English 180 - Winter, 2017

Children's Literature

Class Information

Instructor: Dolan, Frances
CRN: 22911
Time: TR 9:00-10:20
Location: 6 Olson

Description

This course explores literature written for children, focusing on some of the classics written 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 the 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

Attendance (5%);
online forum (10%);
first paper (20%);
second paper (25%):
quizzes (20%);
final (20%)

Texts

Absolutely True Diary, Sherman Alexie
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
Treasure Island, R.L. Stevenson
Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
Mary Poppins, P.L.Travers
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
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