Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Conceptualizing Identity As Performance In Young Adult Dystopian Literature, Kelly F. Franklin

Masters Theses

Young Adult Literature has historically been read as a genre that encourages singular identity formation. Scholars have argued that this literature inspires young adult readers to find their true identity by showcasing characters in the process of identity construction. However, when read through the lens of performance theory - a vast field that encompasses many disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, literature and theatre - it becomes evident that YAL actually encourages the formation of multiple roles and identities. This genre features characters trying on new roles, casting assigned roles aside, and assuming new identities to best suit their settings. …

Cold Shoulder: An Alaskan Adventure, Christine C. Berlin

Graduate Research Papers

Multicultural novels are a must for school libraries. Where books about world cultures abound, lacking are sufficient books about Native Americans, especially Eskimos, set in present day. The purpose of this project is to create a resource that introduces life and Yup~ik culture in present-day bush Alaska. This project is limited to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska.

Cold Shoulder is a middle grade novel exploring life in Alaska through the eyes of an eleven year old boy. For the first time in his life, the main character is an outsider trying to find his way in a new land and …

Making Historical Fiction Appealing To Young Adults Through Book Trailers, Chelsey Kolpin

Graduate Research Papers

The Hi-Fi for Wi-Fi website was developed to address the problem that many young adults do not select historical fiction for free reading because they view the genre negatively. The website can be used as an advisory and teaching tool for young adults, teachers, parents, and librarians to increase interest in historical fiction via book trailers. The website includes 15 books that were published in 2003 or after, and are included in the H.W. Wilson core or highly recommended collections. Book trailers and descriptions for all 15 books are embedded on the pages of the website, and are organized by …

Young Adult Memoir Dealing With Alcohol, Abuse, Infidelity, Violence And Poverty, Kelly Reinhold

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this project was to create a memoir that exposes genuine family issues, such as alcoholism, drugs, infidelity, poverty and abuse, from the perspective of a young adult who lived through these experiences first-hand. The story took place in the early 1990' s when the main character was eleven years old. At the time, she was facing the divorce of her parents and was forced to make painful decisions on her living arrangements and choices within her relationships with her parents and brother.

Portrayal Of Characters With Disabilities Within K-6 Fictional Literature, Katie Roling

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine how fully characters with disabilities were developed in children's literature. The researcher examined a set of children's fictional books which contained persons with mental and physical disabilities. The sample of books used was gathered using the following method: the Children's Core Collection database was searched using the advanced option. The key words entered were handicapped and disabled, with the limitation to fiction books. The recommendation level chosen was Core Collection and Highly Recommended. Books with a publication year of 2002 or newer were selected. The grade levels criteria used were grades K-6. …

An Examination Of The Criteria For The Iowa Children's Choice Award List, Jessica Zimmerman

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine the Iowa Children's Choice Award lists for variety of reading levels, topics, and protagonists and compare this to the criteria set by the Iowa Association of School Librarians. A quantitative content analysis was conducted to allow comparison between the last four years of Iowa Children's Choice Award lists. Results showed that all of the texts chosen for the award lists in the last four years fell in the third through sixth grade level according to Fountas and Pinnell. The majority of the texts include a female protagonist making the award lists more …

‘Stations Of A Mourner’S Cross’: Samuel Beckett, Killiney, 1954, Graley Herren

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Getting Graphic: Exploring The Inferential Thinking Skills That Are Required To Comprehend Graphic Novels, Angela Brauns

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which graphic novels require inferential thinking skills for comprehension in grades 3-8. The questions asked in this study were: 1. What aspects of content in graphic novel texts require inferential thinking for reader comprehension? 2. What aspects of mood or tone in graphic novel texts require inferential thinking for reader comprehension?

Behaviors And Perceptions Concerning Online Nutrition Information Among Young Adult Midwest University Students, Brenda Moeckly

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ideology In Popular Late Twentieth And Twenty-First Century Children's And Young Adult Literature And Film, Iris Grace Shepard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Texts created for the consumption of children and young adults are not simple texts made for the sole purpose of entertaining young audiences. In fact, these texts are complicated, multi-faceted texts that function both in the creation and performance of childhood. Children's and young adult literature and film disseminated mainstream ideology about young people's place in society and attempt to enculturate young readers and viewers in regards to race, gender, age, and Social class. However, by helping young people interact critically with these texts, critical thinking skills as well as a passion for reading can be fostered. In addition, by …

The Steward, The King, And The Queen: Fealty And Love In Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings And In Sir Orfeo, Sue Bridgwater

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Finds connections between The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s long professional engagement with the medieval romance Sir Orfeo. Orfeo’s plot elements of a king’s separation from his queen and his testing of his steward are echoed (albeit in a somewhat fragmented way) and re–examined in the relationships of Aragorn, Arwen, and the house of the Stewards of Gondor.

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

No abstract provided.

Charles Williams's Anti-Modernist Descent Into Hell, Lydia R. Browning

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Focuses on the theme of community versus isolation. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” is used as a key to understanding Lawrence Wentworth’s increasing withdrawal from reality and “the city” of his fellow human beings, in contrast with the workings of coinherence personified in the interactions of other characters.

The Wondrous Orientalism Of Lord Dunsany: Traditional And Non-Traditional Orientalist Narratives In The Book Of Wonder And Tales Of Wonder, Alyssa House-Thomas

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this study of Lord Dunsany’s “Oriental” fairy tales, House-Thomas divides Dunsany’s technique and aims into “traditional” Oriental tales, of the sort Edward Said describes in his theories of Western Orientalist art and literature, and non-traditional, post-modern tales in which Orientalism is turned upside-down and the West is turned into the Other. This paper won the Alexei Kondratiev Student Paper Award at the 2012 Mythcon in Berkeley.

Yggdrasil And The Stave Church, G. Ronald Murphy

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this excerpt from his book, Tree of Salvation, Murphy explores how those who introduced Christianity to Scandinavia deliberately adapted and “translated” Norse religious motifs and practices in two parallel ways—through literary works, especially as seen in the Heliand, but also through church art and architecture. In this illustrated essay, we can see how beliefs about Yggdrasil and Ragnarok are incorporated and transformed in the design and ornamentation of the unusual stave churches of Norway. Scholar GOH speech, Mythcon 2012.

The Inklings Remembered: A Conversation With Colin Havard, Justin T. Noetzel, Matthew R. Bardowell

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In late 2011, the authors met with Colin Havard, son of Inkling Dr. Robert E. “Humphrey” Havard and recorded his reminiscences about his father, his Catholic faith, his friendships with J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lewis brothers in particular, and the Inklings and practicing medicine in Oxford in general. As the lone Inkling from a scientific background, he brought a unique perspective to the group’s discussions.

Reciprocal Colonization In The Irish Fairy Tales Of Lord Dunsany, Erin L. Sheley

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Sheley’s interest is in how Dunsany’s inside–out Orientalist tales demonstrate or challenge theories of colonialism, anti–colonialism, and post–colonialism, delving into Dunsany’s history with W.B. Yeats and comparing his tales to Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.

Changing The Story: Transformations Of Myth In Yeat's Poem "Cuchulain's Fight With The Sea", Roxanne Bodsworth

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Examines not just how but why Yeats deviated from the original tales he mined for this material, shifting the focus and using the archetypal characters to demonstrate new themes and reinterpret traditional values.

Reviews, Emily E. Auger, Nicholas Birns, Sara Brown, Joe R. Christopher, Janet Brennan Croft, Holly Ordway, Harley Sims, Lizzy Walker, Kayla Mckinney Wiggins, Donald T. Williams, Joseph Young

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Peter Pan's Shadows in the Literary Imagination. Kirsten Stirling. Reviewed by Kayla McKinney Wiggins.

C.S. Lewis and the Church: Essays in Honour of Walter Hooper. Ed. Judith Wolfe and B.N. Wolfe. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher.

Deadly Powers: Animal Predators and the Mythic Imagination. Paul A. Trout. Reviewed by Lizzy Walker.

The Mythological Dimensions of Neil Gaiman. Anthony S. Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen, eds. Reviewed by Nicholas Birns.

Animals and Humans: Recurrent Symbiosis in Archaeology and Old Norse Religion. Kristina Jennbert. Reviewed by Emily E. Auger.

Tolkien in Translation. Edited by Thomas Honegger. Reviewed by Harley J. Sims. …

Grief Poignant As Joy: Dyscatastrophe And Eucatastrophe In A Song Of Ice And Fire, Susan Johnston

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Argues that though the series is incomplete at present, J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of eucatastrophe and its dark twin, dyscatastrophe, can illuminate what Martin may be trying to accomplish in this bleak and bloody series and provide the reader with a way to understand its value and potential.