There is much more to children's literature than meets the eye. First of all, adults are the ones writing these children’s books and there is a grave concern about pouring into the younger generations because they are the future for the country. In Karen Sanchez-Eppler’s article, she expresses that one role of the adult is instill a “sense of what is important” and this is portrayed in children’s books in the sense that there is normally a moral lesson to be learned from a story. “[children’s literature is] Written out of concern for children and country, the literature could not but embody something of its authors’ expectations and apprehensions for the future of both” (Macleod)
“Children matter then not as selves, but as stages in the process of making an adult identity-as if childhood could only be meaningful in retrospect” (Sanchez-Eppler). A great point is made there in that from childhood to adulthood many lessons are learned and some are very difficult to grasp. It’s like “if I knew then what I know now” and in writing children’s literature, perhaps this is one way the older generations are imparting their wisdom about lessons learned for the younger generations to learn from now and not down the road after hardship. In analyzing children’s literature, that is of importance to search for the undertone of what is being said, to look for and hold onto any piece of wisdom the older generations are trying to leave behind the younger generations.
Another theory in analyzing children’s literature is that these stories were intended to lead by example instead of simply lecturing children about morals and living virtuous lives. Macleod points out that nineteenth century theorists were always pointing out that “children learned much better by example than by precept”. Whether this was teaching morals or teaching children gender roles in society, the intention was to demonstrate expectations through the literature of the time.
In analyzing children’s literature I think it is also important to read between the lines and get a sense of the tone of the piece of literature. Macleod points out that “when American writers undertook the moral and social instruction of children through fiction, they necessarily documented their own attitudes, both conscious and unconscious, toward childhood and society”. This can assist in making the literature more meaningful if we understand the attitude the author had towards the subject that was being written about. In doing this we can more deeply grasp the lessons that are trying to be taught and the ideals of what the author deemed as important for the future of society.
Finally, it is important to point out that in analyzing children’s literature, there is very little information about the plot and the settings surrounding the story. Mainly because the authors didn’t want to take away from the moral lesson of a story, however, recognizing where the story takes place can be important in identifying the author’s attitude toward society at the time. “Most writers of juvenile literature regarded cities with suspicion, if not with outright hostility. They saw them as dangerous, corrupting, and immoral” (Macleod). Because the purpose of many children’s literature at the time was to instill morality, the setting of a story is not going to be set in a place that represents upheaval of morals. From this, we can further gage the attitudes of authors towards society at the time.
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I completely agree with your statement about adult’s concern for the future translating over into children’s literature. I also mentioned in my own blog that it is adults who decide what is important for children. I think that it is very interesting how you made the connection between the sense of importance and moral lessons. I have never connected the two but after thinking, I realized that the two do go hand in hand.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the morality part of the children literature is to guide children into making the right decisions after learning from the mistakes of other characters in the books. Though, I never thought of the gender roles idea. It totally does make sense that for the expectations of society, the gender roles are sometimes taught through the literature.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that adults who wrote these books wrote what they found was important. Adults wrote these books to teach children how to be Americans and how to be better people. They wrote what they thought was important and something I wonder is who decides what is important. What if the idea was only important to the author? Would people still read it even if they found the concept unimportant.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you used the phrase “I wish I knew then what I know now.” It’s a really interesting way to look at the idea of writing children’s literature to teach them lessons that older generations learned the hard way. I also liked how you mentioned the leading by example theory. Good thoughts!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog I agreed with all your theories and found most of them to be really well thought out. I liked how you established the theory of how children’s literature was used to lead children rather than just lecturing them. Because I believe that children learn best when you are able to tell them what you want and what you expect from them. Overall a very good posting.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the fact that children were taught in a lead by example fashion. Most of these literary childrens stories were based on good and evil and that the virtuous always prevail over the evil. You are so right with the idea that parents truly were the source of their childs behavior. These stories for sure played a major role in teaching the children about how to lead moral and socially acceptable lives. I think leading by example is a factor that is still very true today in the way we behave as well in a lot of the modern children's literature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with so much of what you wrote, but I especially liked when you wrote about how children where being lead by example in literature. Though literature was transitioning from being used for entertainment to more of an instructional tool, authors still provided readers with stories that were examples of what to do and not to do, which I believe is much easier to comprehend.
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