Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

“There Must Always Be A Thor”: Disruption Of Super Heroic Masculinities In Marvel’S Thor: The Goddess Of Thunder (2014), Kiera M. Gaswint

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies

As the popularity of the superhero film genre continues to grow, more attention is being drawn towards the genre as a way to enter cultural conversations regarding representations in popular culture of gender, sexuality, race, and class, among other things. This popularity of the genre among differing age ranges and demographics calls for an investigation and analysis of the comic book genre, superheroes, and representation. Given the popularity of this genre, I plan to argue that Thor: The Goddess of Thunder (2014) offers a unique reading of gender constructs and masculinity.

Whereas characters come and go within their respective universes …

Deconstructing Native American Stereotypes Through The Reading Of Contemporary Multicultural Literature, Morgan Mcdougall

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies

This project will look specifically at the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Some of the questions to be addressed throughout the project include: what does it mean to be the “Other,” how can minority multicultural literature be used to help students deconstruct racial stereotypes, and what are the systems in place that have formed the division between “us” and the “other?” I will begin with a historical account of interactions with Native Americans within the United States, beginning with initial encounters and moving up to modern times. Providing this historical information will help …

The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2018 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee

The Center for Children's Literature

Includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2017. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.

Maiden Voyage (A Novel), Kyra Bauske

English

Maiden Voyage is an adventure story. It didn’t start out that way, but that’s what it has become. The story follows a young woman who stumbles onto her father’s secrets. Alexandra feels trapped in an 18th century English settlement on Nassau. Under her father’s protection, Alexandra is expected to marry and remain on the island. When she discovers a letter in her father’s office naming her as an “asset” she finds herself asking who her father really is. Who is the business associate who comes every month? Why does he really want her married to Lord Dewhurst? When her best …

Representation Of The Titanic In Children’S Literature, Charity Huwe

2018 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity – Documents

Abstract

The sailing of the Titanic and its shocking demise intrigue readers to research more information. Written in young adult literature through various viewpoints, the Titanic’s story has a natural inquiry base due to its uncertainty. Trade books in the elementary classroom are increasing in use due to the state and national initiatives encouragement in using diverse texts. By using these texts, teachers allow students to analyze the various representations given to the Titanic’s history. In the subsequent sections, I review history-based curricula and historical significance of the Titanic. The methods of implementation are projected to inform teachers about the …

The Wolf Is Back By Robert Priest, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Robert Priest's The Wolf is Back.

The Ethical Benefits And Challenges Of Biofiction For Children, Michael Lackey

English Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Independence Cake By Deborah Hopkinson And Giselle Potter, Raeann Christine Jent

Library Intern Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away And Learned His Abc's The Hard Way By Patrick Mcdonnell, Raeann Christine Jent

Library Intern Book Reviews

No abstract provided.

The Pedagogy Of Intertextuality, Genre, And Adaptation: Young Adult Literary Adaptations In The Classroom, Brooke L. Poeschl

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Empire Of The Imagination: Imperialism And The Child Reader Of Victorian And Neo-Victorian Children's Literature, Megan Hicks

Master’s Theses

My thesis explores the depiction of the British Empire in Victorian and Neo-Victorian children’s fiction. Though scholars may expect to find simplistic imperial triumphalism in texts written in the late Victorian period and incisive critiques of empire in contemporary texts, my work demonstrates that the ideology of empire is much more contradictory, unstable, and incohesive than one might assume. By looking at the instability of imperial ideology through the lens of children’s fiction, I examine the ways in which that ideology is contested in the text rather than a stable site of ideological transference from adult to child. Thus, my …

Et Cetera, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

An Exploration Of Representations Of Race And Ethnicity In Three Transitional Series For Young Children, Sonia M. Balkaran

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis seeks to explore the related research literature surrounding representations and portrayals of protagonists of various multicultural backgrounds in series or transitional books. As teachers, it is essential to acknowledge the lack of multicultural characters in children's literature among elementary classroom bookshelves and learn how to incorporate literature featuring strong main characters of varying races and ethnicities so that children can see role models who mirror their own contexts. Prior studies, such as Gangi (2008) and Green and Hopenwasser (2017) have examined the deficiency of multicultural literature in the classroom, particularly among transitional stories, which shows the importance of …

Romantic Relationships In Mental Illness Young Adult (Ya) Novels, Indigo Dacosta

Summer Research

In John Green’s 2017 novel Turtles All The Way Down, the protagonist muses, “illness is a story told in the past tense” (85). There is truth to the character’s statement—many illness narratives, both fiction and nonfiction, follow an archetype that positions illness as something that characters can overcome and put behind them, even when the illness is chronic. This project focuses on young adult (YA) novels about mental illness through the lens of romantic relationships and how these relationships disrupt this archetype. This study includes the following six books:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
• It’s …

Using Dystopian Texts To Promote Social Responsibility In The Composition Classroom, Melissa Ames

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Since the Colonial period, educational institutions in the United Stateshave been tasked with developing character as well as academic skill. Whilein earlier epochs such character education would have been explicitly tied tomorality as defined within Christian contexts, today's character educationtakes on a more secular form, focusing on developing skills related to socialresponsibility. By definition, social responsibility is "a personal investmentin the well-being of people and the planet" (Berman 15). Despite the fact thatmany feel that public schools and universities are ideal sites for this type oftraining, research has found that instructors are often reluctant to discusscontroversial issues within their classrooms …

Girls’ Voices Of The Eighteenth Century: The Development Of A Genre For Young Female Readers, 1740-1800, Sarah Rangaratnam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Just as they do today, adolescent girls functioned as a cultural force in the eighteenth century, and it was commercially viable for authors and publishers to attract and sustain the attention of these teenaged readers. Girls’ Voices of the Eighteenth Century: The Development of a Genre for Young Female Readers, 1740-1800, examines how four female authors leveraged elements of fairy tales, romances and gothic fiction, and developed dialogue and humour in their texts, to reflect the interests and literary awareness of their target audience of adolescent girls. My study begins with an investigation of the legacy of early French fairy …

Why Katniss Everdeen Is Our Favorite Feminist – An Analysis Of The Heroine Of The Hunger Games Film Saga And Her Reception By Young Female Spectators, Paula Talero Álvarez

Theses and Dissertations

THROUGH THE FIGURE OF FICTIONAL CHARACTER KATNISS EVERDEEN, THIS DISSERTATION STUDIES HOW THE FILM INDUSTRY SIMULTANEOUSLY ENTRENCHES AND DISRUPTS GENDER, SEXUAL, AND RACIAL NORMATIVITIES. THE PROJECT USES TEXTUAL ANALYSIS AND PARTICIPANT RESEARCH TO ANALYZE HOW THE FILMS AND NOVELS OF THE HUNGER GAMES SAGA ENCAPSULATE BOTH DOMINANT AND ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS RELATED TO FEMININITY, MASCULINITY, WOMANHOOD, AND MOTHERHOOD. IT ALSO EXPLORES IF AND HOW THE FEMALE HEROINE CAN BE READ AS FEMINIST AND PRODUCES A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT. I CONCLUDE THAT ALTHOUGH THE INDUSTRY IS PRODUCING NEW MODELS OF WOMANHOOD THAT CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL GENDER ROLES, IT STILL PERPETUATES ROMANTIC IDEALS AND …

Sculpted From Clay, Shaped By Power: Feminine Narrative And Agency In Wonder Woman, Mikala Carpenter

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

By applying deconstructive and feminist theories to the Wonder Woman saga, this thesis develops a potential definition of feminine narrative in contrast to the normative and exclusionary patriarchal narrative that reigns supreme in popular culture and Western ideology. Though much of comics discourse functions on the assumption that superhero narratives are homogenous reflections of this ideological hero narrative, I posit that the Amazonian princess's resilience and iconicity stem from her own narrative's uniquely deconstructive nature: Where the patriarchal story would demand dominance, destruction, and violence, the feminine narrative that Diana models advocates for equality, nurturance, and emotional and rational communication. …

Hansel And Gretel On The Page And Stage: Literary And Operatic Adaptations Of Grimm’S Fairy-Tale, Meilin Wei

Senior Projects Fall 2018

This project focuses on Brothers Grimm's fairy-tale "Hansel and Gretel," taking the original story, its musical arrangements, and its contemporary adaptations into consideration.

Three Cheers For "Freaks", Misfits And Immigrants: About Inclusiveness In Children's Books, Don Bosco

Social Space

Since 2011, I have been writing and publishing books for children though my start-up, Super Cool Books. We began with making book prototypes and story products for reluctant readers, and eventually published serialised fiction in collaboration with much more established publishing partners. The modest business growth over these years has brought many challenges. As our titles continue to reach a wider audience, it has been a practical lesson in practising inclusiveness in an active and authentic way. This is a significant creative challenge that always keeps me motivated and inspired in fresh and surprising ways.