Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

The Child To Come: Life After The Human Catastrophe By Rebekah Sheldon, Nathan Tebokkel

The Goose

Review of Rebekah Sheldon's The Child to Come: Life after the Human Catastrophe.

Merging The Contemporary With The Classic Through Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice, Olivia C. Hysinger

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Remembering As Resurrection: Transgenerational Trauma And Memory In J.K. Rowling’S Harry Potter Series, Erika Beckstrand

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

What does it mean to bear witness to the memories of previous generations’ trauma victims? What lessons should we learn from those who came before us to ensure a happier future?

This thesis explores the trauma and memories of the deceased or older generation found in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I intend to analyze the character of Harry Potter as he interacts with the memories of the previous generation, which he is able to resurrect in embodied forms through the use of magic. By testifying to the memories of the previous generations’ trauma, Harry is able to ...

See Me Shine: Developing Character Through Books For Children Ages 3-6, Shelley Oakley, Rachel Schwedt, Janice Delong

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Selecting books for the preschooler and beginning reader that engage the young audience and yet teach values that parents and educators desire is an elusive task. This first volume of the See Me Shine series offers reading recommendations focusing on distinct character traits such as caring, courage, responsibility and more for ages 3 to 6. Each character trait offers 20+ book recommendations, as read-aloud or independent reading, and each recommendation includes a description of each title, critique, awards, list of related subjects, and the distinct character themes demonstrated in the text. Whether your role is one of parent, grandparent, guardian ...

Fashioning A Feeble Mind: Cognitive Disability In American Fiction, 1830-1940, Lucy Wallitsch

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Between 1830 and 1940, American fiction is populated by an increasing number of cognitively disabled characters. I explore the relationships between these cognitively disabled characters and the rapidly changing scientific and political environments in which they were created. Drawing on a variety of regionally specific primary sources, I analyze the influences of medical and social conceptions of cognitive disability on works of American fiction containing characters which fit historical labels for cognitive disability such as The Deerslayer, “Life in the Iron Mills,” the short stories of Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, The Sound and the Fury, and Of Mice and Men ...

Metacognition And Escape In Golden Age Children’S Literature, Ashley Mastrorilli

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Missing Persons’ Report! Where Are The Transgender Characters In Children’S Picture Books?, Ashley Lauren Sullivan, Laurie Lynne Urraro

Occasional Paper Series

When ruminating on the factors that impact early childhood education, one invariably reflects on the topic of how curriculum represents (or fails to represent) issues of gender, specifically with regard to how gender is portrayed within the selection of classroom picture books. In such ruminations, many questions emerge regarding the specific role reading curriculum plays as it relates to gender.

Andrew Lang: A World We Have Lost, William Donaldson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the career and wide-ranging accomplishments of the Scottish essayist, poet and critic Andrew Lang (1844-1912), author of Myth, Ritual and Religion (2 vols., 1887), arguing that Lang was "an original thinker with a powerful oppositional streak;" reviews his significance for late Victorian anthropology and the studies of religions (including psychical research), and on his work as a translator and classicist, reviewer, ballad scholar, biographer, and Scottish historian, as well as his contribution to children's literature; includes an assessment of a new 2-volume selection of Lang's writing; and concludes that Lang's "virtuosic range" and "slashing keenness of ...

Using Visible Thinking Routines To Teach About The Impact Of Colonialism On Race Within The Language Arts Classroom, Carol Kelly

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Particularly within Language Arts, the curriculum has historically been based around the classics of Literature, which are heavily dominated by wealthy white men. Finding suitable materials to teach from, whilst still providing the background knowledge of the traditional canon, is a challenge to effective teaching about diversity. I am aware that I come from a culture of whiteness, and this makes me wary of my own biases when teaching about cultural diversity. When approaching this topic I have drawn upon a variety of resources, and this paper will use a mixture of academic research, teaching materials, and self study to ...

The Treatment Of Violence In Young Adult Literature: Rick Yancey's Monstrumology Series, Hannah Ruth Balsavich

Master’s Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

A Mixtape For Your Minivan: Writing The Line Between Fiction And Non, Emily Lohr

Honors Program Projects

The following paper is an overview of the creation of the novella, A Mixtape for your Minivan, a coming-of-age story set in Cleveland during the Great Recession. This paper features an overview on novellas as a genre, an in-depth look at the drafting and editing process the author undertook while writing this novella, and a summary of all historical research done in relation to the novella. The paper also features excerpts from the first draft of the work, and author reflections on the various drafts. The following paper was written to partially fulfill the requirements of Olivet Nazarene’s Honors ...

Choosing A Moral Compass: The Journey Towards Moral Maturity In Harry Potter, Tricia Mieden

Masters Theses

This thesis examines Harry Potter’s moral development and illustrates how a reader’s involvement with literature complements moral education in the classroom. Using Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development as a guide, this thesis considers how Harry solidifies his moral commitments as he matures and, as a result, becomes more aware of how his moral principles influence his actions. Through an analysis of Harry’s cognitive reasoning, which is evidenced through the narration, readers are able to develop a similar awareness to the ways their moral principles influence their choices

The Polyphonic Survivor: Dialogism And Heteroglossia In Art Spiegelman's "Maus: A Survivor's Tale", Joshua Novalis

Masters Theses

Using Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of polyphony, dialogism, and heteroglossia, this thesis will seek to show that Art Spiegelman's Maus is an innately heteroglossic work. Through the use of the graphic novel medium, a multi-perspectival blend of visual and textual narrative, Spiegelman creates a work where various key voices are allowed to speak within the work—without any one voice being given full authority over the other. Vladek Spiegelman, for example, is given the ability to speak freely, despite his narrative’s shortcomings. Although Spiegelman shows Vladek’s perspective to be flawed and inaccurate at times, Art’s interviews ...

From Damsel In Distress To Active Agent : Female Agency In Children's And Young Adult Fiction., Megan Sarah Mcdonough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the different ways in which female characters in children’s and young adult fiction can claim agency. Using adaptation theory, feminist theory, and theories of agency and autonomy, this project examines how portrayals of female protagonists have changed to accept a multiplicity of strong females, and why we need these different kinds of characters within our culture. Working with the definition of agency as the choices one makes and the subsequent actions she takes, this dissertation examines how female characters from paradigm shifting texts claim agency. Each chapter uses a specific feminist lens to explore literary texts ...

Disabled ≠ Disempowered: A Critical Framework For Analyzing The Representation Of Mental Disabilities In Young Adult Literature, Michele L. Dobbins

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this honors thesis, I focus on young adult novels that highlight rather than minimize the experience of having a mental disability, and I argue that this topic must be included in education and book discussions in order to create more inclusive classrooms and communities. I examine representations of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and autism in popular young adult novels, paying special focus to the way characters represent the relationship between power and disability. After reading a wide range of novels from award-winning bestsellers to reviewers’ recommendations, I noted the frequency of topics such as identity, community, institutions, and romanticization ...

Bilingualism And The American Family, Caitlin M. Nickerson

Senior Honors Projects

Bilingualism is the ability to speak more than one language fluently. People of all ages may aspire to learn a second or third language in order to fulfill both personal goals and communicate with a variety of people in different contexts. Irrespective of one’s walk of life or socioeconomic status, being bilingual is a valuable skill. Although English is the language of power in the United States, there are hundreds of other languages spoken in this country.

There are a number of different ways in which children can become bilingual. For example, they may enter the school system speaking ...

Delving Into Multicultural Literature With Inquiry, Juan Gonzalez

Honors Theses

This paper argues for the use of multicultural literature in the classroom, and puts forth a unit plan that uses critical literacy in an English 11 classroom, though it can be readapted to fit other grade levels. Bishop (1990) describes multicultural literature as a set of windows, that people use to view the experiences of others, and mirrors, that reflect and validate peoples’ experience, a core principal in this paper. Critical literacy is comprised of four dimensions (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002) that allows for analyzing literature in a different and meaningful way. The final part of this paper details ...

Subjective Retelling: The Influence Of External And Individual Factors On The Folktales Of The Brothers Grimm, Katherine R. Woodhouse

Young Historians Conference

Since a first edition of Children’s and Household Tales was published in 1812, the work of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm has been read, told, watched, and referenced all over the world. When the Grimms initially set out to construct the famous anthology, they intended to objectively uncover a breadth of traditional German folktales, preserving them in their purest possible forms. These stories, the brothers believed, held the essence of the nation’s declining culture and collective identity. However, the assumption that the stories of Children’s and Household Tales holistically represent the genuine German history and dialogue of oral ...

Wendy's Story In J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Jessica Hedrick

Steeplechase

Although known today as simply Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie’s classic children’s novel was originally titled Peter and Wendy. This paper explores the famous children’s story from Wendy Darling’s perspective, taking particular interest in the narrator’s contradictory stance on Wendy her agency in the original novelized text. Peter Pan may be the most well known of Barrie’s characters, but the novel’s story is Wendy’s. The relationship between a mother and her children forms the crux of the novel; without Wendy, without her relationship with her own mother and her desire to play ...

Identifying Elements Of Kinder- Und Jugendliteratur, Clara G. Hendrickson, Joshua D. Pearson, Brice J. Montgomery, Natalie M. Lien, Marcella B. Moorman, Anna T. Kaster, Elizabeth J. Carraher, Annis N. Shaver

The Research and Scholarship Symposium

Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, children’s literature written for the purpose of teaching or entertaining young people, has been present in German literature since the Middle Ages. This genre has changed as German literature progressed, reflecting the developments of each era, including such periods as the Romantic, the Biedermeier, Realism, Modernism and Postmodernism. As such, we examined individual works of German Kinder- und Jugendliteratur for the purpose of identifying distinctive features which situate them within children’s literature as well as in the respective historical genre. The works examined were Nußknacker und Mausekönig (1816) by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Emil und ...