· English 473: Children’s Literature and International Myth, Folk Tale, and Film
Dr. Steven Frye
On-Line (WebCT) Course
Spring 2010
Office Hours: 10:00-12:20 MW, and by appt.
Office: Faculty Office 315 at Antelope Valley
Office Phone: (661) 952-5095
E-mail: use WebCT email for this course on the site specified for English 473
Course Description
This course will use principles of literary criticism to examine fables, fairy tales, classical myths, legends, children’s verse, and films from diverse countries. We will explore the ways in which these stories and poems express and shape perceptions, beliefs, and cultural values. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to rich traditions of literary expression which are written for children but are often appreciated by adults. We will concern ourselves with definitional terms in genre and literary form, changes in values regarding the nature of childhood, but our primary focus will be on how literary and cinematic art may be used to express ideas and to develop an appreciation in children for aesthetic beauty.
· This is an on-line course using WebCT. I will read postings beginning at 8:00 A.M. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The date in the schedule designates when postings should ALREADY BE submitted.
· Practically, this means you should be posting your comments on assigned works by Monday and Wednesday nights. You should then respond to your classmates postings throughout the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I will post my comment on the text in question on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well.
· I will probably post early in the morning but you should not consider my posting the final word. Continue to comment and participate.
· Though we will not meet regularly in class since the course is on-line, for those of you who are local, you are encouraged to see me or call me during my office hours. I am very willing to discuss the various works with individual students or groups at those times. I understand that many of you are taking the course from great distances and you need not worry that you are unable to come to my office. I am certainly willing to answer your emails and/or talk to you by phone during my office hours or at other times we arrange.
· Given your various schedules, you are free to post in the appropriate folders in the discussion board any time you like, as long as you post BEFORE the date the readings are due. Initial posting should appear before that date or by 8:00 A. M., responses to other postings during the day.
Course Requirements
Students must complete all assigned work on time. Required work is due on the date assigned and must be submitted via the WebCT email account for this course. Late work will not be accepted. Grading will be as follows:
· Two Close Reading Essays, between one and two pages each, 10% each
· Responses to Study Questions 30%
· Final Examination Essays 20%
· Discussion Board Participation 30%
Required Texts and Films
· The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature. Latest Edition. This volume has been ordered at the College of the Canyons’ bookstore and is available on-line through various sources.
The Norton Anthology website appears as an icon on the main page for this course. See that sight for useful links to children’s literature webpages.
· Film: Whale Rider (2003), Directed by Niki Caro
I recommend you purchase the film for your own collection through Amazon.com. It is available inexpensively in used copies that are usually of high quality. If you choose not to purchase it, you must find it through rental. We will not discuss it until the end of the quarter, so you will have plenty of time to acquire it. It may or may not be at local rental stores, but it can certainly be found through on-line rental sources such as Netflix.
Recommended Texts
· Murfin and Ray, The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms
· Pearsall, The Oxford Concise Dictionary
Both books available on-line.
Schedule
· All postings are due by 8:00 A.M. for the following readings on or before the following dates. I will be doing most of my work for this course on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That is USUALLY when I will respond to postings.
· However, I understand that your various schedules MAY make Mondays and Wednesdays more convenient. You may post on a text any time you like BEFORE the date that the work is due AND, in the case of responses to initial postings, during the day that it is due. See below for a description of the discussion board requirement. For these regular postings, use the discussion board NOT the chat rooms.
· Use the identified strand for that topic, i.e., “Fables,” “Fairy Tales,” “Classical Myths,” “Judeo-Christian Stories and Songs,” etc.
Week One: Fables
3/30 and 4/1 Begin Reading for 4/6. As a course introduction, read my posted handout on the main WebCT page.
Week Two: Fables
Begin Posting
4/6 Croxall, from Fables of Aesop and Others, “The Fox Without a Tale,” “The Fox and the Crow.
4/8” Godwin, “The Dog in the Manger,” “The Ass in the Lion’s Skin”; Crane, (illustrated fables on pp. 400-401) from The Baby’s Own Aesop; Rouse, “The Crocodile and the Monkey,” “The Talkative Tortoise”; Kipling, “How the Camel Got His Hump”; Thurber, “”The Fox and the Crow”; Bryan, “Tortoise, Hare, and the Sweet Potatoes”; Hoban, “The Sea-Thing Child”
Discussion Questions:
· Discuss the role of didacticism in the fables. Consider the time and culture within which they are written. What culture specific values are they expressing? What are they trying to accomplish?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· Explore the literary devices, motifs, and structures are employed in the works—such as myth, allegory, archetype, metaphor, etc. How compelling are the characters?
Week Three: Fairy Tales
4/13 Perrault, “The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots”; Fielding, “The Story of the Cruel Giant Barbarico, the Good Gaint Benifico, and the Little Pretty Dwarf Mignon”; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “Hansel and Gretel”
4/15 Perrault, “Little Red Riding Hood”; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “Little Red Cap”; Marelle, “The True History of Little Golden-hood”; Dahl, “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf”
Week Four: Fairy Tales
4/20 Anderson, “The Nightingale”; Wilde, “The Happy Prince”; Hughes, “The Iron-Giant: A Story of Five Nights”
4/22 Aiken, “The Faithless Lollybird”; Yolen, “The Lady and the Merman”
Discussion Questions:
· Discuss the role of didacticism in the fairy tales. Consider the time and culture within which they are written. What culture specific values are they expressing? What are they trying to accomplish?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· What do the various fairy tales suggest about the individual culture’s attitude toward childhood? How mature and intellectually aware are children considered to be? Is childhood deemed to be a clearly demarcated part of our lives, a thing distinctly separate from adulthood?
· Explore the literary devices, motifs, and structures employed in the works—such as myth, allegory, archetype, metaphor, etc. How compelling are the characters?
Week Five: Classical Myths
4/27 Godwin, “The Minotaur”; Hawthorne, “The Minotaur”; Kingsley, “How Theseus Slew the Minotaur”
4/29 Garfield and Blishen, “The God Beneath the Sea”; Colum, from The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy
I will meet with students at the College of the Canyons site between 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. for a discussion of the works read so far. This is not required but it is highly recommended, since it will give us a chance to meet and discuss the subject in a conventional setting.
Discussion Questions:
· How do these myths help us understand the culture-specific values of the cultures that created them? How are virtue and vice defined? In what way are these values different from our own?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· What do the various myths suggest about the individual culture’s attitude toward childhood? How mature and intellectually aware are children considered to be? Is childhood deemed to be a clearly demarcated part of our lives, a thing distinctly separate from adulthood?
· Explore the literary devices, motifs, and structures employed in the works? What makes them myths? Consider various definitions of “myth.”
Essay #1 Due on WebCT email by the end of the day.
Week Six: Judeo-Christian Stories and Songs
5/4 Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress; Watts, Divine Songs for Children
5/6 Singer, “Hanukkah in the Poorhouse”; Rice, from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Discussion Questions:
· Discuss the role of didacticism in these Judeo-Christian stories and songs. How do they help us understand the culture-specific values of the Judeo-Christian culture that created them? How are virtue and vice defined?
· In what way can we observe similarities and differences between the values implicit in the early works and the varied values of our own modern, often secular, and noticeably diverse religious culture?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· What do the various myths suggest about the individual culture’s attitude toward childhood? How mature and intellectually aware are children considered to be? Is childhood deemed to be a clearly demarcated part of our lives, a thing distinctly separate from adulthood?
Week Seven: Legends
5/11 Browning, “History of Robin Hood”; Pyle, “Robin Hood and Little John”
5/13 Browning, “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”
Week Eight: Legends
5/18 Green, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
5/20 Lester, “John Henry”; Osborne, “Davy Crockett”
I will be away at a conference and will not post today. However, you should post your responses. I will return and comment on your postings early the next week.
Discussion Questions:
· Discuss the role of didacticism in the legends. Consider the time and culture within which they are written. What culture-specific values are they expressing? What are they trying to accomplish?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· Explore the literary devices, motifs, and structures are employed in the works—such as myth, allegory, archetype, metaphor, etc. How compelling are the characters?
Week Nine: Verse
5/25 Read all Lullabies and Baby Songs; Christina Rosetti, “Sing-Song”
I will meet with students at the College of the Canyons site between 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. for a discussion of the works read since our last face-to-face meeting. This is not required but it is highly recommended, since it will give us a chance to meet and discuss the subject in a conventional setting.
5/27 Read all Nursery Verse; Edward Lear, “The Owl and the Pussycat”; Carroll, Jabberwocky
Discussion Questions:
· Discuss the role of didacticism in these verses. Consider the time and culture within which they are written. What culture-specific values are they expressing? What are they trying to accomplish?
· What transhistorical and transcultural values are expressed? In other words, what themes and ideas appear in the works that are universal and applicable to all people in all times and places?
· What do the various poems and songs suggest about the individual culture’s attitude toward childhood? How mature and intellectually aware are children considered to be? In childhood deemed to be a clearly demarcated part of our lives, a thing distinctly separate from adulthood?
Week Ten: Film
6/1 Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2003)
6/3 Whale Rider, cont’d
Discussion Questions:
· In Whale Rider, consider the “coming-of-age” theme. What role does myth play in helping the girl realize her destiny and her place within her culture? What does the film suggest about the role of myth in the lives of children?
· Considering Whale Rider, comment on the cinematic experience. How did you respond to the film? How might children respond? Avoid the obvious claim that they’d learn about another culture. Avoid clichéd celebratory comments about primitive cultures. Deepen your consideration of a child’s potential response here.
Essay #2, responses to study questions, and final examination questions are due on WebCT email folder by the end of the day on 6/8.
Writing Assignments
Essay #1 Close Reading. Select a single fable, fairy tale, or myth and explore how it serves to define the values, perceptions, and ethical/moral standards of the culture that produced it. Consider how those values, perceptions, and standards are similar and different from our own. Be very thorough in analyzing the work. Due 4/26.
Essay #2 Close Reading. Select a single Judeo-Christian story or song, legend, or set of verses (a few, perhaps four or five) and explore how it serves to define the values, perceptions, and ethical/moral standards of the culture that produced it. Consider how those values, perceptions, and standards are similar and different from our own. Be very thorough in analyzing the work.
Essay Recommendations and Format
In this class (and in virtually all your literature classes), you will write academic essays. Your essays should be formal. They should have tight structure: clear introductions with argumentative thesis statements, sets of paragraphs that directly support main ideas, and conclusions that effectively synthesize major points. The essays should contain detailed analyses of the texts in question. You should quote judiciously, never allowing your quotes to overwhelm your analysis. Attempt to move beyond class discussion and discover something about the work that isn’t immediately obvious, even to an intelligent reader. Consider form and literary device as well as theme.