Author: km157380

NO-CARD
12/7/15

Racial Innocence- C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis’ chronicles of Narnia is guilty of racial innocence in his famous Chronicles of Narnia series. Although the books are meant for slightly older children, they are certainly read by and read to children of elementary school age. C.S. Lewis mentions an army/group of people called the Calormenes first in his book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.”

Calor in spanish means “color,” and is a very distinct cognate. The Calormenes are described in “The Voyage of the Dawn Treading” to, “have dark faces and long beards. They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans, and they are a wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient people.” Although the Calormenes themselves are not slaves, slavery is mentioned just three sentences later when Prince Caspian says, “That is only fair, sirs,” said Caspian. “Every man who has bought a slave to-day must have his money back. Pug, bring out your takings to the last minim.”

C.S. Lewis is essentially calling the Calormenes, “colored people” which clearly has racist undertones to it although it may not be completely overt. The fact that they wear long, flowing robes like Ancient African people further preserves the idea that the racism is innocent, but certainly still present. Referring to slavery just three short sentences after introducing and describing the Calormenes subconsciously links the ideas of darker skin with slavery involvement in a way that was really not necessary to the story line, or could have been introduced in a different manner.

Work Cited:
Lewis, C., & Baynes, P. (1994). What Caspian Did There. In The voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: HarperCollins.

http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/lewiscs-voyageofthedawntreader/lewiscs-voyageofthedawntreader-00-h.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calormen

10/27/15

Group C Mess: Calm vs Aggressive

Last week, the binary calm vs aggressive was introduced in relation to how Aunt Polly treats Tom. Perhaps she has a difficult time being aggressive towards him since his mother, her sister, died.

However, this binary is challenged in chapter 24 with the quote:

‘No, I don’t dare. Poor boy, I reckon he’s lied about it — but it’s a blessed, blessed lie, there’s such a comfort come from it. I hope the Lord — I KNOW the Lord will forgive him, because it was such goodheartedness in him to tell it. But I don’t want to find out it’s a lie. I won’t look.’

When Tom tells Aunt Polly about the bark in his pocket he never gave her, she doesn’t believe him. The calm vs aggressive binary assumes that Aunt Polly is always acting as the adult and Tom is always acting as the child. It suggests she is constantly acting in reaction to Tom. But, it’s not that she is either acting calmly or aggressively towards him. In this example she doesn’t necessarily take into account his mother’s death, she is just taking into account whether or not he is acting morally. She acts ambivalent towards him when he tells her about the bark, because she doesn’t believe him. Yet, she is secretly pleading for him to be telling the truth. She goes from acting ambivalently towards him to grateful behind his back.

Twain, Mark, and Jean Craighead George. “XXIV.” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print

10/19/15

Happy Little George

Lydia Maria Child’s story “Happy Little George” is a short story about a young boy, George, and the lessons he learned in creating a bountiful garden. When George first receives a plot of land, he plants all of the flowers he owns at once, but they wither in the sun. Then, his mother shows him how to properly plant flowers. She tells him to be patient and wait for the flowers to grow, adding that it is foolish for boys to fret when things don’t grow as fast as they want. After returning from a trip to Boston with his father, George only asks his mother once when she thought the flowers would begin to show through the ground. After four days they became visible.

The next day, George finds a flower pot in his garden with three roses and three rose buds. It was a gift from his father for being so patient about his garden. From then on, George brought roses to school for Little Mary. He also gave a rose to any “ragged child” without a rose garden.

Child, Lydia Maria. “Happy Little George.” Flowers for Children. Boston: C.S. Francis &, 1854. Print.

——————————————

Happy Little George focuses heavily on patience, like “Llama llama red pajama” by Anna Dewdney. Although the contemporary example is filled with large, colorful pictures, the theme that decision making and patience is what will ultimately get a person what they want is the central idea of both texts.

10/5/15

Binary Post: Small vs Large

A prominent binary that I noticed in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” was small vs large. Carroll juxtaposes small and large throughout the book.

I think the small vs large binary really represents power and control. This is especially relevant considering the book has undertones of colonialism–where power and control are of the upmost importance.

A classic, and quite literal, example of this binary in the book is when Alice is trying to get through the door of Wonderland. She is growing bigger and smaller depending on if she is eating the dessert, or drinking the elixir on the table. She begins crying because she feels out of control and starts to wonder what kind of situation she got herself into. Her lack of control leads to feelings of fear and possibly regret. Being small or large, i.e. feeling in or out of control, is a major theme for Alice throughout the book as she encounters nonsensical things, and scary characters.

There are times when this binary is not so literal, also. Sometimes, Alice feels big or small throughout the book depending on what is occurring. For example, when she first sees the Queen she goes from literally being reminded that she is small when the Queen calls her “child,” to feeling large after she, surprising herself, stands up to the Queen and silences her.

————-
“What’s your name, child?”

“My name is Alice, so please your Majesty,” said Alice very politely; but she added, to herself, “Why, they’re only a pack of cards, after all. I needn’t be afraid of them!”

“And who are these?” said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners who were lying round the rose-tree; for, you see, as they were lying on their faces, and the pattern on their backs was the same as the rest of the pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, or soldiers, or courtiers, or three of her own children.

“How should I know?” said Alice, surprised[100] at her own courage. “It’s no business of mine.”

The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off——”

“Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.”
————–

Lewis, Carroll. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Gutenburg. Web. 5 Oct. 2015. .

09/29/15

Wonderland Project- Sane vs Insane

How will you betray the real world in which your binary exists?
-Once Alice falls down the rabbit hole she questions everything that is insane in an insane world. We like the idea of having our character question sane things in an insane world, as if sanity does not make sense.

Imagine how you might have a character from this situation move into an alternate Wonderland. How will your character move out of this world?
-We brainstormed ideas about living in New York City–a place where we often see the insane and simply turn a blind eye. We are interested in our character entering a subway car where our Wonderland exists. As our character moves through each car determining what is sane and what is insane, it will meet new people and experience different things.

Think of at least one way you might represent these ideas on your website
-Perhaps we can visually set up what one of the cars look like and have different scenarios pop up so the viewer can determine what they think is sane or insane.

09/14/15

Child As a Site- Oh The Places You’ll Go

I chose “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss as a prime example where an adult uses a “children’s” text as a site to project their own desires. The book discusses a child’s future, yet, also notes how difficult life can be.

Here is an excerpt:

“Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be as famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t
Because, sometimes they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.”

The text tries to enact the desire to be able to go deal with the trials and tribulations of life, while holding onto happiness and becoming successful. However, the ideas of success and happiness are completely determined by the author, an adult. A child may not innately want to be famous, however, an adult is suggesting that will bring them happiness. Is the whole world watching you achieve something on television to mark of success? It seems as if the author wanted fame himself.

When the author discusses loneliness, it feels like an extremely deeply-rooted and complex issue that an adult is purposely trying to simplify in order to explain to children.

Judging by the text, “Oh The Places You’ll Go,” Dr. Seuss seemingly desired success and fame, while trying to remain optimistic about the future. He also seemingly desired company, or just the opposite of loneliness. He projects his fears of not achieving his dreams onto children by trying to encourage them to fearlessly take on their futures.

Suess, Dr. Oh, the Places You’ll Go! New York: Random House, 1990. Print.
http://www.ncra.org/files/mcms/f54dbcd1-4e78-47b1-916c-c73d66200335.pdf

09/8/15

How to Read Children’s Literature: Hades and Persephone

The story of the seasons.

What the reader is supposed to know….

1) about life:
-The reader is supposed to know the definition of the Underworld.
-The reader is supposed to understand the importance of grains and fertility (in addition to what fertility is).
-The reader is supposed to be familiar with pomegranates.
-The reader is supposed to understand the idea and importance of seasons.

2) about language:
-The reader is supposed to be able to read and pronounce some difficult names.

3) about literature:
-The reader is supposed to know enough Greek mythology to understand Zeus’ divine power.
-The reader is supposed to know and understand despair.
-The reader is supposed to understand the idea that a mother’s love, in literature, can transcend earth/space/time.

What a reader is asked to do…

1) The reader is asked to accept the idea that if food from the Underworld is eaten, the consumer cannot return to Earth.

2) The reader is asked to connect the unison of Demeter and Persephone with spring, and their separation with winter.

3) The reader is asked to connect love with warmth and growth and despair with cold and death.

Implied reader of the text:

I think think the implied reader is a child regardless of the potentially difficult names. Children can connect the idea of love with growth, sunlight and warmth. They can also connect despair, or sadness, with the cold, dark winter. The love that a mother has for her child is a simple concept that a child could easily grasp.

09/1/15

The Tortoise and the Hare

Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying you’re swift, but even you can be beaten!” The hare squealed with laughter.
“Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there’s nobody in the world that can win against me, I’m so speedy. Now, why don’t you try?”

Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. “Take your time!” he said. “I’ll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute.”

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise’s face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring happily. The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise a speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he’d be first at the finish. But the hare’s last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.

“Slowly does it every time!” he said.

Aesop. (1997, July 7). The Tortoise and The Hare. Retrieved September 8, 2015, from http://childhoodreading.com/?p=3