English Children's Literature(Week Eleven)

11.26.2015
Week 11: To Kill a Mockingbird

1. Introduction of To Kill a Mockingbird
(1) To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.
    The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explains the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."
    As a Southern Gothic novel and a Bildungsroman, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Scholars have noted that Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South. The book is widely taught in schools in the United States with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets.

(2)  It's a book about racialism, justice and friendship. Every adult should read it before they die.  
* What is the reason for the author's choice of a young narrator(Scout)?
    a. To remove moral bias from the story
    b. To allow the story to be presented by someone who cannot take an active role
    c. To allow the narrator to mature as the story progresses ( Bildungsroman )

*Bildungsroman: novel of formation, novel of education, or coming-of-age story (though it may also be known as a subset of the coming-of-age story) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood (coming of age), in which character change is extremely important. (小說主角有成長，change and build up, moral or psycgological)

*Mockingbird is just a metaphor which means innocent or disadvantaged people and anyone should not to kill someone who is innocent.(Mockingbird 反舌鳥)

*Boo is an onomatopoeia which is used to describe the situation that ghosts scare people. 



2. Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American novelist. She is best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that she observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Despite being Lee's only published book, it led to her being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. Lee has received numerous honorary degrees but has always declined to make a speech. 

*You do not understand the people if you don't live under the skin.

Person of the Week－Harper Lee (July.2010)

3. Four Lessons of To Kill a Mockingbird
(1)  Put yourself in other people's shoes.
(2)  Don't kill mockingbirds.(“Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”)
      *Mockingbird means someone weaker and defenseless than you.   
(3)  Keep fighting even if you know you'll lose.(bravery)
(4)  The world is very unfair.

4. Good Quotations

(1) "How justice should be worked out on the courthouse, however, it didn't."

(2) "What kind of man are you?"

(3) "Stand up, your father is passing."

(4) "All man are created equal."

(5) "It had nothing to fear but fear yourself." (the most famous line from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first inaugural speech, made after the 1932 presidential election.)

(6) "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents."

(7) "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

(8) "Nothing's real scary except in books."

5. To Kill a Mockingbird (film)

To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Horton Foote was based on the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee. It stars Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch and Mary Badham in the role of Scout.

The film, widely considered to be one of the greatest ever made, earned an overwhelmingly positive response from critics. A box office success, it earned more than 10 times its budget. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Peck, and was nominated for eight, including Best Picture.

Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch

6. Simile and Metaphor

(1)A simile  is a figure of speech that directly compares two things through the explicit use of connecting words (such as like, as, so, than, or various verbs such as resemble).

(2) A metaphor is a figure of speech that identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing for rhetorical effect, thus highlighting the similarities between the two.

(3) What’s the Difference between a Simile and a Metaphor?

Metaphors simply state a comparison. Similes use the words “like” or “as” to compare things. Because they both make comparisons, all similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.

Here are some examples of similes and metaphors:

• Life is like a box of chocolates. (Simile)
• My life is an open book. (Metaphor)
• That baby is as cute as a button! (Simile)
• Baby, you’re a firework. (Metaphor)

"Simile and Metaphor"

7. Vocabularies and Phrases

(1) Tom boy      男孩氣的小女孩

(2) peculiar        adj. 奇怪的

     peculiarity    n.

(3) knot-hole     樹洞

(4) stab              n. 短刀刺

(5) include        包括

     exclude        排除

(6) bene- : good

      mal- : bad

     beneficial

     benefit

     benevolent   善意的

     malevolent   惡意的

     malignant tumor    惡性腫瘤

     malicious gossip    惡意的流言蜚語

     malign         v. 誹謗

(7) nigger         對黑人的輕蔑的稱呼

(8) conscious   adj. 有意識的

     consciousness   n. 意識；知覺

     conscience   n. 良心

(9) para- : 平行

      paradox      n. 似是而非的論點

      paragraph   n. 段落

      parachute   n. 降落傘

      parasol       n. 陽傘

      parasite      n. 寄生蟲

(10) fore- : before

        forecast    v./n. 預報

        foretell     v.  預言

        foresee     v. 預見

        forehead  n. 額頭

(11) verdict     n 結論；裁定

(12) ver-/vir- : true

        virtual reality   虛擬現實 

        verify     v.核實

        verification       n.確認

(13)dict : to say, to tell, words

      dictator     n. 獨裁者

      dictation   n. 聽寫

      predict      v. 預測

(14) attorney/client    律師/ 委託人

(15) spooky    狂犬病的狗

English Children's Literature(Week Ten)

11.19.2015
Week 10:  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

1.  The usage of writing down a name of a book or a story
 (1) The name of a short story-- using the quotation  eg. "The Little Mermaid"

 (2) The name of a whole book--using the underline  eg. Charlotte's Web
 (3)人名不用劃線，但要注意區分是人名還是故事名。 eg. "Cinderella"


2. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
(1) Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale is a picture book told in the form of a cumulative tale written for young children, which tells an African legend. In this origin story, the mosquito lies to a lizard, who puts sticks in his ears and ends up frightening another animal, which down a long line causes a panic. In the end, an owlet is killed and the owl is too sad to wake the sun until the animals hold court and find out who is responsible. The mosquito is eventually found out, but it hides in order to escape punishment. So now it constantly buzzes in people's ears to find out if everyone is still angry at it.

(2) cumulative tale:In a cumulative tale, sometimes also called a chain tale, action or dialogue repeats and builds up in some way as the tale progresses. With only the sparest of plots, these tales often depend upon repetition and rhythm for their effect, and can require a skilled storyteller to negotiate their tongue-twisting repetitions in performance.The device often takes the form of a cumulative song or nursery rhyme. Many cumulative tales feature a series of animals or forces of nature each more powerful than the last.

Cumulative tale "This Is the House That Jack Built"

*eg. Twelve Days of Christmas--John Denver

(3) Development of the Story

      a. conflict: The Mother Owl wake up the Sun each day, so that the dawn can come.(Why not?)

      b. It's not my fault.

          Good morning.(Greeting )

(4) Verbs in Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears

• mosquito              annoy                big lie
• iguana                  frighten             
• python                  scare                 plot mysteries against me
• rabbit                    startle               mind my business
• crow                     alarm                call for dangerous 
• monkey                 kill
• baby owlet 
• King lion

     * annoy,frighten,scare,startle,alarm, kill 都是驚嚇的意思，但是程度表示不同

3. Cultural and Social Diversity

(1) diversity

     di-             一分為二

    different

    divide

    divorce

(2)  What are Little Girls Made of?

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is episode seven of the first season of the science fiction television series, Star Trek. It was first broadcast October 20, 1966, and repeated, two months later, on December 22, the first episode of the series to be repeated on NBC. It was written by Robert Bloch and directed by James Goldstone. The title of the episode is taken from the fourth line of the 19th century nursery rhyme, "What Are Little Boys Made Of?"

*"What Are Little Boys Made Of?" is a popular nursery rhyme dating from the early 19th century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 821. The rhyme appears in many variant forms, that is one of them,

 What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Snips and snails

And puppy-dogs' tails

That's what little boys are made of

What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice

And everything nice (or all things nice)

That's what little girls are made of

4. Vocabularies and Phrases

(1)  di-                一分為二

      diversity

      different

      divide

      divorce

(2) startle           即時性的驚嚇

     frightened     全面性的驚嚇

(3) dud              n. 無用物

(4) gosling        n. 小鵝

(5) unremitting adj. 不解的

(6) in disgust     厭惡

(7) conspiracy   n, 陰謀

(8) kill               v. 殺死

      butcher        v. 屠殺

(9) anaesthetic   n. 麻醉

(10) in a childish way    幼稚的方式

English Children's Literature(Week Nine)

11.12.2015
Week 9: Midterm Exam

Essay：
1. What is children's literature? Are there certain specific characteristics detaching children’s literature from adult’s books? If yes, what are they? If no, why are we here to study this subject?

    Children’s literature includes stories, songs and poems that are enjoyed by children. It can be broadly defined as anything that children read or more specifically defined as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or drama intended for and used by children and young people.Children can enjoy it as an amusement.
    As for the second question, my answer is yes. Firstly, the vocabularies and grammatical constructions are much easier than adult’s books and even in books, there are many cute or incorrect words like”tigger” to fit for their age. Besides, children’s literature are written from a child’s perspective. They are based on the daily experience of children. In addition, there are more pictures and illustrations in children’s literature in order to attract children’s attention and make them feel interesting. In summary, children’s literature have its unique characteristics and they can not be mixed up with adult’s books.

2.The climax is the high point of the story, where the culmination of events creates the peak of the conflict. In the plot of narrative work, a resolution consists of a series of events that follow the climax, and thus serves as the conclusion of the story, even though not all stories have a resolution. Could you (1) relocate where the climax of Charlotte's Web is and (2) analyze your resolution that (3) associated with the idea of conflicts?

    In my opinion, the climax of Charlotte’s Web appears when Wilbur won a special prize at the county fair so he wouldn’t be killed.
    The conflict here is whether Wilbur would die or not. Wilbur was told that he would be killed at Christmastime, but Charlotte promised Wilbur to save his life.

Since Charlotte kept her promise and helped Wilbur win the prize, he would not be killed. At the same time he was not the stupid Wilbur anymore, he began to appreciate Charlotte’s kind, cherish the friendship with her and promised Charlotte to look after her egg sac and wait patiently. Although Charlotte died at the end of the book, her children and grandchildren became friends with Wilbur.Once again, life was looking good for this little pig.

3.We’ve watched an enchanting film, "Miss Potter," based on the life of Beatrix Potter, the best-selling author of children's books of all time, this semester before the midterm. One of the phrases that opens and ends the whole movie is the voice of the title protagonist, “there's something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they will take you. Mine took me here, where I belong.” Could you paraphrase what that means in the context of your understanding of Miss Potter’s works, life, as well as your life experience and expectation?

    Life is unpredictable and changeable. We never know what will happen in the next moment but we should believe that everything is under the best arrangement and our destiny and story will take us to where we belong eventually.
    Miss Potter devoted her life to drawing her cute animal friends and regarded it as the most enjoyable thing in the world. If she hadn’t drawn these animals, she wouldn’t meet her fiance, Norman Warne and then spent happy time with him. Even though Norman Warne died in the end, it took Miss Potter to review her life and took her to the Hill Top where she got much inspiration and spent her rest of life. Her story, writing and drawing, led her to love’s side and ultimately took her there, where she really belongs. 
    To me, life is changeable as well. I never know what will happen in the next moment. I never imagined that I was eager to be a teacher one day. 

Someone told me that I can’t trust what I got now but who I am now. Under these circumstances, what I should do is to seize the day, no regret and then to believe that mine will take me there, where I belong eventually. 

4.Who is Mother Goose? Is she real?

    Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes often published as Mother Goose Rhymes.Mother Goose is generally depicted in literature and book illustration as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl who cared about children, but is sometimes depicted as a goose. 

    Despite her celebrated place in children’s literature, the exact identity and origin of Mother Goose herself is still unknown.There also have been several hypotheses that a real Mother Goose at one point existed. 

    But in my opinion, Mother Goose is an imaginary figure in literature field who have been familiar with readers of all generations for her nursery rhymes.She is playing the role of entertaining children and helping them to behave well, a little similar to the role of “Wolf Grandmother”, but in a different way. 

English Children's Literature(Week Eight)

11.5.2015
Week 8: Mother Goose


1.  Mother Goose
The figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one nursery rhyme. A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom. The so-called "Mother Goose" rhymes and stories have formed the basis for many classic British pantomimes. Mother Goose is generally depicted in literature and book illustration as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl, a costume identical to the peasant costume worn in Wales in the early 20th century, but is sometimes depicted as a goose (usually wearing a bonnet).
*There are some famous short stories in the book such as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Queen of Hearts".
* "Little Red Riding Hood"--Hood 帽子; Hook Ceremony 正冠儀式 (When students faced the graduation, they would have a Hood Ceremony. )

Blanche Fisher Wright's cover artwork for The Real Mother Goose

Mother Goose

2. Charles Perrault

Charles Perrault was a French author and member of the Académie française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known of his tales include Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Puss in Boots,The Sleeping Beauty and Bluebeard.Some of Perrault's versions of old stories may have influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm 200 years later. The stories continue to be printed and have been adapted to opera, ballet (such as Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty), theatre, and film. Perrault was an influential figure in the 17th-century French literary scene, and was the leader of the Modern faction during the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.

                            Charles Perrault      Little Red Riding Hood

3. Nursery Rhyme  
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the late 18th/early 19th century and in North America the term Mother Goose Rhymes, introduced in the mid-18th century, is still often used.
(1) Georgy Porgy
     a. Georgy Porgy  may refer to:
        "Georgie Porgie", the traditional nursery rhyme 常指欺負女生的男生
        "Georgy Porgy" (song) by Toto featuring Cheryl Lynn
         Georgie Porgie (producer), George Andros, a music producer and recording artist
         Georgy Porgy (short story), a short story by Roald Dahl, collected in Kiss Kiss
       
     b. Jazz-- I love you Porgy performed by Nina Simone

(2) Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world.The rhyme is one of the best known and most popular in the English language. The most common modern text is:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

*All the King's Men (2006 film) is a 2006 film adaptation of the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. It was directed by Steven Zaillian, who also produced and scripted.The story is about the life of Willie Stark (played by Sean Penn), a fictional character resembling Louisiana governor Huey Long, in office 1928 through 1932. He was elected as a US Senator and assassinated in 1935. 

All the King's Men (2006 film)

(3)擬聲詞 

     a. "Hey Diddle Diddle"

  b."Hickory Dickory Dock" 時鐘聲

4. Richard Scarry
(1)Richard Scarry's Busytown is a Sega Genesis and DOS video game that was released for a younger generation of gamers.

(2)Nursery rhymes in the film 
     a. Star Light, Star Bright
     b. London Bridge is Falling Down: Take the key and lock him up.
     c. Mary Has a Little Lamb
     d. Old Mother Hubbard
     e. Little Bo Peep: Little Bo Peep has lost her ship.
     f. Hey Diddle Diddle
     g. Old King Cole
     h. Little Miss Muffet     

     i. Hickory Dickory Dock 
     j. Humpty Dumpty
     k. Little Boy Blue
     l. Wee Willie Winkie
     m. There was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe
     n. Three Little Kittens
     o. Sing a Song of Sixpence
     p.Sleep Baby Sleep

(3) 
     a. conflict
     -- Have you see Lowly?
     -- What's he look like?
     ( 矛盾點就在於如何去形容人物和物體--sorting,describing.naming)
   
     b. climax：King 幫Huckle解決這個問題
         * He is a worm.
         * He is long/thin.
         * green hat...
      
     c. themes: friendship, lost/found, dream/adventures, magic/spell, show tell, science/match...


5.  Vocabulary and  Phrases
(1) tuffet       n. 矮凳
(2) hood       n. 帽子
     hook ceremony    正冠儀式
(3) wage        v. 發動
(4) off the bed           上床睡覺
(5) Jack and Jill        形容青梅竹馬
(6) be engage in        與...訂婚
(7) Lost/Found         失物招領
      Hide/ Seek          捉迷藏
(8) groundkeeper     n. 園丁
(9) call on someone  拜訪某人
(10) a dose of            一 匙
(11) sob         v. 哭聲
(12) stretch out        伸直四肢
(13) a welcome relief
(14) worm     n. 蟲子
        wormy apples   蛀蟲的蘋果
(15) sneer      v. 嘲笑