Theories for analyzing Children's Literature

One of the main theories for analyzing children's literature is that it is written to teach a lesson, not to entertain. MacLeod states, "the focus of the stories was extremely narrow. They were written to teach, and specifically, to teach morality." (p 89). Writers in the 19Th century believed that children needed to be taught to "conform"( Eppler, p 7) to societal values, and used children's literature to try to get that point across. The stories were also written in order to give children "models of virtuous living." ( MacLeod, p 90).
Atitudes felt towards childhood had an effect on children's literature. The stories primarily focus on children who were "for the most part good", but were "possessed of one great fault (or two or three)" (MacLeod, p 93). Children were also thought of as being "impossible, and inherently bad." (Eppler, p 11).
The examples of the "bad" children in the stories and the conseqences for their behavior were usually quite extreme, focusing on such things as disobeying a parent could lead to time in jail, or trying to steal a cookie, or touching a stove could seriously hurt you, or burn the house down. (MacLeod) These examples were so severe because of the impact they would have on children. Children who might be thinking of misbehaving would be more likely to remember the severe consquences of such acts in the stories they read, than if the consquences were not severe.
The issue of feminism also had a role in 19th century children's literature. Motherhood and children are very closely linked ( eppler), so many of the stories focused on the relationships between children and their mothers. I think this link would be relatable to most if not all readers. Also it seemed to be that any character not male, was thought of being as inferior, and children were ranked lower than women. This brought up the struggles women were facing at that time.
I also think that by providing lessons of morality in children's literature, writer's in the 19th century were also trying to equip children with "moral self reliance, inner independence, kindness, responsibility, and a decent regard for the needs of others"(MacLeod). These virtures would help children become independent,well rounded individuals and also help them conform to the new American society which put heavy focus on indepedence and pride. The American past, was largely ignored.

I'm a Senior majoring in Child Development from Bellaire, TX. I have one younger sister and an adorable beagle named Dusty. I really enjoy reading and always have. My all time favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. I'm a big fan of all Jane Austen books. I also really enjoy the Harry Potter series. I enjoy reading the Twilight series for some light fun reading. I like listening to pretty much all types of music. I really like Taylor Swift, Green River Ordinance, and Coldplay. I love musicals and musical soundtracks. My favorite musicals are Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. I enjoy watching tv shows including So You Think You Can Dance, Friday Night Lights, and Brothers and Sisters. I also love watching all types of movies. My two all time favorite movies are Father of the Bride and My Best Friend's Wedding. High School Musical is my go to movie when I'm feeling mopey or sad. I really enjoy working with children and every job I've had has involved working with them. I've worked at a day camp in Houston the past few summers and absolutely love it. After graduation I would like to work with children with Autism or Down's Syndrome. I'm a strong Christian and am actively involved at a church here in Fort Worth as well as RUF on campus.

One of the things that drew me to TCU was the student population and teacher to student ratio. I've always attended smaller schools and really feel that the smaller size allows you to develop better friendships with fellow students and better, more attentive relationships with teachers and faculty members. If I was made Chancellor of TCU I would reduce the cost of the meal plans and try to increase the number of parking spots on campus. I think a good teacher is one who challenges his/her students, is very passionate about what he/she is teaching, and is attentive to his/her student's different learning styles. On a random note, if I could have dinner with any three people ( living or dead) I would pick Jane Austen, Steve Martin, and Michael Buble.
Three things I would like you to know about me are (1)I love traveling, (2) I'm a huge fan of the show Friends and have all ten seasons on DVD, and (3) I love meeting people and building friendships which I hope to do in this class. I would like to know what your favorite movie is, where your favorite travel destination is, and what your favorite book is.

I signed up for this class for the Literature credit and because I love reading and thought that this class sounded like it would be interesting. Outside of books for class, I enjoy reading Harry Potter books, Jane Austen books, and Christian books. I also read alot of child development and psychology books. As far as writing beyond papers for school, I keep a journal and have a notebook for quotes that I update pretty often. I also like to write poetry. I feel that my writing style is average, and hope to improve it through this class.

I feel and hope that the way I designed my blog shows that I'm an approachable friendly person who would love to get to know everyone in the class. I also hope that the amount of information in my blog shows that I'm willing to be an active participant in the class. I did, read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus.