LITR 394: Special Topics in Literature: Children's Literature (CRN 874)
MWF 1:00-1:50, HIRC 6

Home -- Policy Statement -- Syllabus -- Assignments -- Essay Option A -- Essay Option B -- Group Presentation Topics -- Angel -- Research Links

Assignments

For this class you have 4 assignments: Angel postings, an essay, a group presentation and paper, and a final exam. All written assignments must be typed, and all need to be in MLA format. Each assignment is worth 25% of your final grade.

Angel Posting and Miscellaneous: For 10 of the 12 weeks that assigned readings are due, you will be required to post a response to the reading to the Angel discussion board bearing the name of the text. The posts will be due by noon the day after the class’s first discussion of the text—generally a Tuesday (you may post earlier). You have several options for your posts: you may respond to something that was discussed in class; you may respond to a question/comment posted in the instructions for the discussion board; you may respond to a classmate’s comments; you may come up with your own topic of discussion. Some things to consider discussing about all of the books include character analyses, thematic elements, imagery/symbolism, and other aspects of literary analysis that you have learned in other classes. You are welcome to compare the book to others we’ve read (or to others with which you are familiar). You are not to summarize plot or discuss pedagogical issues (I have created a separate discussion board, ungraded, for pedagogy discussions).

I’m looking for a solid paragraph or two of concrete, specific analysis, and I encourage you to reference specific passages in the text in your analyses. Use standard academic English (i.e. no emoticons or internet/chat abbreviations) in your posts. Posts will be graded on a scale of 0 to 5: 0 = no post; 1 = minimal post, unacceptable (E); 2 = off topic, poor post (D); 3 = unspecific, general post (C); 4 = solid post, fairly specific and solid (B); 5 = exceptional post, original and very specific (A). Flaming posts will earn you an automatic 0 for the post, and a second occurrence of flaming will earn you a 0 for the remainder of this portion of your grade. Note that you may post more than once, and I will reopen the board for continued discussion once I have graded the posts.  Though you are only required to post to 10 of the 12 reading boards, if you post to more than 10, you may earn extra credit. Grades for the posts will be available on the Angel. The grammar and mechanics policy will not be applied to the posts; however, excessive errors will have an adverse effect on your post’s grade.

In addition to the Angel posting, I may occasionally assign additional writings or give quizzes if I am dissatisfied with the quality of your discussions. These additional works will count as part of this component of your final grade.

Essay: For this assignment, you will write a 4-7 page essay in which you do one of two things:

  1. Option A: You may choose a picture book and write an analysis of the book. You will be required to discuss how the art and the text (if there is text) merge to create meaning in the book. Possible avenues of discussion include analyzing how the type of art underscores the theme of the book; how colors used define character and /or mood in the book; how the imagery juxtaposes with the content (changing/challenging the literal meaning of the book). There are many books you can choose for this topic (see list of suggestions on my website). If you’re not sure if the book you’re thinking of will work or if you want a suggestion, see me. Our library has a large collection of books to choose from. Try to avoid the Golden Books, Disney books, and other cartoon/popular character-based books. You may use a non-fiction book for this topic.
  2. Option B: You may read a children’s book and watch a film version of it (at least 60 minutes long) and discuss how the film acts to shape the interpretation of the book. Things to consider for this topic include how scenes/characters cut from a text affect the outcome/meaning; how casting affects characterization; how the scenery affects meaning; what theme or image the director emphasized compared to the text. You’re not making a judgment about the film in the paper; instead, you’re discussing the transition from text to film and its effect on the interpretation of the text. You may choose any children’s text that has been made into a film except those we read in class (see my website for a list of suggestion). It may be difficult to procure copies the film you want, so start looking early. See me if you’re not sure if your topic will work.

No matter which of the topics you choose, you will need to give specific, concrete examples to support the argument you’re making. Bring in passages from the text (or film). For chapter books, cite pages numbers of passages; for picture books, you will not need to cite page numbers unless the book supplies them for you. List the book (and film, if you do option B) on a Works Cited page. The grammar and mechanics policy will be enforced for this paper, so proofread and edit carefully. The essay is due on Friday, 15 Feb, by 5 in my office. I will accept e-mail submissions as attachments in Rich Text Format or in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx). If you choose to submit your paper by e-mail, check to make sure that I have sent a response indicating I received the paper (I always send a reply).

Group Presentation and Handout: For this assignment, you will work with 2 or 3 others (ideally I’d like groups of 3, but 4 are acceptable). You will choose a genre of children’s literature and make a 15-20  minute (25 max) presentation about the topic in which you explain, using specific examples from the books and research that you’ve read, what the genre is—elements that it must contain, common but not required elements, elements frequently mistaken as part of the genre. As part of the presentation, you may choose to read a picture book to the class and analyze it to help explain your genre, but you may not use up the whole presentation doing this. You will also create a handout that contains the following information:

This handout must be posted as an attachment to Presentation Files and Responses discussion board before your presentation (post it in Rich Text Format or as a Microsoft Word document). You must also give me a copy of the handout on the day of your presentation. Optionally, you may make copies for the class as well, though you are not required to do so. Plan to project your handout (or a version of it—you may create a PowerPoint presentation) for the class using the computer station. The handout may be single spaced.

Each group will have a focal text that everyone in the group must read (it can be either a picture book or a chapter book/novel). In addition, each group member must read 1 picture book and 1 chapter book/novel that fits the genre. Each book read must be annotated for the handout (a group of 3 would have 7 annotations; a group of 4, 9 annotations). Your annotations of the children’s literature should include 1) a summary of the picture or chapter book, 2) a brief explanation of how it fits the genre, 3) the reading or grade level (usually listed on the book), and 4) a list of awards the book has won, if any. The annotations of the secondary sources should contain a brief summary (no more than 3 sentences) and an explanation of how they connect to the genre you’re defining. If one of the books from class fits your genre, you may use it as one of the books you annotate (I recommend it be the focal text). You may not choose more than one book from the same series for annotating, though you may list others from the series in the additional books list.

Your goal for the presentation is to clearly and specifically articulate a definition of your chosen genre. You will need to mention specific examples from the books you have read. Your secondary sources should help you to make your definition, though you should not rely on those sources for the full definition. Talk about some of the similarities and differences between books in the genre. What makes them all fit in the genre? Where do they differ from each other? Do the books for younger readers differ significantly from those for older readers in the genre? For those groups working with multicultural/underrepresented genres, think about who is entitled to create books in the genre (i.e. do authors have to be part of the group). Your presentation should not be a recitation of all the books that you’ve read; rather, it’s a chance for you to show how the books in your genre belong there, to define the genre. You will also want to consider the dividing lines—what would a text that is close to the genre but not part of it look like?

Sign up for the group presentation is 25 Jan, though you may have until 1 Feb to choose your genre (see my website for possible topics). There may be no overlap of genre, so have a couple of options in mind when you sign up in case someone else chooses your first choice. Presentations will begin on Friday, 29 Feb, and will continue each Friday until the end of the semester.

*Only one secondary source may be a web site (and it may not be Wikipedia), and only one may be from a children’s literature textbook. The remaining sources must be journal articles and/or critical books about your topic. For this secondary research, you may need to interlibrary loan materials, so get started early. I don't want to hear the day before you present that you can't get any materials. If you have questions about finding secondary sources (or any other sources for that matter), see me.

Final Exam:  Your final exam will be an essay response to a prompt that I give on the day of the final (Mon, 12 May, 11:00-1:30). You will be synthesizing the materials that we’ve covered in class throughout the semester and should be prepared to write about 8 of the 13 novels we’ve read in class as well as about 1 of the books you read for you presentation (you will, of course, be welcome to write about more than those). The exam will be open note and open book. We will discuss the parameters of the final exam more at the end of the semester.

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