POLLYANNA
LISTEN TO THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND GIVE AS MANY DETAILS AS YOU CAN AFTERWARDS ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF POLLYANNA
The Dark Side of Constant Optimism - "Pollyanna syndrome" can make facing reality more painful
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE SONG?
WHY DOES AUNT POLLY FEEL PUZZLED BY POLLYANNA’S QUESTION?
WHAT TRAITS STRIKE YOU AT ANNE?
CAN YOU DRAW A PARALLEL BETWEEN POLLYANNA AND ANNE?
Read the following quotes from Pollyanna and discuss them with your colleagues
“WHAT MEN AND WOMEN NEED IS ENCOURAGEMENT. THEIR NATURAL RESISTING POWERS SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED, NOT WEAKENED ... INSTEAD OF ALWAYS HARPING ON A MAN'S FAULTS, TELL HIM OF HIS VIRTUES. TRY TO PULL HIM OUT OF HIS RUT ... HOLD UP TO HIM HIS BETTER SELF, HIS REAL SELF THAT CAN DARE AND DO AND WIN OUT! ... PEOPLE RADIATE WHAT IS IN THEIR MINDS AND IN THEIR HEARTS.”
“JUST BREATHING ISN'T LIVING!”
“... THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN BE GLAD ABOUT, IF YOU KEEP HUNTING LONG ENOUGH TO FIND IT.”
“... IF GOD TOOK THE TROUBLE TO TELL US EIGHT HUNDRED TIMES TO BE GLAD AND REJOICE, HE MUST WANT US TO DO IT.”
“IT'S FUNNY HOW DOGS AND CATS KNOW THE INSIDES OF FOLKS BETTER THAN OTHER FOLKS DO, ISN'T IT?”
BIOGRAPHICAL INFO: Eleanor H. Porter was best known as the author of Pollyanna, the children’s novel that took America by storm during the World War I years. Most people today won’t know the name of the author of this classic, but many still understand what it means to be called a “Pollyanna.” According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, it’s “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.” Pollyanna was published in 1913, on the eve of World War I — it would hardly seem the time for the story of a girl who could see the bright side of just about any situation, no matter how dire. But somehow the book struck a nerve and was an immediate hit with children as well as adults, and its popularity endured throughout those years.
Eleanor Hodgman was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, and was the only child of Francis Fletcher Hodgman, a pharmacist, and Llewella Hodgman. When she was a very small child, Eleanor began to play and sing. Even before she learned to read notes she would make up little pieces to express her moods. Naturally, it was decided in her family that she was “musical,” and all her education was planned to cultivate that talent. In school, on exhibition days, her part was singing, playing or acting, though all the while she was longing to be asked to write. During Eleanor’s high school days, ill health interrupted her studies and for a time all books were banished. When she became well again, she came to Boston, where she studied music under private teachers and at the New England conservatory. She sang in concerts and in church choirs for some years.
After her marriage on May 3, 1892, to John Lyman Porter, they took up their residence for a few years at Chattanooga, Tennessee, where her husband was in business. It was around 1900 that Eleanor began to turn her attention seriously to writing. Miss Billy and Miss Billy’s Decision published in 1911 and 1912, fared very well and set the stage for what was to become her most popular work.
Pollyanna, subtitled The Glad Book, became her best-known work. Following its publication as a full novel in1913 (it was first serialized in newspapers), it didn’t take long for the book to sell its first million copies. Pollyanna is an 11-year-old orphan who comes to live under the care of her dour aunt Polly in a Vermont town. Soon, her “glad game” — finding the good in any situation— wins over the residents of the town and transforms it into a place of hope and joy. Pollyanna’s success was followed by Miss Billy Married and Pollyanna Grows Up. Later works included Just David and Dawn. All of her books of this era were enormous bestsellers.�The last fifteen years of Eleanor Hodgman Porter’s life were spent in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was only 51 when she died of tuberculosis on May 21, 1920. She was survived by her husband, with whom she had no offspring, though she demonstrated a great affinity for children in her literary work. At her funeral service, the reverend noted in his eulogy that she was “mourned as a beautiful woman who had won her way into the hearts of everyone who had read her stories; that her books had blessed thousands of lives of old and young. She was loved for her winsome gladness; her buoyant and joyous nature was reflected in her characters.”��Source - https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/eleanor-h-porter/��
Other dangerous syndromes found in literary works
Narnia Syndrome – with which the sufferer has a compulsive desire to hide in wardrobes and eat snow.
Peter Pan Syndrome: when grown men avoid the personal and professional responsibilities of adulthood.
Alice in Wonderland Syndrome – with which the sufferer sees things in all of the wrong sizes
Julius Syndrome – with which the sufferer thinks that everyone is trying to stab him in the back and refuses to come out during the month of March.
Dorian Grey Syndrome – with which the sufferer struggles with signs of ageing and wears make-up at inappropriate times.
Baskerville Syndrome – with which the sufferer has a compulsive urge to walk across boggy ground in dark and misty weather.
Scarlett O’Hara Syndrome – with which the sufferer has a wishful thinking — telling themselves that everything will work out fine
Message of the song The return to innocence
This song is an invitation to forget all the hassles of adulthood and remember what it was like to be a child, regain that "innocence" and wonder of it all, see the world and everybody in it with open eyes, an open mind, and an open heart.
This song tends to capture essence of human life in general. It touches upon things that all living things feel one way or the other from birth to death. We start off innocent and pure, we start to grow up and somewhere along the way we turn cold somehow and loose that purity. Then, as we age and come to old age, we are getting back to that start- we are getting back to that purity and innocence.. we stop running and start seeing life with new wise and innocent eyes, so getting old could be one way to return to innocence. The video suggests this by presenting an old man at the end of his life and then going back to childhood, thus connecting the beginning and the end. The message of the song is: don’t be afraid to be old, because then you will be innocent and pure.)
Source - https://multimedia-english.com/print/preview/return-to-innocence-480
PARALLEL between Pollyanna and Anne of Green Gables
If you don’t look too carefully, you might think that Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna are twin characters. Both were created early on in the 20th century. Anne Shirley debuted in 1908 in Anne of Green Gables, written by L.M. Montgomery. Pollyanna also appeared in a book bearing her name only five years later, written by Eleanor H. Porter.
The similarities don’t stop there, however. Both characters are orphans adopted by unlikely spinster characters. Each girl is generally sunny and well-meaning. Both have become cultural touchstones with multiple television and film adaptations to their name.
Look a little closer, though, and you’ll start to see the differences. Anne is prone to bouts of drama. Early on during her time on Prince Edward Island, she finds that even the smallest thing will indulge her flights of fancy. The adults around Anne frequently chide her for being a little too dramatic and imaginative.
Pollyanna, meanwhile, is almost always happy, she plays “The Glad Game”, which is basically finding something nice in every situation. Pollyanna needs this strategy when she moves in with her initially cold Aunt Polly. Still, the young girl’s intense happiness forcibly transforms many of the inhabitants of her small Vermont town. Aunt Polly herself begins to warm up as the novel progresses. Even being hit by a car does not diminish Pollyanna’s spirits for long. In face, her buoyancy is so complete and well known that it’s entered common parlance.
Source
https://fansided.com/2017/07/04/15-canadian-things-america-trade-form-pop-culture-super-team/12/