Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons^™

Engaging The Religious Dimension In Significant Adolescent Literature, Rickey Cotton

Selected Faculty Publications

This article discusses the religious dimension in contemporary adolescent novels of recognized merit. It notes psychological and sociological studies indicating that religion is a significant factor in the actual lives of both adults and adolescents and observes that consequently it can be expected that quality literature will reflect this reality. A functional definition of religion was used to address the practical and varied ways religious or religious-like dynamics are engaged by adolescent characters. Religion was defined as whatever individuals do to come to grips with profound existential issues—questions dealing with ultimate issues. An examination of works by three major writers …

A Comparison Of The Portrayal Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Contemporary Fantasy Fiction, Donna Gwinnup

Graduate Research Papers

Writing and publishing literature for children and young adults has become a rhizomorphic entity. There are thousands of books published each year. When you compare that to the little over two hundred stories Perrault and the Grimm brothers recorded you can see how the market has substantially grown. With the use of literature as a teaching tool it is imperative we keep a close watch on trends. This study was designed to look at the changes from fairy tales to contemporary fiction in order to ascertain what changes have taken place in three particular areas: has the gender of the …

Harry Potter: An Archetypal Hero's Journey In Four Books, Caitlin Cp Burrows

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

All stories told in myths, be they Greek, Norse or Celt, are retellings of the same small number of stories, just in different languages and different settings. Joseph Campbell, one of the foremost mythology scholars in the 20th century establishes the archetypal ‘monomyth’ of the hero in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. According to Campbell, the ‘archetypal myths’ are, to name three, the Creation Myth, the Virgin Birth and the Hero’s Journey. The stories I will be focusing on is the archetypal hero’s story, in the version told by J.K. Rowling in her series of books, …

The Female Image In The Caldecott Medal Award Books, Patricia Lee Brighton Roberts

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

PROBLEM: Millions of children read and view the Caldecott Winners each year There are no published studies regarding the possible stereo-typing of the role of the human, animal and inanimate female image in the texts and illustrations of these 37 books.

Purpose: The. investigation ·was conducted to determine the extent the total population of the Caldecott books did stereo-type the role of the human, animal and inanimate female image.

Procedures: The investigation was completed in four steps: (1) First, a panel of sociologists determined the content validity of the definitions used in the hypothesis; (2) Second, a Content Analysis Form …

The Cat Who Went To Heaven, Elizabeth Coatsworth, Lynd Ward

Zea E-Books in American Studies

Winner of the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1931, this novel is the story of a struggling Japanese artist and his housekeeper who adopt a three-colored cat and how that affects their lives and fortunes. Commissioned to make a painting of the death of Buddha to be hung in the village temple, the artist imagines the various animals whose forms had been taken in the Buddha’s past lives and the generous deeds they had done, as the cat—auspiciously named “Good Fortune”—looks on with hopes to be included. Could a cat, from a species usually so proud …