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Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Children's and Young Adult Literature
Sacrificial Bodies And Hegemonic Femininity: The Creation Of The Heroine In The Twilight, The Hunger Games, & Divergent Series, Tiffany R. Boyles
Sacrificial Bodies And Hegemonic Femininity: The Creation Of The Heroine In The Twilight, The Hunger Games, & Divergent Series, Tiffany R. Boyles
Senior Theses
Within this thesis, I analyze The Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games Trilogy, and The Divergent Trilogy and how the portrayal and treatment of the protagonists’ bodies within these texts uphold tenets of white, hegemonic femininity. I discuss first how their bodies are feminized, in part by their whiteness and smallness, but also through the comparison to the bodies of male characters. While the men are strong and physically capable, the protagonists are weak and physically incapable. As a result, the protagonists cannot act in the way a traditional hero might, using offensive action for self-preservation. Instead, the protagonists …
Children's Literature As A Catalyst For Social Change, Lyndsey Reynolds
Children's Literature As A Catalyst For Social Change, Lyndsey Reynolds
Senior Theses
This thesis is the amalgamation of a creative writing project and an exploration of the ways that children’s literature influences and draws from social justice causes. It started after reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and realizing that children’s books are not as simple as I remember them being. This book inspired me to consider the power of children’s literature to push young readers to be aware of and thoughtfully engaged with political, social and cultural conversations. The first phase of my thesis was exploring the relationship between social justice and children’s books by reading scholarly materials. In these …
Teach Your Children White?, Katelyn Johnson
Teach Your Children White?, Katelyn Johnson
Senior Theses
Through exploration of early childhood literature - focused on those intended as read aloud and including illustrations – this thesis will investigate the impact and influence of cultural and racial diversity and representation in books on the development of a child’s identity as well as broader world view. The thesis will also research the histories of cultural diversity and representation in children’s literature. The research parameters for this project are focused on Marin County and will include: access to culturally diverse literature in public libraries throughout the county; library procurement policies and the impact on cultural diversity within the collection; …
Mother's Bed: Gender Representation In Children's Literature, Karin Hanni
Mother's Bed: Gender Representation In Children's Literature, Karin Hanni
Senior Theses
This children's book and accompanying research paper both address gender inequity in children's literature. There is a significant imbalance of gender representation in children's literature, with the number of central male characters almost doubling that of central female characters. Additionally, the roles of males and females still tend to be stereotypical: boys are action-oriented and heroic, while girls are nurturing and passive. Further, it is believed that boys will only enjoy books about boys, while girls will enjoy books about both boys and girls. This imbalance in children's literature hurts both genders. Children not only learn to read from books, …