English 180 - Winter, 2016

Children's Literature

Class Information

Instructor: Dolan, Frances
CRN: 43599
Time: TR 10:30-11:50
Location: 1227 Haring

Description

This course offers an introduction to the concept of literature written specifically for children and to some of the classics of this literature in English, from ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND to HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. We will read at a brisk clip! But there will be time to savor our reading and our analysis of it. We will work together to: explore what it means to read or re-read these books as adults; consider what these books tell us about the history of childhood and importance of books and reading in that history; track the movement of children's literature into new media; attend to continuity and change across time; and reflect on what it means to be a child and what we gain and lose in the process of growing up. Above all, this is a class about the pleasures of reading, imagining, and risking.

Grading

Short assignments (25%);
final paper (25%):
quizzes (30%);
final (20%).

Texts

Absolutely True Diary, Sherman Alexie
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
Treasure Island, R.L. Stevenson
Mary Poppins, P.L.Travers
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
Peter Pan, J.M.Barrie
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K.Rowling
Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
Concise edition:Folk & Fairy Tales