Girl Talk

While watching the video I felt that I could relate to Anna and agree with many things that she was saying. I feel that all of us, boys and girls, women and men, all strive to find balance in their lives. I do feel that girls feel more pressure to find balance, to fit in, and to try to keep their emotions in check. I also feel that if they were to interview a 9 year old boy, he might share similar thoughts to Anna's. In the story, Willie struggled to find a balance in his life between living at the apocatheory store all week and trying to spend time with his mother, and maintain and strengthen his friendship with Gerty, with only being able to see her about once a week.
I feel that there is so much pressure on girls that has really not changed since Gerty's time. Though Anna and Gerty live in completely different times and in different societies, they both share the struggles of girlhood.
One of these struggles is a girl's physical appearance. Through the centuries there have been different expectations for what a girl should look like. In Gerty's case, she falls very short of the prototype for an attractive, proper girl. She is described often in the text as looking like a witch, and being a very ugly girl, not having a "single attraction" to her. As readers we feel for and have sympathy for Gerty after reading these descriptions. Gerty's appearance leads others to not really notice or pay attention to her. She does not look like a little girl should, and therefore is an outcast in society. It seems that first impressions really do matter, and if you're not fitting the typical mold of appearance, your fate is not shaping up to be a good one. Back then, and even today the "beautiful" people are the ones that get the most attention and praise.
Again, I feel that all of us, regardless of gender strive to find a proper balance in our lives, but there's more pressure put on girls. Back in Gerty's time, women were brought up to be proper housekeepers and good wives and mothers, putting their family's needs first. I feel that society puts different pressures on women now. Now that women are active in the work industry, they struggle to find a balance between taking care of their family and focusing on their career. Gerty seemed to have no balance in her life. She leads a very unorganized one and focuses on nothing other than watching True light the lamps. When she is taken in by True and taught domestic lessons by Mrs. Sullivan, we begin to see some sort of balance and order developing in her life.
I don't think Gerty would be invited to be on the Amy Poehler show. For girls back in the 19th centure and girls today, Gerty would not serve as a role model. I think that if she were to be on the show, she wouldn't have been as well behaved as Anna. I don't think she would have been able to sit still for very long and politely answer questions.
In both the video and the story, we see young girls trying to find their place and purpose in the world. Regardless of the times, the struggles of girlhood endure on. I expect these struggles will not go away anytime soon.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

There are many lessons being taught in children's literature. As discussed in class, children's literature serves a didatic purpose, which is often in the form of moral lessons. The author usually tries to teach this moral lesson to children through examples of good and bad characters and good and bad actions and the consequences of such.I feel that Uncle Tom's Cabin shares some similarities to the theories of children literature we've discussed and serves a didatic purpose that differs from the norm.
The children featured in Uncle Tom's Cabin live in an entirely different world than do the children that we've discussed so far in class. A majority of the children featured are slave children. Unlike the previous children we've encountered, they're lives are not simple and carefree. These children do not have character flaws and do not serve as vehicles for moral lessons. They are children having to deal with the harsh realities of slave life, and having to be in situations far beyond their years.
As far as didatic purposes go, I feel that Uncle Tom's Cabin did put emphasis on the importance of families and religion in one's life. The importance and value of families is the driving point in the chapters of Uncle Tom's Cabin that we read. It is focus on family that is behind Eliza's reasonsing for running away. She put the best interest of her son, Harry, before her own. Mrs. Bird, although in a very different lifestyle and social class than Eliza, has the same guiding principles. Her family is her main focus, and she is not for the inhumane treatment of slaves or tearing their families apart. Religion and faith are also important aspects in the novel. Tom is portrayed as a Christ like figure and serves as a moral example for truly living by, for, and through faith.

"Wide Wide World"

In Warner's "Wide Wide World" there are many portrayals of parental characters. Warner uses Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery to show different characteristics of parenting. He stereotypes the father and mother figures, but sticks true to the characteristics that mothers and fathers had in the 19th century when this work was released.

I think that Mrs. Montgomery's portrayal of motherhood is an interesting one. Mrs. Montgomery is a very caring, loving mother. Although she is very ill, she is able to shower her love and affection and proper attention on her daughter, Ellen. She is also a very spiritual woman who has a very close relationship with God. Mrs. Montgomery tries to instill in Ellen the love that she has for the Lord, in hopes that Ellen will grow up to be a spiritual woman, considering her relationship with the Lord to be one of most importance. She also wants Ellen to grow up to be a proper lady, which is why she instills to her and instructs her on how to properly perform household duties. Ellen would probably be a less well behaved child if her mother was not such an important and large influence in her life and upbringing. Mrs. Montgomery is also tough on Ellen with her love, tougher than most parents would be with their 8 year old daughter. I think this is because of her mother's illness, and because she knows that she doesn't have much more time to spend with Ellen. Mrs. Montgomery realizes that Ellen will have to grow up quicker than normal because of her mother's illness, and will be left with what her mother can do for her now. Ellen and her mother share a very close, loving relationship. The reader can tell that Ellen admires her mother very much and loves her with all her heart.

Ellen's father, Captain Montgomery is quite invisible throughout the excerpt. I feel that he does have an influence on Ellen though. He serves as an authoritative figure in her life. Ellen doesn't feel for her father what she feels for her mother. She does not enjoy simply being around him and they don't have an emotional father/daughter relationship at all. Captain Montgomery only provides for his daughter financially. I feel there is no deeper connection between the two.

Ellen's mother plays a very important role in life. Ellen considers her mother to be her best friend. Aside from that, Mrs. Montgomery fulfills other important roles in her life such as being her confidant, teacher, spiritual leader, and provider. The two share a very deep bond. The depth of that bond and the depth of Ellen's feelings for her mother are revealed when she hears that her mother will be leaving her. I don't feel as if Ellen expects much of anything from her father. Aside from being the financial provider for the family, he does not have any other role in his daughter's life or any kind of connection with her.

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.