Documents read in class:
1.4.Jeff Page's Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
1.5.Playing Twenty Questions with Literature
1.6.James Thu
er's "The Little Girl and the Wolf"
1.7.Optional Reading: University of Queensland's Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
1.8.Optional Reading: Critical Reading: A Guide by Dr. John Lye
3.4.James Finn Garner's Politically Co
ect Bedtime Stories
3.5.Roald Dahl's "Little Red riding and the Wolf" and "The Three Little Pigs"
3.6.Tomi Ungerer's "Little Red riding Hood"
3.7.Molly Whuppie
3.8.Garth Nix's "Hansel's Eyes"
3.9.The Gothic
3.10.Vivian Vande Velde's "Twins"
3.11.Fractured Fairy Tales' "Hansel and Gretel"
3.12.Optional Read: Text of Fractured Fairy Tales' "Hansel and Gretel"
Children’s Literature Essay Assignment
Purpose
This assignment will allow you to apply the principles/practices of close reading and critical thinking that we have been working with this semester to develop and support an argument in an essay.
General Guidelines
The essay must be a 5 page/1250 word minimum paper, and must follow MLA essay format, which among other things, includes a heading, double spaced text, 12 point font, 1 inch margins, co
ect internal parenthetical citations and a works cited page. The Purdue OWL has an annotated sample of a MLA formatted paper: https:
owl.purdue.edu/owl
esearch_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html.
Your paper may be longer than the 5 pages, if it is still concisely worded and argued. It is not acceptable to turn in a paper that is significantly shorter than 5 pages or fewer than 1,250 words. Please do not assume that longer is necessarily better.
The essay must be a grammatically co
ect, well-organized, well-supported argument with a clear thesis that is stated somewhere in the first paragraph. Furthermore, your analysis must be supported by sufficient evidence from the text to support your interpretation of the text. You cannot rely on plot summary and vague generalizations to make your point. And remember, you are not arguing “the right" way to read the text; you are arguing a "valid" way to read the text, perhaps one of many valid ways to read it.
Most of the options below require no research; you should rely on your own understanding of the text(s) (as long as it can be supported with evidence from it). That said, if you want to do some background research or simply want to determine if your understanding of your text(s) is within the realm of acceptability, you certainly may do so.
Please see the syllabus for the grade weight of the essay and the due dates. Before you submit the essay, remember to do three things:
· Include a works cited page following the last page of the essay, even if the only work on it is the work that you are analyzing (in which case, you would title this a Work Cited).
· On the bottom of the last page, please print the Aggie Honor Code: “On my honor, as an Aggie, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” and sign it.
· Upload a copy of the essay, with your identifying information removed, to Turnitin.com.
Required Submissions
See the syllabus for the due dates on these documents. All will be re-submitted with the final essay in a portfolio of sorts.
· Evaluating Sources Exercise
· Working Thesis for essay
· Rough draft with sources included
The Assignment
Respond to one of the topics below. Please note that none of these essays may simply rehash what I give you in class notes or what we discuss in class. While information from my notes or from class discussions may be used in your argument (with proper credit), it should not be the focus of your argument.
Topic 1: Literary Analysis
Write a literary analysis of some aspect of one of the texts we have read (or will read) in class. You may use one of the poems or fairy tales in our anthologies. If you work with a poem or fairy tale that is not in our anthology, you must include the text of your poem/fairy tale with your paper when you turn it in. Possibilities include arguments such as focusing on the development of the protagonist or na
ator or the use of figurative language, or exploring a central theme, writing technique or use of art.
Topic 2: Mini-Research Pape
Write a research paper in which you investigate a scholarly or social issue involving children’s literature, and discuss how one (or perhaps more, if length allows) of the texts we’ve read (or will read) this semester relates to, involves, or speaks to that idea. Again, you may use a set of poems or fairy tales (see option 1 above). Possibilities are almost endless, but some obvious choices include race, ethnic, religious, and gender concerns. Other issues involving concepts of childhood, child audiences, and literature designed for children and/or appropriated by children are also possibilities; just make sure that your paper focuses on your chosen texts, not on the social issue in which you are contextualizing it. The one topic I would warn you against is censorship; very few students deal with it effectively. See the variety of approaches in the “Playing Twenty Questions with Literature” that we read at the beginning of the semester for possible approaches.
Topic 3: Comparison Essay
Compare/contrast two of the texts we have read (or will read) this semester. Again, you may use a set of poems or fairy tales (see option 1 above). Be careful as you write this essay that it doesn’t simply degenerate into a laundry list of comparisons. Your essay must make an argument about the comparisons that it makes. For instance, consider issues such as the effect of the aspects you compare; the significances of the comparisons you make; the reasons for the authors’ choices, etc. An analysis must do more than simply line up two columns of similarities and/or differences. I want to know why these similarities and/or differences matter.
Topic 4: Argue for New Text
Write a paper arguing that I should add a specific work of children’s literature to the course. Your goal is to persuade me that a specific text and author merits literary attention. Your argument must argue literary merit, not just keep repeating your emotional attachment to the work. This will basically be a review of a work that is grounded in a sound literary reading or interpretation of the work. You cannot just act like a cheerleader for the work. My one caution for this option: avoid overuse of plot summary!!
A Final Word about Topics
Your topic does not have to fit neatly into one of these categories, and if you have an idea that doesn’t seem to fit anywhere in this list, please talk to me. There’s a good chance we can make your idea work, and if not, you need to know earlier than later! Also, be sure to talk to me if you want to work with a text(s) that we are not reading for class this semester so that we can make sure it is appropriate for the project.
Resources for Inspiration & Help
Inspiration
If you need help coming up with ideas to explore, review the critical reading resources that you read the first week of class (posted in eCampus). The optional readings may also offer some helpful ideas. Or, come talk to me or our grader!
MLA
If you need help with MLA, the Purdue OWL website http:
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/search.php, is especially useful, and, of course the MLA Handbook, 8th edition (2016), is the complete source.
Conducting Research and Evaluating Sources
If you choose the research paper option, you will need to make sure that you use sources that are acceptable for the field. And if it has been a while since you wrote a research paper, you may wish for a refresher on the process and the expectations that I will have of your final paper. I have placed a set of notes and links to online resources in the Writing Instruction and Resources section of eCampus in the Conducting Research folder. I hope these will be of help.
Style, Structure, Co
ectness
For help crafting effective thesis sentences, effectively using and incorporating sources in essays, writing strong arguments, and avoiding common writing e
ors, please refer the documents that I have posted in the Writing Instruction and Resources section of eCampus in the Writing Essays folder. I am attaching one of those pages to this assignment.
Literary Analysis
If you would like a reminder about the nature of literary analysis, the following web sites may be useful:
· The TAMU University Writing Center has a number of documents that might help you get started: http:
writingcenter.tamu.edu/Students/Writing-Speaking-Guides.
· The Writing Center at Pacific Lutheran University’s “Literature Analysis” page: https:
www.plu.edu/writingcente
literature-analysis/
The Audience of Your Essay
Your audience is an academic reader, an intelligent reader who is familiar with the texts you are analyzing. . . me and our grader!
A Word on Grading
When I (or our class grader if there is one) grade an essay, I evaluate not just what you say, the content, of your essay, but how you say it: style, mechanics, organization, logical argument, etc. (see the grade description sheet posted in eCampus). However, this course is not intended to teach you how to write essays; therefore, I will not address these issues in any real depth in class. Please refer to the resources that I have discussed above. Also feel free to visit me (or our grader), or to make an appointment with the University Writing Center if you have questions about writing essays.
Guidelines for Writing about Literature
The list below
iefly addresses some of the weaknesses that I consistently see in essays written by students. Much of the following is adapted from a handout written by a former colleague, Doug Boyd (“The Accumulated Wisdom of Two Degrees in English: Guidelines for Writing about Literature”).
Interpretation
A critical analysis is judged on the thoroughness and the coherence of the interpretation. Questions you must consider:
· “Does the analysis address all of the elements in the work, and are all of the observations related together in an understandable way, or is it just a rambling jumble of statements?”
· “Does the analysis say something important and sensible about the work, or does the work insufficiently explore the implications of the work?” In other words, how profound is the interpretation?
While an analysis is “your own interpretation” of a work and thus can vary from mine, your critical analysis must be thorough, coherent, convincing, and reasonably profound.
Title
Try to grab the reader’s attention with your title. Also consider beginning