Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Notes Of An Inklings Scholar: Musings On Myth And History, Promises And Secrecy, Ethical Reviewing, And The Limits Of Authorial Intent, David Bratman

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

Five mini-essays proposing hypotheses on topics in J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis scholarship.

1. The Expansion and Contraction of Tolkien's Imagination: how and why his burgeoning sub-creation began to contract and systematize in his later years.

2. A Hobbit in the Legendarium: Tolkien's original conception of the relationship between The Hobbit and The Silmarillion may have been to have Bilbo visiting a land of fable.

3. Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moore: Lewis's devotion to Mrs. Moore may have been a sense of metaphysical and spiritual obligation.

4. But did he ever read the book?: How Edmund Wilson …

Editorial, Janet Brennan Croft

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

No abstract provided.

Young Adult And Canonical Literature Instruction In The High School Classroom: Assessing Students’ Reading Interest, Alexis Yang

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

In the high school English classroom, classic novels are taught as cornerstones of the curriculum. Although these canonical works such as To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) are revered for their literary merit, students often find them boring and skim through the readings or decline to read altogether. Young adult literature (YAL), a genre written for teens, may be an effective genre to teach in high school to boost students’ reading interest. This study aims to determine how teaching young adult literature in the high school classroom, as opposed to canonical works, might affect …

Coded: Dialect Diversity In The Secondary American Classroom, Madeline Dunn

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the differences between dialects along racial, cultural, and ethnic lines with a specific focus on Black and Latine students inside the public secondary classrooms of America. The focus of the paper is on two linguistic tactics: “code-switching,” a linguistic practice which teaches students to separate their home language from the language they use in formal or professional settings, and “code-meshing,” a linguistic practice to teach students how to mesh together multiple dialects with which a student is familiar. Through the creation of a historical framework and an analysis of existing literature, theory, and pedagogical practices regarding the …

“Nothing To Do But Be Borne And Steered”: Unpacking Feminist Scripts In Elana Arnold’S Damsel, Jenna Spiering, Nicole Ann Amato

Faculty Publications

Feminism in novels marketed for young adults often reflects the values of a popular feminism that relies on individual and personal means of empowerment, rather than critiquing or seeking to dismantle systems of domination. In this paper, we illumminate frameworks and methods for engaging students in careful readings and evaluations of texts marketed as feminist, through an analysis of Elana Arnold’s feminist fairy tale, Damsel (2018). Drawing on theoretical frameworks of popular feminism, feral feminism, and theories of becoming, the authors use Critical Content Anlaysis to explore several tenets in contemporary feminist thought in order to analyze Arnold’s text and …

Awdry V. British Rail: The Politicization Of Thomas The Tank Engine, Matthew J. Bea

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

“Tolkien And The Art Of The Manuscript.” Exhibition, Haggerty Museum Of Art (Milwaukee, Wi). Reviewed By David Emerson., David Emerson

Mythprint Book Reviews

Mythprint is the quarterly bulletin of the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit educational organization devoted to the study, discussion, and enjoyment of myth and fantasy literature, especially the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. To promote these interests, the Society publishes three magazines, maintains a World Wide Web site, and sponsors the annual Mythopoeic Conference and awards for fiction and scholarship, as well as local discussion groups.

Mythcon 52 - The Mythic, The Fantastic, And The Alien, The Mythopoeic Society

Mythcon Programs

To work toward being stewards of a more sustainable world, the Mythcon 52 Organizing Committee has chosen to promote digital materials and print only a few hard copy versions of our program book that will be for sale during the conference. Paper, ink, printing press machinery, and other resources involved in producing materials we can hold in our hands damage the world around us. As much as we love physical items for their representations of experiences, our Mythcon 52 organizers think many of the authors we love and admire would appreciate our desire to reduce our environmental impact on the …

0879: Sarah And William Denman Collection, 1933-2013, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Sarah Denman served as the provost and senior vice president of academic affairs for Marshall University. She worked with the university for 33 years, starting her career with the Marshall in 1975. Dr. Denman played a major role in various projects including the merger of the West Virginia Graduate College in the Charleston area as a part of Marshall, development of the Marshall Community and Technical college, and worked with State Senator Robert Plymale to start an new engineering program at Marshall, as well as many other projects that broadened Marshall’s available programs, it’s national accreditation, and the recognition of …

“Strange Faces, Other Minds” Tennyson’S Idylls Of The King And The Alien Other, Rebecca A. Umland

Mythcon

Encounters with the alien other commonly conjure images from science fiction film and literature—advanced spacecraft, alien species in human form from remote places of the galaxy, or in alternate places either in the subterranean realms or on the planet Earth. Varied as they are, a ubiquitous quality of strangeness accompanies these encounters, from those in nineteenth-century writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, through early 20th-century Lovecraft narratives, and in contemporary fiction and film. A writer who may not come immediately to mind is Alfred Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of England from 1850 until his death in 1892. …

Aliens And Others In The Inklings, David Bratman, Janet Brennan Croft, Robin Anne Reid, John Rosegrant

Mythcon

David Bratman, Janet Brennan Croft, Robin Reid, and John Rosegrant discuss the alien and the Other in the works of the Inklings, with time for audience conversation.

Reading By Jo Walton, Jo Walton

Mythcon

Award-winning author and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award finalist Jo Walton will read from her works and answer questions from the audience.

Common Elements In Ya Mythic Portal Fantasies, Sultana Raza

Mythcon

While Tolkien was inspired by Norse and Anglo-Saxon myths, he incorporated certain plot structures from Greco- Roman myths in Beren and Lúthien and Fall of Gondolin. Contemporary authors continue to be inspired by myths as well. This paper will explore mythic YA fantasy, and common elements mainly in the works of Rick Riordan, Michael Scott, Eoin Colfer, and Cassandra Clare, all of whom use portals to enable their main characters to enter parallel universes. Riordan often uses museums/artefacts as portals to fantastical dimensions. His Percy Jackson series, the Heroes of Olympus series, and the Kane Chronicles are well-researched, while the …

Et Phone Camelot: Alien Life Forms In Arthurian Fiction, Michael Torregrossa

Mythcon

As a living tradition, the Matter of Britain displays a voracious appetite as it grows over the centuries, absorbing characters, legends, motifs, stories, and even genres to create new Arthurian narratives. Science fiction is one genre that has recently found a place within the Arthurian tradition. Inspired by Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, tales abound of time travelers journeying to Arthur’s realm, but a smaller, less well-known subset of Arthurianthemed science fiction brings various extraterrestrial creatures to Camelot. Sometimes, these beings are hostile, but, more often, they try to make the realm a better place. Most …

New Mexico Speculative Fiction Authors, Leslie Donovan, David Bratman, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, Grace Moon, Rivera Sun, Joseph Young

Mythcon

New Mexico is not only a place of many enchanting sunsets and landscapes, but also home to many authors of speculative fiction. Join us in this roundtable as we discuss and introduce a few works of fantasy and science fiction by New Mexico-linked writers that our roundtable members have found particularly interesting, enjoyable, or mythopoeic. Just a few New Mexico speculative fiction writers you may have heard of are Roger Zelazny, George R. R. Martin, Diana Gabaldon, Suzy McKee Charnas, James S. A. Corey, Stephen R. Donaldson, Rebecca Roanhorse, Daniel Abraham, Fred Saberhagen, Walter Jon Williams, Melinda Snodgrass, S. M. …

“Crossings In Mist”: Kantian Transformations In The Lathe Of Heaven, Daniel Viorica

Mythcon

A theme for this year’s Mythcon is ‘The Alien’; there is perhaps nothing more alien to contemporary science fiction and fantasy discourse than Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant. He represents much of what today’s fantasy, especially under the influence of Ursula K. Le Guin, opposes: a human-privileged universe predicated on rational control. But I argue that a Kantian reading of a scene in Le Guin’s novel The Lathe of Heaven can in fact enrich our understanding of Le Guin’s noted Taoist themes of action and inaction, complicating the preexisting scholarly consensus that the novel provides a straightforward critique of Western culture. …

The Environmental Bioethics Of Space Travel: ‘Alien’ Bodies In C. S. Lewis’ Cosmic Trilogy, Journee Cotton

Mythcon

C. S. Lewis lived through numerous significant historic events. Notably, he was alive during the space race and spoke to the potential philosophical and ethical dilemmas that may arise through space travel, especially concerning contact with ‘alien’ life. While the idea may be found in other parts of his oeuvre, Lewis explicitly considers space travel and contact with aliens in The Cosmic Trilogy. His texts offer unique perspectives on space travel that is not centric to the earth-born ‘human,’ rather it notes man’s destructive attitudes towards progress and the potential harms man may enact on other sentient beings and environments …

“Let’S Start With The End Of The World, Why Don’T We?” The Disorienting Phenomenology Of N. K. Jemisin’S The Stone Sky, Robin Anne Reid

Mythcon

N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy made history: each novel won the Best Hugo for Novel (2016-2017-2018). Jemisin is not only the First person to win the novel award three years running, but also the First Black person and the First woman of color to win the novel award. Sony Entertainment purchased the series for adaptation in 2018 (Fleming), and Jemisin will be adapting her series for Film. The Fifth Season has an epic structure (beginning in media res, a quest, world-changing events and characters, and supernatural forces). Given the conventions of the epic genre, my interest in this …

Mythcon Memories, Lynne Maudlin, David Bratman, Lee Speth

Mythcon

Come hear long-time Mythies Lee Speth, David Bratman, and Lynn Maudlin talk about 50+ years of Mythcons past, conference memories (and hijinks!) from a pre-pandemic world.

Writing Mythopoeia For Social Justice, Rivera Sun

Mythcon

From the Binti Trilogy to Broken Earth to Fifth Sacred Thing to some of the solutionary cli-fi short stories, contemporary writers have provided many powerful examples for exploring issues of social justice. In this workshop, our Author Guest of Honor will use writing prompts and activities to lead attendees to explore how mythopoeic writing can change how we think about our world and others around us in powerful and positive ways. Whether you are a writer yourself or a reader eager to encourage better futures for us all, join us in this fun and interactive workshop.