Blog Post Drop Box: Lewis Carroll's _Alice's Adventures in Wonderalnd_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. When using book titles in your post you should set the title off with the underscore key: _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ (as the comment box does not recognize italics). If you are signed up to be a discussion leader, your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. If you are signed up to be a responder, your post should be 250 words in length and respond to, answer, extend, or disagree with a question or thought from another student's post. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Friday, January 29 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, February 1 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Aly F. and Alison M.
Responders: McKenna, Amanda, Summer, and TeAnna

Course Recap for January 26

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Today at the beginning of class you took a reading quiz over the novel. After the quiz, I asked you to do a bit of writing about the popularity and value of Rowling's series and to record some of your initial thoughts and impressions about the novel. I then asked you to work with a partner to complete a character chart. You can access that document HERE. We then worked through the chart as a class and began our discussion of the novel focusing on character and the value of popular children's literature.

Critical Approaches to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Joseph and Gruner
After the break, we spent a few minutes watching a fanvid. You can access that video HERE. I asked you to identify what arguments the creator of the fanvid was trying to make and the evidence from the film texts she used to back up her argument. We then discussed your thoughts. We talked about how the fanvid is just one (creative) way you might make a complex argument about a narrative. Creating your own fanvid is one of the possible assignments you might choose for the final writing project. I then spent some time introducing you to the final writing project for our class. You can access the assignment sheet HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog under "course documents." You should begin thinking now about what type of writing you might be interested in completing. This project is not due until the final week of class, so you have plenty of time to brainstorm.

Next we began discussing some questions related to the critical readings for today, and I asked you to point to important definitions, people, ideas, and quotes from Joseph and Gruner's critical readings. We then spent some time discussing the definition of "liminality" and how the term relates to Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; we also identified Gruner's research question, her main argument, how she presents her argument, and important terms and passages she uses as evidence for her argument. I provided you with a handout to help you think about how you might synthesize and begin to understand a scholar's research. You can access that handout HERE.

Key Questions
Do the books have literary value, or are they just commercial products? Where is the line between literature, media, and mass-produced products and should there/can there be a line? Why are these books so popular, and what does their popularity tell us about how we are and what we, as a culture, believe ourselves to be?

How are adults portrayed in the novel? How do growth and power function in the novel? How does liminality function in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? How are education and knowledge figured in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? What are unschooling, didacticism, and pedagogy, and how are they related to Harry Potter?

Homework

• Read Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and ALL ANNOTATIONS (pages 7-127 of The Annotated Alice edited by Martin Gardner). If you are interested in listening to Alice in addition to reading the annotated version, you can access a free version HERE.
• Read Michelle Abate's chapter "'The Queen Had Only One Way of Settling All Difficulties... Off with His Head!': Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Antigallows Movement" from her book Bloody Murder: The Homicide Tradition in Children's Literature (This chapter is 30 pages long, so be sure to give yourself enough time to work through it.)

Blog Post Drop Box: J. K. Rowling's _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. When using book titles in your post you should set the title off with the underscore key: _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ (as the comment box does not recognize italics). If you are signed up to be a discussion leader, your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. If you are signed up to be a responder, your post should be 250 words in length and respond to, answer, extend, or disagree with a question or thought from another student's post. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Friday, January 22 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, January 25 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Summer and Michelle
Responders: Cassi, Carla, Vincent, and Aly F.

Course Recap for January 19

Defining Children's Literature and "Historicizing Childhood"
Today at the beginning of class, I asked you to spend some time writing about your readings: Hintz and Tribunella's "Historicizing Childhood" and the Early History of Children's Lit presentation. Next, I asked you to spend some time sharing your notes with a partner. After you spent a few minutes discussing your thoughts, I handed out the first reading quiz. You spent 15 minutes writing your short response. The historical models of childhood are extremely important to our study of children's literature; we will come back to them again and again throughout the semester. If you were present and participated in class today, you received full credit on your first reading quiz. I created a sample answer key for the first quiz that you can access HERE. Keep in mind that each response will be a bit different, so your responses do not need to match the key exactly.

Group Work and Discussion
Next, I asked you to work with a small group to come up with your own personal definitions for "children's literature." You were free to pick and choose from among different scholars' ideas and your own when coming up with your definitions. See the scholars' definitions handout HERE. I asked you to identify the seven models of childhood discussed in the reading. I also asked you to identify one specific quote each from the reading and the presentation that you found especially interesting, useful, or important. I asked you to identify a historical detail from the reading or the presentation and some significant formats, subgenres, or repeated themes in children's literature noted in the presentation. Finally, I asked you to note anything that you found confusing or had questions about from any of the readings. I then asked volunteers to share your definitions of "children's literature." I asked you if there were scholars definitions that you disagreed or agreed with from the reading or yesterday's presentation. I also asked you to identify some example of children's literature you enjoyed as a young person.

The Fantastic in Children's Literature and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
During the second half of class, I gave a short presentation on Fantasy and Realism in children's literature. You can access that presentation HERE and on the left hand side of the blog under "presentations." I then asked you to spend some time writing about J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. You either chose a prompt from the Reading Guide or any short passage from the first half of the  novel to write about. I reminded you as you were writing that you should go to the novel and pull specific quotes or scenes to provide evidence for your discussion of the significance of any element or idea. We then spent some time as a large group discussing your initial impression and thoughts about the novel. We will continue our discussion next week.

Key Questions From Class
What is children's literature? What underlying tensions and complexities are present in the term? What are the historical models of childhood? How can they help us better understand children's literature? What is the role of the fantastic in literature for children?

Homework

• Finish J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Read Michael Joseph's "Liminality"
• Read Elisabeth Rose Gruner's "Teach the Children: Education and Knowledge in Recent Children's Fantasy"

Blog Post Drop Box: Sample Post and Test Posts

How to Create a Blogger Account
In order to post on our course blog, you will need to log into (or create a new) google or blogger account. If you have a gmail, blogger, or other google account, you can use your login. If you do not, or want to create one just for this class, follow the instructions given by blogger. Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. Be sure to post a TEST blog post here before your first for-credit post is due. I handed around the sign up sheets for blog posts at the end of class today. You can access the filled in sign up sheet HERE and on the left hand side of the blog under "Course Documents."

What to Write About
Please see the Blog Assignment for details about this assignment. You may write about anything you want that relates to the primary text we are reading for the week, so long as you engage critically with the work and pose a discussion question. A great starting point would be to choose something from the "Blog Post Possibilities" section of the Reading Guide OR from the "Reading Strategies Handout" to explore (such as a theme, conflict, character, material considerations/context, narration, story, setting, or tone). DO NOT try to talk about all of these ideas or topics; choose one or two at the most. You can feel free to discuss other things beyond these literary elements, including pedagogical uses of and critical debates about the book you are writing about. You should use direct quotes to cite passages in the text as evidence of what you are arguing/discussing/noticing. Feel free to point us the additional critical or interesting online sources. See my sample post in the comments, and see the sample post with my notes on what to include linked in this post and on the left hand side of the blog under "Blog Assignment."

Instructions for Posting 
In order to receive full credit, your discussion leader blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Your response posts should be at least 250 words of original prose that responds to a discussion leader's question or comment. When using book titles in your post you should set the title off with the underscore key (hold shift and strike the key between the 0 and the = keys): _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ (as the comment box does not recognize italics). Pay attention to correct MLA guidelines when citing dialogue in your post. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post.

Before you post your first for-credit post, please post a test post in the comment section below. This will show me that you know how to use the blog properly, and if you do run into an issue, you will still have time to come see me in office hours or after class to walk you through the process. Your test post should simply include the words "test" and your name. (See my second post.) The cut-off time for this blog post is Friday, January 15 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Prof. Howard

Course Recap for January 12

Introduction to English 3830, Syllabus, and Course Expectations
At the beginning of our first class I asked you to fill out a student diagnostic form in order to help me get to know you better. You can access that document HERE. (If you missed class on the first day, please print this document, fill it out, and bring it next week.) You spent some time introducing yourself to a partner and exchanging emails, and then you introduced yourself to the class. I went over the syllabus, schedule of assignments, and course expectations in detail. You may access both of these documents on the left hand side of this blog under "Course Documents." I discussed the primary and secondary texts that you will be required to read for this course, and I introduced you to the course blog where you will find links to each secondary text. I also talked about the expectations for the reading and writing you will do in this class. I then spent some time going over the major projects and assignments for this course, including the blog assignment, the midterm, the poster presentation, and the final writing project; all of these documents are linked on the left hand side of the blog.

My office: Sprau Tower 810
I'll be there T 3-4 pm and 7:20-8 pm
(before and after class),
or you can schedule an appointment.

The most important pieces you should take away from our discussion are that I highly value attendance, completion of the assigned reading, and participation in classroom and blog discussion. The schedule of assignments details for each day the homework due for the next class. This course is reading and writing intensive; we will read one primary text and several critical texts every week over the course of the semester. I asked each of you to sign a syllabus contract as evidence that you read and understood the expectations for the course. Feel free to visit me during office hours to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Critical Questions for Thinking About Children's Literature
After we came back from break, I asked you to spend some time writing responses to the questions on the back of your diagnostic. These questions included: What is a child? Who is children’s literature for? What is the relationship between literature for "adults" and literature for "children"? Are there universal values that children’s literature reflects and inculcates (teaches through repetition)? If so, what are they? If not, should there be? We then spent some time discussing your responses as a large class.

Reading Strategies in This Course
We then took some time to talk a bit about how to read in a college level literature class. I provided you with a "Reading Strategies Packet" (linked HERE and on the left hand side of the blog) that details reading practices for college level literature courses briefly. I then gave a lecture on this topic which you can access HERE. You should feel free to refer back to these reading strategies as you work through any assigned reading for this class (both are linked on the left hand side of the blog under "Course Documents" and "Prezs").

For next week, you will be reading a critical chapter "Historicizing Childhood," reviewing a powerpoint presentation on the Early History of Children's Literature, and reading the first half of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; you should be sure to you give yourself adequate time to complete the assigned reading (the chapter is 23 pages long and the presentation includes 27 slides). You must print out both documents or bring a laptop or tablet to work with them in class AND bring your book to class (your attendance points for the day will be based upon you doing this). There will be a quiz during the first part of class, and you can use your reading/notes. I suggest that you highlight, underline, and write notes about things you find interesting, important, or confusing in the text. If you ever have any issue opening or accessing any of the readings linked here, email me right away and I will send you a PDF via email, THEN see me in office hours so we can remedy the issue.

Homework

• Read Carrie Hintz and Eric Tribunella's "Historicizing Childhood" AND the presentation "The Early History of Children's Literature: Defining and Historicizing the Genre" (You can access these readings by clicking on the links on the left hand side of the blog. After you click on each link, you can read the file in google docs and use the magnifying glass as needed, or download the file as a PDF and magnify it.)
• Read Chapters 1-9 of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 
• Buy your $5 fee card from the WMU Bernhard Center and purchase your books