CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Introduction to Children's Literature
After reading The Lorax and Little Red Riding Hood answer the following questions:
9. What conflicts exist in each story?
10. What is the overall tone and mood of each story?
11. Is the dialogue used in each story effective/purposeful?
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
1. Is simple and straightforward.
This does not mean that vocabulary needs to be overly simplistic or that style should be choppy or flat (as too many books for children are).
2. Focuses on action.
Subtle psychological events are often implied through narration and comment on actions.
3. Is about childhood.
4. Expresses a child’s point of view.
5. Is optimistic.
“Hope is a vital dimension of a children’s book.” (Sarah Smedman)
6. Tends toward fantasy.
Fantasy often implies a symbolic defiance of our knowledge of reality, and represents the potential that lies below the surface in each of us.
7. Is a form of pastoral idyll.
The pastoral idyll celebrates the joys and innocence of rural life, close to nature and in the company of friends.
8. Views an un-idyllic world from the viewpoint of innocence.
More complex and interesting books reflect ambivalence about desire to have the comforts of home and the exciting dangers of adventure, desire to be innocent and experienced, desire to grow up but not grow up, etc.
9. Is didactic.
Traditionally, children’s literature has been seen as attempting to educate children.
A universal theme is teaching children that despite its boredom, home is a better place to be than the dangerous world outside.
10. Tends to be repetitious.
Repeating tasks is a basic method of education.
Repetition is a common trait of oral literature.
Repetitions with variations of words, phrases, situations, and narrative patterns are common in children’s literature.
11. Tends to balance the idyllic and the didactic.
Some books are almost completely didactic (teaching them how to become like mature adults and deal with the adult world) or idyllic (reflecting a desire to retain the innocence of childhood), but most books combine the two approaches, and deal with opposing ideas, such as home vs. away, communal concern vs. self-concern, good vs. evil.
Audience
The audience—who the writer is writing to—will determine the type of language the writer uses in the piece. The type of piece—if it is fiction or nonfiction, historical or personal, for example—will also determine the language a writer uses. And the type of piece is determined partly by the audience. In other words, audience determines a great deal about a piece of writing. It determines what is said and how it is presented on the page.
Why does audience determine so much? Any piece of writing is based on what the audience it is written for already understands. Let’s look at that thought again. A writer writes to a particular audience. Therefore, the writer is going to use what that particular audience knows.
Since writers use a particular audience to determine how a piece is written—and this is the cool part!—we can learn much about how a piece is written by looking at the audience! What we know about the audience tells us more about the piece itself!
Let’s look at an example of how audience determines how a piece of writing is written.
Audience Text #1
Let’s start with one you’ve probably heard before.
Now answer some questions:
1) Who is the audience of “Itsy, Bitsy Spider”?
2) Why do you know this? That is, what in the text of “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” makes you understand who it is written for? Offer a few specific examples.
3) Because it is written for children, this little poem, or song, has certain qualities that it might not have if it was written for adults. Offer at least two qualities of this poem/ song that are done to interest this particular audience.
4) If you were to rewrite “Itsy Bitsy Spider” for an adult, offer a few things about it you would change.
The itsy, bitsy spider, climbed up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, So the itsy, bitsy spider went up the spout again |
Diction in Fiction
Diction is word choice. When writing, use vocabulary suited for the type of assignment. Words that have almost the same denotation (dictionary meaning) can have very different connotations (implied meanings).
Examples:
Formal Casual Slang
are not angry aren't mad ain't ticked
Diction in Fiction
Besides the level of formality, also consider positive or negative connotations of the words chosen.
Examples:
Positive Negative
Pruning the bushes Slashing the bushes
The bear stood up The bear positioned himself
Some types of diction are almost never advisable in writing. Avoid clichés, vagueness (language that has more than one equally probable meaning), wordiness, and unnecessarily complex language.
Children's Literature
In groups of three or four,
Imagery
One of the best ways to do this is by creating vivid images that immerse readers in the world of the fiction —
by not merely telling readers what’s happening, but showing it to them.
Imagery
Use Strong Verbs…
Imagery
Let Readers Feel For Themselves…
Imagery
God’s in the Details…
the reader may not have a good sense of what that means — the author’s notion of “well-dressed” may be rather different from the reader’s.
the reader can all but see the guy — or at least his clothes — and has an idea what the narrator considers well-dressed.
Imagery
It may seem a bit like a laundry list (which is exactly what it is) but this handful of details creates a clear image of the character and allows readers to decide for themselves that the man is well-dressed. And,
again, this more specific description gives readers a stronger sense of the character — he either has money or wants people to think he does, and that “Windsor-knotted cravat” suggests an almost aristocratic air about him.
Imagery
Let the Dialogue Speak for Itself…
The content of dialogue, too, is a useful “showing” tool. It can give readers insight into a character’s intelligence and level of sophistication, can hint at his background and even suggest something about his self-image.
If you want a character to seem intelligent, let her say intelligent
things. If a man’s not well educated, keep his vocabulary comparatively simple (though not necessarily the content of his speech — he might be highly intelligent but simply lack linguistic sophistication…).
Imagery
Don’t tell your reader that a character is inarticulate, show that character struggling to find the right words to express himself. You can do so even through simple interactions
While dialect and regional clichés should, of course, be used sparingly, they often prove quite useful in showing readers qualities in a story’s characters, minor and major. Used well, they can also help delineate characters in a reader’s mind, making the whole narrative more vivid.
Imagery
The Last Word(s)…
Vivid writing grabs readers’ attention and draws them into your story — and showing your audience the action you create is a vital aspect of vivid storytelling. So, in order to avoid the pitfalls of “telling” rather than “showing,” remember these points:
• Use strong, specific verbs, and avoid overusing adverbs.
• Provoke emotion through character reactions and vivid writing, don’t simply tell readers how to feel.
• Use well-placed details to bring scenes to life.
• Use expressive dialogue to show characters’ emotions and attitudes.
Setting
Stories actually have two types of setting: Physical and Chronological.
The physical setting is of course where the story takes place. The “where” can be very general—a small farming community, for example—or very specific—a two story white frame house at 739 Hill Street in Scott City, Missouri.
Likewise, the chronological setting, the “when,” can be equally general or specific.
The author’s choices are important. Shirley Jackson gives virtually no clues as to where or when her story “The Lottery” is set. Examination suggests that she wants the story to be universal, not limited by time or place. The first two stories you will read each establish a fairly specific physical setting; consider what each setting brings to each story.
Suspense
Think of a novel that you have read into the wee hours of the night. It is usually a book that you just can’t put down. That is the power of suspense. The reader is left hanging and needs to read on. Children can learn the art of suspense in a number of different ways.
One way we teach suspense is through story questions. The
simplest way to do that is to have the main character raise a
story question like; What in the world is happening to my bike?
Suspense
Another technique to teach suspense is word referents.
A word referent is a description of a character or an object
without naming it. For instance:
"The creature stood on its hind legs and growled. It lumbered closer and closer to me. I felt its hot breath on my face and was frozen with fear. The fish eater reached out a giant paw and that was when I turned and ran."
Notice the author did not have to tell you it was a bear, but
rather was able to describe it without naming it thereby
creating a sense of anticipation in the story
Suspense - The Magic of Three
This technique involves using a series of three sensory hints to build tension-the third hint leads to a revelation.
For example: Just then I saw large footprints in the snow and anxiously looked all around me. Nothing else was unusual so I kept walking. Suddenly from out of nowhere a strange noise sounded very close to where I was standing. My heart pounded in my chest and I stood frozen to the spot. Without warning a trembling began to shake the trees around me and when I looked up I was standing in front of a snow monster
Suspense
When building suspense, especially the Magic of Three, authors use red flag words and phrases. These include
words such as;
suddenly,
without warning,
in the blink of an eye,
instantly,
a moment later.
Theme
Theme isn’t so much an element of fiction as much as the result of the entire story. The theme is the main idea the writer of the poem or story wants the reader to understand and remember. You may have used the word “Moral” in discussing theme; but it’s not a good synonym because “moral” implies a positive meaning or idea. And not all themes are positive.
One word—love, for example—may be a topic; but it cannot be a theme.
A theme is a statement about a topic.
For example: “The theme of the story is that love is the most important thing in the world.” That’s a cliché, of course, but it is a theme.
Not all stories or poems (or films) have an overriding “universal” theme.
Developing Character
Creating Conflict
•Internal Conflict | •External Conflict | |
•MAN VS. HIMSELF | •MAN VS. MAN | •MAN VS. ENVIRONMENT |
•*not tangible | •*other characters | •*any outside force |
•*in the mind | •*not just physical confrontation | •*anything in surroundings |
•*decisions, feelings, emotions | •*opposing ideas | •*weather, objects, activities |
Important questions to ask about your characters to create conflict:
Protagonist -
Antagonist -
Creating Conflict
Tone and Mood
*Writers hope to stir emotions with their work.
*Emotions can produce the mood or feeling in a piece of writing.
*Mood may shift, but one mood usually prevails.
*Setting affects the mood dramatically.
*Tone describes the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject.
*How do mood and tone differ? Mood refers to the reader’s response to the text, and tone refers to the feelings of the writer.
Mood Tone
*The writer may carefully select details such as descriptive words, dialogue, imagery, and setting to create a mood.
*The writer may also rely on sounds and rhythms of words to convey mood.
*May also use symbolism to create mood
*Symbol: something that stands for something else
*Tone: attitude the author takes toward the subject
*The language and details the writer chooses to describe the characters, setting, and events help to create the tone.
*Tone often reflects the author’s purpose.
Three strategies to help identify tone and mood:
1.Look for details that appeal to the senses.
2.Form mental pictures.
3.Connect personal experiences to the text.
Writing Effective Dialogue
Words:
Simply put, only use words that line up with the way the character would really talk.
For example, a backwoods hillbilly wouldn’t use the same terminology as a royal queen. They have vastly different vocabularies and each needs to stay true to his or her position in life.
Topic:
We all might speak about many topics, but certain people are going to gravitate toward certain topics. Make sure your character is speaking his native language in this regard.
Also, make sure this particular conversation is necessary to your work. Does it move the story forward? Does it have a purpose? If it’s just filling space, leave it out.
Tone:
We all have a natural part to our personality. Some are loud, some funny, some downcast and sullen, some sarcastic, some are complainers and the list goes on and on.
For example, if your character is a negative person then he’s going to find the dark cloud in most every interaction. If he’s optimistic, then he’s going to find the silver lining and speak in an energetic, upbeat manner.
Body language:
Our conversations are not mere words. We are all doing something as we speak. We might be listening intently, gazing earnestly, walking briskly, folding laundry, tapping nervously, or engaging in any of our myriad of individual quirks.
Much of what we communicate in any conversation is done without words at all. Body language mixed with tone, accounts for a huge amount of our communication.
Activity
You will be given the same characters and plot, but the setting and target audience will be different.
Write a brief story (1-2 pages) to suit the audience and setting.
Attempt to use the elements that have been mentioned to assist with the 'real'ness of your story.
Criteria
Character(s) - Kelly / Stacey
Plot - The main character(s) needs to find something that was lost.
Settings -
Time: Day-time / Night-time
Place: Garden / Farmhouse / Car / Apartment / Restaurant / Museum
Circumstance: Abandoned Landscape / Rushing To Go Somewhere / A Birthday Party
Audience -
Stages
Stage One (Day 1) - Create a storyline /storyboard / Outline
Stage Two (Day 2) - Write your rough draft
Stage Three (Day 3) - Revise to ensure elements are used
Stage Four (Day 4) - Final Draft and Presentation
Stage Five (Day 5) - Discussion and Feedback
Final Draft Should...