Post 4 Essay Topic

The focus for my paper will be the representation of children in literature. To do this I will be looking at 3 books, Matilda by Ronald Dahl, A Series of Unfortunate Events Book1 by Lemony Snicket and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. I choose these books because they represent to main factors in children’s books, “the magical child” and the “smart” kid. I like Matilda and Harry Potter for this especially. I feel that they both show case this quality in their main characters the best.
Along with the actual books I will be using a variety if secondary sources. I want to look at how other people view these characters. I know that I will find a lot of information on the “magical” kid aspect because people debate it so much. I was hoping to use the internet for additional information but I was also hoping to go as far and get some feedback from actual kids who read these books. This is my tentative plan at the moment.

Harry Potter THe Goblet of Fire Primary Source. I think I am going to use these three books for my paper. I think they each make my point. The focus of my paper is the representation of kids, with special attention on the magical child and the smart kid. 

"'Perished,'" Mr. Poe said, "means 'killed.'"
"We know what the word 'perished' means," Klaus said, crossly. He did know what the word "perished" meant, but he was still having trouble understanding exactly what it was that Mr. Poe had said. It seemed to him that Mr. Poe must somehow have misspoken.
"The fire department arrived, of course," Mr. Poe said, "but they were too late. The entire house was engulfed in fire. It burned to the ground."
Klaus pictured all the books in the library, going up in flames. Now he'd never read all of them.Mr. Poe coughed several times into his handkerchief before continuing. "I was sent to retrieve you here, and to take you to my home, where you'll stay for some time while we figure things out. I am the executor of your parents' estate. That means I will be handling their enormous fortune and figuring out where you children will go. When Violet comes of age, the fortune will be yours, but the bank will take charge of it until you are old enough."
 

Matilda Primary Source 

Entry 2 2-10-05

I read about childhood aggression last week. The story was called “The Play’s the thing. This did not really have any thing historical in it; it did however point me in the direction I have decided to take my paper. I want to look at aggression in children throughout history. I was thinking that I could perhaps focus on what role media would play in this. Before there was TV and video games there was radio and live shows. I do not know a lot about the types of programs they played on the radio. I think I would like to look more into whether they played different shows each night or was more like one long story. I also want to look into how many stations the average radio got and if they played different things on each of the different stations. I know some that programs were like soap operas we have today. They story I read in the children’s reader was saying that children and the media were not blame for how kids turned out, it was the fault of parents who did not give their kids an alternate means to release the pent up stress and frustration of being a child. In my paper I think I’m going to take the same side. I personally do not think that media can be blamed. On some level, I think, parents have to stand up and take some responsibility for their kids. If kids are explained what they are seeing in terms they can understand and given an outlet for how they feel, then parents shouldn’t have to worry that kids will pick up bad habits.
I would also like to look at whether there was appropriate entertainment for each age or whether they just lumped all kids’ entertainment together. Today, we have the “V-chip” this advancement in television lets parents know what is appropriate for their kids. For example at the top of the screen will appear a sign that says rated “G” this let parents know that is made for the general audience. I know that radio programs would not have had this but I wonder if they have radio programs for a younger audience and a different one for older kids. I know they made books for all ages. I am also going to look into what the general themes were in books and radio around these times.

History 300 Classmates

Anderson, Nicholas A.
Baber, John B.
Byrd, Lori L.
Dobbs, Laura N.
Hadrick, Kelly M.
Kennedy, Francie
Klepfel, Keith H.
Leahy, Madeliene B.
Luu, Nghinh A.
McCormack, Brendan
Nikitenko, Jazmine L.
Perry, Rickita T.
Smith, Sarah C.
Stewart-Nunes, Sarah

Childrens History 300

I read "The Play's the Thing" by Dorothy Walter Baruch. I thought this was a good article because it hits on the fact that media is not to blame for child aggression. She talks about how parenting is to blame. Parents do not give children an outlet for their aggression; therefore children tend to relate to the evil chracter they seen in books. This is because children see characters due everything they can not do. I think this could lend itself to a really interesting paper. I would focus on child aggression in history and i would also look at media playing a role.

I also read Briar Rose by the Grimm Brothers. The Stroy is of young girl pricking her finger and falling asleep, most people know this by sleeping beauty. I think this story is to send a message to girls, to mind their own business but if you don't a handsome guy will come save you. This is doubtful in reality. I thought that using the story as a platform could help jump into a essay about children's literature. I was thinking that i could analyze the difference and boys and girls stories. I would look at the message it sends to each gender.