Description:

Examines literature written for children. Students discuss its moral, psychological, and political implications and its place in the larger literary heritage. Recommended: ENGL& 101 or ENGL 201 or a literature course in the 100 series.

Outcomes:

After completing this class, students should be able to:

• Explain how an individual work reflects the characteristics of children’s literature as a genre and support their explanation with examples from the reading and lectures.
• Compare the conventions of oral tales (fairy tales), traditional 19th-century children’s literature, and contemporary children’s literature, referring to
• Plot
• Language
• Character
• Style
• Audience expectations
• Relate an individual work to historical and cultural context, referring to perceptions of
• What a child is
• How children develop and learn
• Relationships between parents and children
• Purpose of story-telling (e.g., didactic)
• Social norms and expectations
• Economic and political forces (e.g., WWII)
• Belief system (world view)
• Compare and contrast works from different cultures and/or historical periods.
• Discuss a work from two or more different interpretive perspectives (e.g., psychological, socioeconomic).
• Express outcomes 1-5 both verbally and in writing
• Read aloud and/or tell a story effectively