comfort
Empathy Through Literature
Younger generations aren't feeling as empathetic as older generations and this will lead to a dangerous society. Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings. Teaching empathy at a young age will allow one another to accept and communicate with each other. It is also a necessity skill in life that helps each other to recognize one's emotions. According to the article, This is How Literary Fiction Teaches us to Be Human by Tom Blunt, he emphasizes empathy can be taught through literary fiction and it is vital that young children feel empathy toward each other. Literature teaches kids to feel empathetic for each other. A story allows the reader to put themselves in the character's shoes and gives us a different perspective on the character's life. It also shows the reader not to judge someone by their cover because you never know what outside factors are affecting them. For example, Daphne's book is about a shy girl named Daphne, commonly known to others as Daffy Duck. She was raised by an impoverished, mentally ill grandmother, so the other kids would make fun of her. Instead of sympathizing with her, kids pitied her and called her names. "These are the experiences for a young person in which the sort of commonplace...show more content...
In her book, readers see the bully in the character's own eyes. Blunt says, "Viewing events from someone else's perspective, following along as they suffer, make mistakes, and are forced into hard decisions that affect others is the core of teaching empathy" (Blunt 3). From reading these books, readers can understand some of the reasons why a person acts a certain way. These books also urge readers to appreciate others and their own life. This appreciation will lead to better society because children will volunteer in the community and respect each others opinions, since each story allows children to interpret different empathetic
Magic Of Children 's Literature Essay
Magic in children's literature They creativity of authors and illustrator gives books a magical and meaningful touch for children literature. As illustrators are choosing the characters for the stories they are very careful, they take in consideration the age of children. Books for young readers may have a magical touch in their characters, illustrations, and in their setting. The magic catches the children's attention, making the book more interesting for them to read and learn from them. Magic realism is a style of painting and literature in which fantastic or imaginary and often unsettling image or events are depicted in a sharply detailed, realistic manner (web, dictionary, com). Children literature and the process of learning takes place as children are exposed to books. "Literature develops children thinking skills as it also promotes reasoning related to sequence, cause and effect, character motivation, predictions and critical analysis of the story. Children literature provides pleasure to listeners and readers, using high–quality literature helps to develop enthusiastic readers" (Roe, Ross). From time to time children will identify themselves with different character in a story and that is the reason that they choose the books. The main character may be represented by a toy, robot, an animal or a real person in characterization for the assigned role. Children also select their books based in the different character that there could be. Nevertheless children
The History of Childresn Literature Essay
The History of Children's Literature
EDP1: Task 1
Janet Blake
Western Governors University
Children's literature is defined many different ways. It can be simply defined as a book that a child reads, or as Kiefer defined it "as the imaginative shaping of life and thought into the forms and structures of language." (Kiefer, 2010, p.5) Literature has been around for hundreds of years, although not in the form that we are used to seeing now. There have always been stories to be told for as long as one can remember.
Before the days of bound books and magazines, there were stories that were told by people in the village around the campfires, or the bards and traveling entertainers telling stories to the court in the castles. This form...show more content...
(Kiefer, 2010, p.66)
In the Middle Ages, children were treated as an adult in the family. Children went out to work just as the parents did to help provide for the good of the family and to provide for the family's needs, whether it was economically or material based. The prosperity of the family came first. Because of this, many children were unable to read and were not provided with a formal education. They were provided with the education that was needed to survive everyday life and the education of religious beliefs. Books at this time cost too much for the common family to own, and were very rare at this time in history. In 1476 William Claxton was credited with learning the printing trade and taking it back to England with him and setting up a printing press at Westminster. From there he published 106 books of various genres. The books were put together with excellence, but were very costly, because of this they were owned mainly by the wealthy. (Kiefer, 2010, p.69) It is visible at this point to see how valuable the printing press really was. Due to the high expense that books were in this time, many did not own books because they could not afford them. Others would trade their valuable land or property to own a single book. The fifteenth through the sixteenth centuries brought more to children's literature. Children made a progression from hornbooks, to ABC books and primers, to the small
Children’s Literature in India Essay
Their world is huge, luckily sans boundaries, bright, intriguing and spontaneous, allowing absurdities of all kinds to exist. Their horizons are fleeting, giving space to dragons, fairies, elves, wizards, goblins and unicorns, to rabbits that talk and broomsticks that fly. Their sense of adventurism make them scale mountains, drink potions that do wonders and imagine frogs that turn into princes. Their world is the world of pure innocent fun. And their literature is as a colour–riot as their world. Perceived as adults in the making, their books deal also with the issues of environment conservation, child labour, differently–abled and relationships – to name a few.
Children's literature in India is a subaltern field, only now beginning to...show more content...
Dutta's work has been translated into Japanese among other languages. Deepak Dalal continue to enthral the young with titles like Ranthambore Adventure and others in the series set in Ladakh and the Andamans. Shashi Deshpande's detective book 3 Novels: A Summer Adventure, The Hidden Treasure and The Only Witness, Rohini Chowdhury's jungle adventure White Tiger, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's historical adventure Victory Song are among the other titles that have occupied a space in the bookshelves. The past few years, however, have seen the germination of writers who have started to write enthusiastically for the young readers, raising hope that the genre will soon acquire a promising shape. The success of children's literature festivals has given the much needed boost, diverting the little minds and eyes from the gizmos to the world of words. With the publishers revamping their establishments to form a separate team dedicated to producing substantial reading material with rich illustrations for this unique field, the children today are having a huge variety of books to choose from. Keeping in tune with the variety that marks the genre, the writers of these books are almost as professionally diverse – surgeons, journalists, biologists, conservationists and engineers. Today from fantasy to didactic, sensitive to humourous, pure non–sensical fun to myths, folklores and fables – children's literature has it all. While there is
Empathy Is Extremely Important For Children
Empathy is extraordinarily important for children to understand and eventually put into practice, as it exercises their ability to feel and respect the emotions of other people. Empathy also plays a big role in trust and support– both of which are very important aspects of any relationship, and is necessary for living a healthy, functional life in today's society. In her article, Dovey describes "A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology [...] showed that, when people read about an experience, they display stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they go through that experience themselves." (Dovey par. 11). This means that when people, or in this case, children, read stories, their brains react as if they were going through the same situations and emotions that they read about. This is a great way for kids to learn about empathy, why it's important, and how to apply it to their own lives. One may argue that, while reading may trigger empathetic feelings in the majority of people, those who enjoy reading have greater empathetic tendencies than others, making reading to teach empathy only applicable to those who like to read and have these higher–than–average tendencies. Dovey also addresses this, stating that "other studies published in 2006 and 2009 showed [...] that people who read a lot of fiction [tended] to be better at empathizing with others (even after the researchers had accounted for the potential bias that people with greater empathetic
Childrens Literature Reflection Paper
This class has definitely changed my vision of children's literature. I often thought of children's books as a way to develop their reading skills, but it is so much more than that. Not only books support children toward achieving their set goals for English Language Art, but they can also be a great support to many other subjects, especially Social Studies and Science. I would like to make it a goal to always try to introduce a science or social studies subject through supporting literature. Many books actually provide us with a great insight toward earth, plant and animal life, history, geography and culture.
I used to consider children's' literature as mostly fantasy and fiction, but I have discovered that biography, informational books and poetry can and must be used in my classroom library, and that wonderful books in those genres are written for children. Poetry in particular has proved itself to be far more attractive than I expected. One of the books I found "Fallen for Rapunzel" showed me that poetry can be incredibly humorous, and it can be great to introduce poetry to children as something fun, in order to fight the common perception that poetry is serious and "unfriendly"..
I also have a new understanding of the role that illustrations play in the creation of a good book. In fact, the books covers during my research for this bookshelf project were the primary element that brought me to consider a book for that project. It can really have a powerful impact on
Literature for Use in Classroom Essay
Literature for Use in Classroom
Donna E. Norton's purpose in her book is "intended to help adults discover ways to share their enchantment with books, our literary heritage, and an appreciation for literature that will last a lifetime" (v). Teachers share that same goal. In selecting literature for a classroom, teachers need to take in account the following: the school's standards and benchmarks, the adopted sequential curriculum, the age of the students, their stages of language, cognitive, personality, and social development. Teachers need to have the literature curriculum set for the year, but flexible enough to meet the needs of the students in the classroom.
Using the schools' standards is the first step in deciding how...show more content...
to "help children grow up understanding themselves and the rest of humanity" (110). 5). to "help children evaluate what they read" (110). "Because of developmental stages, children have different personal and literary needs at different ages" (133). "If developing enjoyment through literature is a major objective of your reading program for children, you must consider children's reading levels and know how to gain and use information about children's reading interests" (133).
The optimal learning experience encourages risk taking. Risk taking involves making sure students are comfortable and confident in the classroom with both peers and the teachers. A safe, supportive "kid" friendly classroom has many different areas to address.
In developing literature curriculum for upper elementary, ages ten to twelve, teachers need to understand children are using "complex sentences and should encourage oral language and written activities that permit children to use more complex sentence structures" (9). "Literature is also important in stimulating cognitive development by encouraging the oral exchange of ideas and the development of thought processes" (19). "Children's literature is especially effective for developing the basic operations associated with thinking; 1)observing, 2) comparing, 3) classifying, 4) hypothesizing, 5) organizing, 6) summarizing, 7)applying, and 8) criticizing" (19). Cognitively, in upper
The Changing Face of Children's Literature
Children's literature is always changing. It has evolved greatly over the generations. Children did not have their own stories in ancient times. Instead, they listened to oral storytellers who would recite stories I tended for adults to hear. Over time it became apparent that children needed there own stories. Moral stories and educational writing started to be written with children in mind. As printed books for children became more accessible, stories started to focus on entertaining children as well as educating them.
Today, children's literature has stories that are focused on children and offer real life views and vivid fantasy alike. Children's literature has progressed from simply oral folktales to the child focused stories we see today. All literature started with storytelling. Our ancestors told stories for comfort, instruction, entertainment and to teach their culture and religion. Storytelling has been a huge part of cultures all around the world. In ancient times, there was no difference between children's literature and adult literature. Children listened to the same stories that their parents listened to.
Defining what children's literature is seems like an easy task at first. However, it is really not as simple as it sounds. What is literature for children? If a book is written with children in mind is it still considered a children's book if adults read it? Likewise, is a book intended for adults still and adult's book of it is read and enjoyed by
Literature, Literacy, and Language Acquisition all play a major role not only specifically for learning but also in society. The definition of literacy in the past focused only on the ability to read and write print text, but the definition of literacy is no longer static. It is evolving to reflect society and technology making literacy a vital component in any environment. Literacy in the modern world is the ability to read, write, design, speak, listen and view in a way that allows you to communicate successfully. Nevertheless, literacy is the ability to read and write. To build a relationship with literacy in both children and adults we need to have a clear grasp of how we learnt to speak or how we knew what to say, and, when to say...show more content...
Literature does not just stop at reading a book. Here in Australia, the National Curriculum insures children will learn from literature from spoken, written and oral texts including Aboriginal stories, picture books, various types of print and digital texts, simple chapter books, rhyming verse, poetry, non–fiction, film, multimodal texts and dramatic performances (www.australiancurriculum.edu.au). Literature is an important part of teaching children to read and comprehending language in many forms. Keeping children engaged and learning from different forms of literature is essential for education and society. Society is built on Literature. We like to read others' stories, share and learn from their experience and this is the same for children too. Children reacts to literature in a living way, an inspiring story creates a great influence for the child where as one of questions ignites their curiosity and drives their need for information further. Literature therefore is forever building knowledge and inspiration no matter what your age is.
There are many theories regarding Language Acquisition and in the 1960s, linguist Noam Chomsky proposed a revolutionary idea: We are all born with an innate knowledge of grammar that serves as the basis for all language acquisition. In
The Effects Of Children 's Literature On Kids
Over the years of children's literature, many stories have consisted of contentious complications within their texts. These problems involve social issues, mostly compromised of stereotypes or racial inequality, as well as the concept of the negative impact horror stories have towards children. Although these issues are evident in the eyes of adults, there should be no cause for concern when children read these stories. Children are unaware of the social conflicts they encounter while reading, and horror stories have been watered down by authors, therefore these issues will not sabotage the true purpose of children's stories: the "ignition" of the imagination. Maria Tatar is a published author, whose mastery lies in children's literature. Tatar's work, Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood, focuses on the impact of children's literature on kids. According to Tatar, children don't read analytically to find the meaning or lesson behind the words on the page, but rather they seek the "vicarious pleasure" given off as they explore the world in their books (Tatar 17). Depending on different circumstances, many children read to escape their own world. This pleasure allows them to sense the thrill and adventure in this new world that was missing from their real life. With so much energy within a child, boredom occurs much more easily than towards adults. Tatar refers a children's book as a "therapeutic aid for the lonely child with little to do" (Tatar 17).
The Importance Of Empathy In Literature
Literary fiction helps individuals improve their capacity for empathy through its complexity. To have empathy means to recognize and experience the emotions of another. In fictional literature there are instances in which a reader must be able to understand how the characters feel to understand the text. Literary fiction helps people to understand the emotions of others in their daily lives because it, "prompts the reader to imagine the characters' introspective dialogues" (Chiaet, 2013).
With children it is not about the amount of empathy they have. As explained by an online article from Harvard University, "the issue often isn't whether children can empathize or how much empathy they have. It is who they have empathy for." A youth reaches an essential step in developing empathy when he learns to identify himself and others as separate entities. The second step occurs when children not only understand that people are individuals, but when they can interpret another's emotions and feel them as if they were their own. Also, It is not only the child's capacity for empathy that is important, but how a child values other perspectives. So, it is vital that the parents take care in introducing their children to social interactions. One safe way a parent can do this is through fiction.
As stated by Christopher Pike on The National Editorial, "Fiction plays a major role in expanding imagination and opening up doors to other worlds. When children pick up a novel or short story, they
2.2 Theoretical Orientation
2.2.1 Children Literature
Children's literature has been used a lot as a useful and critical material in teaching reading. According to Rebecca (2010) Children's Literature as a concept is defined as literature exclusively about children. Children's literature refers mainly to stories, poetry, rhymes, folk tales, drama, exclusively created for children such as infants, toddlers and the young people as target audience. But to look deeper, because children's experiences, knowledge and interests are limited, their literature differs from adult but only in "degree" not in kind. Children's literature is a rich resource for vocabulary development that can be the strong fundamental for EFL learner to acquire functional English. For decades, research...show more content...
The reader applies many strategies to reconstruct the meaning that the author is assumed to have intended. The reader does this by comparing information in the text to his or her background knowledge and prior experience" Stated Mikulecky in 2008
Teaching reading is one of the critical parts of teaching language. Through reading, the teacher role is to guide student how to comprehend written language so that the student can get the idea and share their thought to other easily. Byrnes (1998) stated that reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is. Before teaching reading, it is necessary for teacher to meet some requirements mentioned before. Teacher also has to be completely understood and choose the effective method and technique as well as preparing the decent reading material. Whilst also considering the student who has English as a foreign language and student's language
Literature for Children in the 19th Century
Literature for children in the 19th century
Since the view of childhood changes in the nineteenth century, the potential of children's literature becomes evident. With the reference to the sources of children's literature, they can be traced back to alterations in translation and in the literature for adults, where a child or childhood are essential concepts; moreover folk literature is concerned to be a wide source for this literary genre. According to Peter Hunt
Children before the seventeenth century shared narrative, whether oral or through chapbooks, with adults. The first widely distributed texts for children were by puritan writers; in the mid–eighteenth century books began to be produced commercially, usually...show more content...
The portraying of the negative aspects of life results in social tensions and ambigous attitudes towards children's fiction. Books are criticized for being inappropriate for children, and consequently attacked for their improper values. However, "together with the changing attitude to childhood, the legacy of children's literature is established with the works of the following writers: Lewis Carroll and Edith Nesbit, Louisa May Alcott and Mark Twain" (Hunt, 2001:13).
Literature for boys and girls in the 19th century
Literature aimed at young readers can be divided into two categories, namely, novels classified as 'books for boys' and 'books for girls'. These novels can be contrasted and there are visible differences between them. For instance, literature for boys is characterized by a swift action, amazing adventures, making difference between good and evil. The novels communicate the individuals to choose good. However, the novels'for girls' in many respects may be the opposite of the books 'for boys'. The action usually takes place on the set of relationships. There are many descriptions of characters and everyday situations, and ethical choices are often ambiguous. Books for boys are generally school stories, adventure tales, or imperial fantasy, often about empire or school life, while stories of home and family life are aimed at girls. Lewis C. Roberts explains that "the school story and the adventure tale... , primarily associated with
Essay Gender Roles in Children's Literature
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|Gender Roles in Children's Literature |
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|Kate Moore |
|11/22/2010 |
"Everything we read constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men" – M. Fox
It is a well...show more content...
The way, in which gender roles are portrayed in children's literature, significantly contributes to the development of children's gender roles and how they are perceived by society.
It is important to teach children about gender roles since it is something that society holds in regards, but most of the time in literature it is done unequally. The portrayal of gender in literature is based off of the expectations of society and places bias on gender. Boys are portrayed as strong, adventurous, independent and capable and often play the roles of fighters, adventurers and rescuers. Girls are portrayed as sweet, naïve, dependent, sensitive and emotional and play roles such as caretakers, princesses and mothers. The roles of gender portrayed in literature are often a reflection of the views of society and do not offer objective insight. Even though it is important to teach children about gender roles, the fashion in which it is done in does not allow children to see beyond those expectations. If a young girl is constantly read stories about a woman's role as a housewife, homemaker and mother, she will assume that's what is expected of her and will not know society will allow her to be anything she wants to be.
Gender roles in children's literature are linked to gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes have always been a part of society and are seen in almost every aspect
Literary Analysis : ' The Karate Kid '
Richard Badon
Harold Washington College
Comp 102
Literary Analysis
Follow your dream, but be patient while doing so: The Karate Kid
12–year old Dre Parker could've potentially been one of the most well–known, favored kids in all of Detroit, but his mother Sherry accepted a new job offer that forced them to relocate to China. Shortly, after arriving in the new country, Dre becomes friends with a fellow classmate, Mei Ying, who he instantly develops feelings for, only to make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng, a young Kung Fu prodigy, who attempts to keep them apart by bullying and humiliating Dre around the school. Dre doesn't know karate that well, and during a cruel beating from Cheng and his friends, he gets planted on the floor...show more content...
Mr. Han then said to Dre "Better to learn balance, balance is key, balance good, karate good, everything good. Balance bad? Better pack up, go home." The same is accurate for everyone who is attempting to achieve something – that balance is key. If one does not have balance in all matters of life, one will not be able to accomplish their goals. Following the brawl with Cheng and his friends, Mr. Han repairs Dre's injuries using a method known as fire cupping. Promptly after, Dre then questions if Mr. Han could teach him Kung Fu. Initially, he declines, and instead, takes Dre to martial art class to make peace with Cheng, where he meets with Cheng's teacher, Master Li, who impudently challenges Dre to a fight with Cheng. Alternatively, Mr. Han intercedes and petitions that the battle take place in an upcoming martial arts tournament instead, and also urges the students to leave Dre alone so he can train in time for the tournament. Li agrees, and Mr. Han promises to teach Dre Kung–Fu. Mr. Han then tells Dre "We make sacred pact. I promise teach karate to you, you promise learn. I say, you do, no questions". He is straight to the point in his teaching methods and this shows the basis of their relationship. Dre and Mr. Han practice daily, and Han takes Dre to a temple in the Wudang Mountains, where he trains Dre using inspiring lessons that apply to life in general, not only
Literary Analysis 'The Lesson'
Celia Kane
3/09/2012
Eng 120
Section B01 Spring 2012
Literary Analysis Essay 2
"The Lesson": Significance of Miss Moore Taking the Children to New Environments
The predominant theme in "The Lesson" composed by Toni Cade Bambara is creating an understanding to adolescents of all the opportunities life has to offer; a lesson on social class and having a choice which society you choose to live in. Miss. Moore who takes on the responsibility to educate the young ones has intentions of more than just taking the children to the store for amusement. Miss Moore 's informal lessons are aimed at educating the neighborhood children
about how their lives differ from those of rich white children, nonetheless Miss Moore wants the...show more content...
She used F.A.O. Schwarz, a very expensive toy store, to teach them a lesson and inspire them to strive for success and attempt to better themselves and their situations. The extreme differences between the children 's neighborhood and the neighborhood of the toy store are first illustrated by the fact that the white people on Fifth Avenue wear furs and stockings even on a hot summer 's day. "Then we check out that we on Fifth Avenue and everybody dressed up in stockings. One lady in a fur coat, hot as it is"(Bambara 99). The children are thrown off balance in this neighborhood, as if it were a foreign country where even the approach to temperature is different. To Miss Moore, education is the key to more money and improved social conditions.
To Sylvia, being educated means seeing things as they are. Sylvia and Miss Moore both have a considerable amount of pride. Sylvia thinks Miss Moore shows disrespect when she describes their neighborhood as a slum and their families as poor. Bambara has indicated that Sylvia 's family is striving for better conditions through the mention of the piano rental. Miss Moore views the children 's acceptance of their economic condition as ignorance and their ignorance as disrespect for their race. Miss Moore wants to change this attitude and encourages the children to demand more from the society that keeps them down. By the end of the story, both of these characters have made their points. Sylvia realizes
Children's Literature Discussion Essay
Children's Literature Discussion
"The history that makes us wish fairy tales did happen, that life were like a children's book and we all lived happily ever after, is not an easy history to read or write. If we persist in thinking that children need hope and happy endings then the stories we give them about the
Holocaust will be shaped by those expectations… For there are those who would tell us yet another fairy tale, one in which the mass murder of millions of people did not happen I know that it did, and I know that we need to find ways to tell children."
(Kertzer, 1999, p.253)
Children's literature continues to inspire both children and adults, and more recently while doing so, has prompted questions to emerge...show more content...
When analysing the respective narratives a range of critical and enlightening issues will be broached including the outcomes, values and perspectives which are raised within the stories through concepts of hope, second chances, misery or new beginnings. In addition to these queries the value of these books for children, which integrate depictions of war and violence within both illustrations and text, will be investigated.
Innocenti's "Rose Blanche" is written in a manner whereby the protagonist's character develops into something which is admirable, lovable and self–sacrificing, all of which seem to be often foreign elements within the nature of many children in today's well fed society. The violence that she experiences in her hometown blossoms a wary curiosity and traces of foreboding trepidation, the impact upon her life is displayed in a form one may find difficult to define as positive or negative. Rose's approach to the war and acts of violence which surrounds her environment instigates compassion and leads her to come to aid to people in desperate need. In respect to developing empathy this story achieves its purpose by emotionally engaging the reader. The war leads her to being subjected to an experience of providing food for starving, deprived children and also subsequently her death. Innocenti approaches the subject of