LITR 306: Children's Literature (CRN 95)
MWF 8:00-8:50, SCHU 109

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Assignments

For this class you will be assessed in 5 ways: Blackboard postings, a sustainability essay, a group presentation and paper, participation, and a final exam. All written assignments must be typed, and all need to be in MLA format.

Blackboard Posting and Miscellaneous (20%): During the course, you will be required to post 10 responses to the readings and group presentations to Blackboard discussion boards. For each post (see the syllabus for the specific deadlines), you will submit a post to the designated discussion board (labeled by the name of the main book or genre being discussed or the Presentations board). You have several options for your posts: 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 this and other classes. For picture books, you can talk about the role of the images in the meaning of the story. You are welcome to compare the book to others we’ve read (or to others with which you are familiar). Do not summarize plot or discuss pedagogical issues. You may also choose to respond to something discussed in class, but if you do so, you need to contribute something new to that discussion, not just rehash what was said in class. For the presentation response post (due 2 May), you should offer comments about at least one group presentation. Though you may critique presentations as well as offer positive comments, you should not do so in a rude or dismissive manner—give constructive feedback. Your responses to the presentations should be specific.

I’m looking for a solid paragraph or two of concrete, specific analysis, and I encourage you to reference specific passages in the texts in your analyses. Choose only a single aspect of the text to discuss or your post will be too broad. 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 10: 0 = no post; 1-5 = E; 6 = D; 7 = C; 8 = B; 9-10 = 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. Grades for the posts will be available on Blackboard, and I will drop the lowest post grade. 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 Blackboard 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.

Sustainability Essay (20%): For this assignment, you will choose one of the novels we read during the sustainability unit (Seedfolks, The Secret Garden, Out of the Dust, Watership Down), a book discussed during class, or another children’s or YA book (subject to my approval), and you will write an essay in which you analyze an aspect of sustainability in the book. I recommend you choose a piece of fiction rather than non-fiction. The essay must incorporate several elements:

• You will need to begin the essay by establishing a definition of sustainability as it pertains to the focus of your book. Does sustainability refer to the environment? The food supply? A way of life? An economy? A combination of elements? Establish the way in which you are using the term sustainability in your analysis before you start analyzing. This section of the paper will probably be your first one or two paragraphs, and the end of this section should contain your thesis statement.
• Using specific passages from the book, demonstrate how the sustainability is presented. Is it a warning of what could happen if certain events transpire? Does it demonstrate how unsustainable practices lead to problem? Does it show the benefits of creating a sustainable environment?
• This is an argumentative essay, which means you will need to use textual examples to support your claims. You are not required to do additional research, though you may wish to do so. You may use the articles discussed in class in your essay.
• Include a Works Cited page at the end of the paper listing your book and any secondary sources you’re using. It should be in MLA format unless you clear a different format with me ahead of time.

The paper should be 4-6 pages long and is due by 5 on Friday March 4. You may submit the paper in hard copy or electronically.

Group Presentation and Handout (25%): For this assignment, you will work with 1 or 2 others. Though I would prefer you to work in a group, you may request to work by yourself. 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:

• An MLA heading and header;
• The name of your genre as the title of the handout;
• A definition of the genre, including themes/issues/ideas in it and specific examples to support the definition (3-4 paragraphs minimum);
• An annotated list of the books each member of the group read (see specifics below);
• A list of at least 10 additional books that fit your topic (any combination of picture books and chapter books);
• An annotated list of 5 secondary sources related to your topic.*

This handout must be posted as an attachment to Presentations discussion board before your presentation (post it as a Rich Text Format, a Microsoft Word document, or a PDF). You must also give me a hard copy of the handout in class 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 or other type of 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 2 additional books, chapter or picture, that fit the genre. Each book read must be annotated for the handout (a group of 3 would have 7 annotations). Your annotations of the children’s literature should include 1) a summary of the 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 Friday, 5 Feb, though you may have until 15 Feb to choose your genre (see my website for possible topics). The genres of environmental/sustainability literature and utopian/dystopian fiction are not allowed as we are covering them in depth in class. There may be no overlap of genre, so have a couple of options in mind when you sign up in case someone else selects your first choice. Also note that students who took my LITR 237: Fantasy course must choose a different topic to present on than the one used in that class. Presentations will begin on Friday, 22 April.

*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.

Participation (15%): Discussions will form a heavy part of this course, and I expect everyone to be an active and engaged participant. You will be graded, starting on 25 Jan, on how often and well you participate in class discussions, both full class and small group. The grading will be calculated on a 5-point scale each day as follows:

• 5 points: You were on time for class and participated several times and/or offered an exceptional observation/query.
• 4 points: You were on time for class and participated once, or you were late for class and participated several times and/or offered an exceptional observation/query. If you have an excused absence, you will earn 4 points for the day.
• 3 points: You were on time for class but did not participate, or you were late for class and participated once.
• 2 points: You were late for class and did not participate.
• 0 points: You were absent.

I do not assign 1 point for this grade. I will update you on your participation average several times during the semester, and you may send me a query about your average any time.

Final Exam (20%):  Your final exam will be an essay response to a prompt that I give on the day of the final. You will be synthesizing the materials that we’ve covered in class throughout the semester and should be prepared to write about 10 of the 13 children’s texts we’ve read in class as well as 1 of the books you read for you presentation, a total of 11 books (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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