Final Meeting

Today during class you presented your final writing projects. Each of you chose a real-world writing style, examined several models of this style of writing, created your own piece, published your project, and reflected upon your work. Please see the final writing assignment sheet and grading rubric on the left hand side of the blog under course documents. Below you will find links and explanations of each students' project.

Vincent: Online Evaluative Writing: Book Review Blog - "Exploring Models of Childhood Expressed in 1980s and 1990s Era Children's Film"

Amanda: Educational Writing: Teaching Guide - "A Teacher's Guide to Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming"

Carla: Educational Writing: Teaching Guide - "Bud, Not Buddy: Unit Teaching Guide"

Gianna: Online Evaluative Writing: Book Review Blog - "Removing the Dis- in Disabled: The Portrayal of Disabilities in Children's Literature"

Michelle: Educational Writing: Teaching Guide - "Teacher's Guide to Weedflower" and "Weedflower Pinterest Art Crafts"

Jonathan: Online Evaluative Writing: Book Review Blog - "Religion in Children's Literature and Film"

Alison M.: Creative Writing: Verse Novel - "Southern State of Mind"

McKenna: Creative Writing: Epistolary Novel - "Dear Best Friend"

Summer: Critical Writing: Scholarly Conference Paper - "The Comics Medium: War, Heroism, and WWII in DC's Batman"

Aly F.: Educational Writing: Teaching Guide - "Historical Fiction in the Classroom"

Cassi: Participatory Writing: Fan Vid - "Overcoming Tragic Events: Ft. The Wizard of Oz and Bridge to Terabithia"

I will have your final projects graded and will turn in my final grades by next Tuesday (May 3). Your grades will be posted on GoWMU under "My Final Grades," and you should be able to access them May 3 after 5:00 pm. Please see the syllabus for the grading scale and final project grading rubric. If you would like your final project or grading rubric back, just send me an email during Summer I or next semester, and you can come pick it up during my office hours or at another a time that works for you. I will keep your grading rubrics for six months, then I will shred and recycle them.

I want to thank you all for an amazing semester! You all did a wonderful job with the material. I hope you enjoyed this class and can find some way to use the work you have done this semester outside of this class. Whether you plan to pursue teaching, be a leader, or just love books and thinking, I hope the work you have done this semester will assist you in meeting your future goals. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have questions about children's literature, graduate school, or writing. Have a great summer break!

Poster Presentations, Finals Week, & Course Evaluations

Excellent work this week on your poster presentations! You all did a great job. Today was our last class meeting before your final writing project is due. I suggest you take some time to review the final writing project assignment sheet and the final project grading rubric linked on the left hand side of the blog under "course documents." A few reminders: both your final writing project reflection (in hard copy form: typed and printed out, 12 point times new roman double spaced, approximately 8 pages) and your actual final writing project (in either hard copy or electronic copy depending upon your writing style) are due on Tuesday, April 26. Your final writing project is worth 100 points, and your final project reflection is worth 70 points. If you brought your final project planning outline to your conference and discussed it with me, you received full credit (30 points) for this part of your project.

During finals week, on Tuesday, April 26, we will meet in our classroom from 5:00-7:00 pm. Please be prepared to present your writing project (an informal 5 minute presentation/reading/tutorial). I will have my computer hooked up to the projector (for book review blogs and fan vids: feel free to email me links to these and I will sync your project up), or you are welcome to use the document camera (for teaching guides, verse novels/creative writing, and conference papers). I am happy to answer questions or meet with you for a conference anytime this week. If you would like to see me for an individual conference, please feel free to email me to set up a time that works for you. I will also hand back your graded poster presentation rubric when you turn in your final on Tuesday; I will include your poster grade and a course grade update. Please take a few minutes to complete your course evaluation today if you haven't already! I appreciate your feedback.

Excellent work this semester! It has been a pleasure working with you all.

Poster Presentations This Week

When you come to class this week, our classroom will be set up in two sections: computer one will be at the front of the room and computer 2 will be at the back of the room. Each area will have a computer, a projector, and a group of chairs. Please see the schedule below for the layout of our classroom, a schedule of presenters, and poster presentation topics. The only things you need to bring to class this week are your presentation materials for when you are presenting (note cards, your poster proposal, or anything you might use while you share your research) and something to write with for when you are listening. A note to presenters: you will have 5-7 minutes to present your research and 2-3 minutes to answer questions from your peers about your research; you will present your poster twice. Be sure to practice presenting your research. You should fill your 5-7 minutes, but not go over your time. Your ability to stick to/fill your time slot will impact your grade. Please review the grading rubric for the poster presentation which you can find HERE and on the left hand side of the blog. I will provide you each with a paper copy of the brief report handout at the beginning of class, but you should be prepared to ask and be asked the questions listed HERE. Your posters look great! Looking forward to hearing each of you present on your research this coming week. You will have some time at the end of class this week to complete your course evaluations as well. Feel free to bring your own laptop or device (or to use one of the computers in the computer lab that is connected to our classroom) to complete your evaluation.

Tuesday, April 19: Detailed Program Schedule

Session 1
4:00 - 4:20 pm
Computer 1 Summer: "Food's Relationship to Fear, Decision Making, and Temptation in Neil Gaiman's Coraline"
Computer 2 Amanda: "The Multiple Mother Motif in Neil Gaiman's Coraline"

Session 2
4:20 - 4:40 pm
Computer 1 McKenna: "Gender in Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"
Computer 2 Michelle: "The Liminal Dichotomy of Harry Potter"

Session 3
4:40 - 5:00 pm
Computer 1 Aly F.: "The Role Religion Plays in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"
Computer 2 Vincent: "The Magical Power of Suggestion: Discovering the Function of Sexual Maturation in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Session 4
5:00 - 5:20 pm
Computer 1 Cassi: "Gender and Education in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
Computer 2 Jonathan: "Gender and Identity in Neil Garman's Coraline"


Session 5
5:20 - 5:40 pm
Computer 1 Gianna: "Sigmund Freud's 'The Uncanny' in Neil Gaiman's Coraline"
Computer 2 Carla: "Racism, Free Verse, & Haiku in Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming"

Session 6
5:40 - 6:00 pm Computer 1 Alison M.: "Food, Orality, and the Gothic in Neil Gaiman's Coraline"

Individual Conferences, Poster Presentations, and Course Evaluations

Individual Conferences
Today I met with each of you individually to discuss your poster proposals, your upcoming poster presentation, and your plans for your final writing project. At your conference I provided you with a grade update. Your grade is made up of the following points possible so far: attendance and book checks = 120 points, blog posts = 200 points, reading quizzes = 80 points (this includes your two dropped or extra credit quizzes), midterm exam = 200 points, and poster proposal = 50 points. The total points possible so far = 650 points. You have 20 attendance points (these will be factored in as extra credit), your 200 point final writing project, and your 150 point poster presentation left to get to our course total of 1000 points. Your grade update is in the lower left hand corner of your poster proposal grading rubric, and it includes your points total, percentage, and letter grade; I also noted any absences in orange. Feel free to calculate your possible final grade based upon the grading scale in the syllabus and the student grade worksheet posted on the left hand side of the blog. If you have questions about your grade, please feel free to contact me.

Research and Poster Presentations
During your individual conference I discussed your poster proposal with you in detail. Be sure to follow my recommendations for changes as you work on your final poster presentation. Try to make your research question(s) as specific as possible. Remember: this should not be a yes or no question or a question you can answer in one word. If I suggested you expand and clarify your thesis/argument/conclusion, go back and add details. Your conclusion/thesis/argument should be the answer to your research question and should show how you are adding to the conversation and using the scholarship you have read. It should be around three sentences of your own words. If I suggested you do more research, use the MLA International Bibliography and Project Muse; you can access that website on the left hand side of the blog under "Resources." You poster MUST include a title, your research question(s), and your thesis/conclusion/argument. I also suggest you consider including quotes from your secondary sources (critical articles), a quote or image from your primary source, and several images. Your poster should be visually appealing and not include too much text. Please spend some time reviewing the poster presentation assignment guidelines and grading rubric document; you can access that document on the left hand side of the blog under "Course Documents."  I will be grading your final poster on overall content (research question, research, analysis of your chosen primary text, and your argument/thesis/conclusion), structure (layout and design of your poster), and clarity. Also, be sure to review the questions your peers might ask you after you present; you can access that document on the left hand side of the blog in the document "Poster Prez: Brief Reports."

Additional Assistance
I would also be happy to give you some feedback over email or in an additional conference if you have a quick question about your research question, a source, your thesis, or your poster layout. Do not wait until the last minute on Friday to ask questions!

Course Evaluations
Please take a few minutes to complete your course evaluation sometime in the next week or so. I highly value your feedback and use evaluations to improve my teaching. These evaluations are anonymous, and I will not see these until after grades are posted. You will have the opportunity to complete your evaluation at the end of class next week; you may bring your own laptop or use one of the computers in our lab.

Homework
Your completed poster is due to me via email (krystal.j.howard@wmich.edu) by Friday, April 15 at midnight. Please send a single slide, PowerPoint document as an attachment. Title your document with your first and last name, the course number, and the word "poster": JaneSmith3830Poster. If you do not turn your poster in by this time and labeled in this way, you will not be able to present next week. Remember: this project is worth 20% of your final grade.

Individual Conferences This Week

Just a reminder: we will not have class this week (Tuesday, April 12). Instead you will meet with me individually in our classroom (Brown 3045) for a 30 minute individual conference during which time we will discuss your poster proposal and your upcoming presentation, as well as your plans for your final writing project. Please bring your poster slide draft, your completed final project planning outline, and any questions or concerns you want to discuss. Do not miss your conference this week (it will count as one absence if you miss your time and you will not be able to present your poster next week)! You can find the individual conference sign up sheet HERE and on the left hand side of the blog under "course documents."

Course Recap for April 5

Cece Bell's El Deafo
Today at the beginning of class you took a short quiz over Wheeler's essay. I then asked you to do a bit of writing about a panel or series of panels in Bell's comic OR about the ways in which disability is portrayed in El Deafo. I then asked the four discussion leaders to start off our discussion of the comic. We spent some time as a large group discussing the images and ideas you were interested in
within Bell's work.

Critical Approaches to El Deafo: Wheeler
Next I asked you to work with a small group to answer a series of questions about Wheeler's essay: "No Monsters in This Fairy Tale: Wonder and the New Children's Literature." You can access that exercise HERE. This final source is significant because it allows you to see the ways in which you might locate a topic or an idea that a scholar has identified within a text and apply it to another similar text. Each group then presented on their series of questions, pointing the class to the places within Wheeler and Bell's texts that can be used to explore questions of disability within children's literature.

Important Upcoming Due Dates...
Next week, on April 12, we will NOT have class. Instead, you will meet with me individually for 30 minutes in our classroom to discuss your poster proposal and your final writing project. Please see the individual conference sign up sheet linked on the left hand side of the blog and make note of your conference time. DO NOT MISS YOUR INDIVIDUAL CONFERENCE (it will count as an absence, and you will not be able to present your poster the following week). Please bring BOTH of the following items to your conference: a draft of your poster slide (you can just bring your laptop or device), your completed final writing project planning outline (page 4 of the Final Writing Project Assignment Sheet), AND any questions you might have about either project. At the end of class today we went over the grading rubric for the poster presentation and the final writing project. You can access those documents HERE and HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog under course documents. We spent some time going over how the poster presentation day will go and what we will do during the final exam week. Your final poster slide is due to me via email by Friday, April 15 at midnight. Please save your slide as YourFirstNameLastName3830Poster. If you do not save your slide with the correct name or email it to me by the deadline, you will take a zero and not be able to present your work. On Tuesday, April 19 everyone will present their poster. Students will take notes and ask questions of the presenters. You can access those questions HERE. Once everyone has sent me their work, I will post a schedule that includes your title and presentation time. At the end of class today I handed around a poster presentation sign up sheet. You can access that filled in document HERE and on the left hand side of the blog. During finals week, our class will meet Tuesday, April 26 from 5-7pm and you will turn in and present your final writing project to the group. You will talk for approximately 5-10 minutes and read or show a selection from your project to the group.

Key Questions From Class
How is disability portrayed in 21st century children's literature? What are the three models of disability, and how are these models addressed in Bell's El Deafo? What is Rosemarie Garland-Thomas’s theory of staring, and how might this theory play out in Bell's comic? How is the carnivalesque featured in Bell's El Deafo?

Homework

• Work on poster slide AND final writing project
• Individual Conferences Next Week (no class, bring your poster slide draft and completed final project planning outline to your conference)

Blog Post Drop Box: Cece Bell's _El Deafo_

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: _El Deafo_ (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, April 1 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, April 4 at midnight (for responders). NOTE: This is the FINAL blog post opportunity of the semester. If you have missed a discussion leader or a response post sometime during the semester, I suggest you post this week! I will place the names of students who have missed posts in parenthesis as a reminder.

Discussion Leaders: Cassi and Jonathan (McKenna and Alison M.)
Responders: Michelle (Gianna, Amanda, and TeAnna)

Course Recap for March 29

Tim Tingle's How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz over the novel. I then asked you to spend a bit of time writing in response to a passage, a discussion question, or a topic. I asked each person to write a page number of a significant passage on the board next to the topics of interest I listed: grief, loss, and death in children's literature; historical violence and trauma; place; and spirituality, religion, and cultural myth. We then spent some time as a large group discussing Tingle's How I Became a Ghost. After our discussion, I gave a short presentation on historical fiction for young readers. You can access that presentation HERE.

Critical Approaches to How I Became a Ghost: Reese
After our break, I asked you to break into small groups to work on some literary interpretation exercises related to your reading. One group worked on narration in Tingle's novel; one group synthesized Debbie Reese's blog and her reviews of Tingle's work; and another group worked on a comparative chart to break down the uses of historical fiction and trauma in Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming and Tingle's How I Became a Ghost, spirituality and religion in Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Tingle's HIBAG, and/or cultural myth in Yang's American Born Chinese and Tingle's HIBAG. You can access that exercise HERE.

Important Due Dates Coming Up...
At the very end of class, I gave you some time to ask questions, vet sources, and/or seek assistance from myself or a peer in relation to your poster proposal. Your final poster proposal is due at the beginning of class next week. IF YOU DO NOT TURN IN A POSTER PROPOSAL, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PRESENT YOUR POSTER. Remember, this project is worth 20% of your final grade (the proposal alone is worth 5% of your final grade). I strongly suggest you see me if you have any questions. You can access the grading rubric for your poster proposal HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog under course documents. On April 12, we will NOT have class. Instead, you will meet with me individually for 30 minutes to discuss your poster proposal and your final writing project. I handed around an individual conference sign up sheet during class today. You can find the filled in schedule HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog. You should also keep in mind that your project planning outline for your final writing assignment is due in your individual conference on April 12. We will talk more about this in class next week.

Key Questions From Class
How is narration figured in How I Became a Ghost? What narrative mode, style, and medium are utilized by the author and to what effect? What is the function of the historical narrative for young readers? What are the defining features of historical fiction for children? What is the role of trauma in literature for young readers?

Homework

• POSTER PROPOSAL FINAL DRAFT DUE at the beginning of class next week
• Read Cece Bell's El Deafo
• Read Elizabeth A. Wheeler's "No Monsters in This Fairy Tale: Wonder and the New Children's Literature" (this is a secondary text that is about a different primary text than the one you are reading for next week, but pay close attention to the discussion of the models of disability and think about how they could apply to a discussion of Bell's comic)

Course Recap for March 22

Neil Gaiman's Coraline
Today at the beginning of class you handed in your poster proposal drafts, and then you took a short reading quiz over Coraline. I asked you to spend a bit of time writing about a significant passage from the novel in order to help prepare you for the work you will do for your poster proposal assignment. This activity is identical to what you did for the midterm exam, and it is the same type of work you will do when you complete your poster proposal final draft (due in two weeks on April 5). You can access that handout HERE. While you were writing, I made notes on your poster proposal drafts and then returned them to you. Check marks next to each item indicates that you are on the right track and are ready to progress to the next steps of your poster proposal. If I circled or made an X through anything, that indicates that you are missing information OR that you need to scrap your original question/source/thesis and redo it. If I've written MLA next to a source, you do not have correct MLA format, and you should consult the Purdue OWL (the third link on the course blog under research resources) and page 3 of the Poster Assignment Handout (linked on the left hand side of the blog under course documents). If you did not receive all check marks, I suggest you come see me in office hours in the next few weeks with an updated proposal (feel free to do this if you have any questions at all). If you would like me to vet a source or check your MLA citation, feel free to see me in office hours or shoot me an email. After you finished your writing exercise, we turned to the large group for discussion. Before the break, I gave a short presentation of the Gothic in children's literature. You can access that presentation HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog. In addition to being inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gaiman has also cited another short story as his inspiration for Coraline; you can find a link to Lucy Clifford's "The New Mother" HERE. HERE is a link to an interesting article about Gaiman's children's writing called "Kid Goth" in The New Yorker. If you want some extra practice writing and a few extra credit points, feel free to leave a post under the Coraline drop box in which you: compare Coraline to Alice and/or Clifford's story OR discuss the function of the gothic in Coraline citing Goodyear's article and/or Coats and Hogle from the presentation. You will have the opportunity to earn up to 15 extra credit points. You CAN post an extra credit post even if you've already completed a discussion leader or response post for Coraline. The deadline to post for extra credit is Friday, April 1 at midnight.

Critical Approaches to Coraline: Keeling and Pollard
After the break, we spent some time talking about Keeling and Pollard's critical essay. I asked you to work with a small group to begin thinking about the critical source. This activity will help you prepare to begin annotating and synthesizing the research in the sources you collected for your poster proposal, as well as to begin thinking about how you might expand your own thesis for your poster proposal to add to the critical conversation about a text. You can access that handout HERE. We then came together as a large group to talk through Keeling and Pollard's essay. I also asked each group to read their unique annotation for the essay.

Key Questions From Class
What role does terror play in children’s literature? What characteristics of the gothic mode are present in Coraline? What is the function of food and orality in the novel?

Homework

• Read Tim Tingle's How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story
• Explore Debbie Reese's blog: American Indians in Children's Literature. Read THESE five posts on the novel and THESE twenty-one posts about the author.

Blog Post Drop Box: Tim Tingle's _How I Became a Ghost_

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: _How I Became a Ghost_ (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, March 25 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, March 28 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Alison M., Michelle, and Jonathan
Responders: Amanda, Vincent, and Gianna

Blog Post Drop Box: Neil Gaiman's _Coraline_

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: _Coraline_ (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, March 18 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, March 21 at midnight (for responders).

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

Course Recap for March 15

Tim Federle's Better Nate Than Ever
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz over Tribunella's "Boyhood." You then spent some time doing a bit of writing about Federle's novel. I then asked each student to write a page number or topic of interest or question they would like to explore on the board. You then spent some time as a large group discussing your thoughts on Better Nate Than Ever.

Critical Approaches to Better Nate Than Ever: Tribunella and Hermann-Wilmarth
Next I gave a short presentation on censorship and selection in children's literature; you can access that presentation HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog. HERE is a link to the article written by Federle that I reference in the presentation. We continued our discussion of Federle's novel, Tribunella's chapter, and Hermann-Wilmarth's article.

Key Questions From Class
How is boyhood figured in Better Nate Than Ever? How are humor and bullying depicted in the novel? What are censorship and selection? How might you as an educator/librarian/parent/reader/informed citizen respond to challenges to or concerns about books? How might future teachers move toward full inclusion in their classrooms?

Poster Presentation Guidelines and Proposal
During the second part of class, we spent some time going over your poster presentation. Please see the linked assignment sheet on the left hand side of the blog and HERE. Your poster presentation is worth 20% of your final grade. We went over the guidelines in detail during class. I suggest you begin work on this project now. Your poster proposal drafts are due next week (Tuesday, March 22) at the beginning of class. Your post proposal draft should include the following information (that you will type directly onto the poster proposal handout linked HERE and on the left hand side of the course blog): 1) the name of your primary text of choice [author's name and title], 2) your research question, 3) three passages from your primary text typed out [you do not need to write up your analysis/discussion of significance for the draft], 3) correct MLA citation information for three critical secondary sources [you do not need to annotate them for the draft], and 4) your thesis. You will expand upon this information when your final draft is due on April 5.

Topic and Research Question
Your first task is to choose a text that you want to write about; you can choose any text on the syllabus. Next, you should develop a research question. This question should be debatable and complex. You might explore how something functions within your text or do a comparative analysis of an idea in two texts. For examples of research questions, look to the critical articles we have been reading all semester. You should then work on pulling significant passages from your primary text and begin thinking about how you might analyze/write about the significance of these passages using the skills you practiced during the midterm exam.

Beginning Your Research
After you choose your primary text, develop a research question, and choose some significant passages from your primary text, you should begin looking for secondary sources to assist you in arguing your main points. You might use any of the suggested critical readings on the reading guide handouts for each novel. You should use the link on the left hand side of the blog "MLA International Biography: For Research" and then type in your text or topic. For example you might type: "Neil Gaiman, Coraline" or "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Rowling" or "Children's Literature, disability" or "Harry Potter, gender." You can then view the abstracts for articles or chapters by clicking on the titles. Be on the lookout for "full text"; this means that you can access the article in its entirety immediately. If you find an article or chapter you want, and the full text is not available online or the library does not carry the book, you can always order it via interlibrary loan. Articles and chapters are usually delivered (for free!) electronically within one week, therefore, now is the best time to start collecting sources so that you have them in your possession before your project is due. You are required to find at least THREE secondary sources (TWO of them should be sources not on the syllabus), and I ask that you annotate each of your sources. REMEMBER: your sources should come from children's literature journals (see the main journals listed on the left hand side of the blog) and/or books in the library. Please see me if you have a source you are wondering about (if it isn't from one of the children's lit journals, you should run it by me) or if you are struggling to find sources that relate to your text or topic. Once you've found your sources, you should then work on developing your thesis/conclusion/argument paragraph. This is the answer to your research question and should reflect the research you've done on your text and topic. See my sample poster proposal. I suggest you consult me as you go! Feel free to run your research question, thesis, sources, and MLA formatting by me during my office hours, before or after class, or send me an email. I am always happy to assist you as you work through this process.

Midterm Exams Returned
At the end of class, I went over the midterm exam with you and handed back your graded exams. On the front of your exam grading rubric I have noted your midterm exam grade, your current course grade, and the number of absences (if any) you've accrued this semester. **Please carefully review my written comments on your midterm exam.** Some of the biggest issues on the exam included: lack of details in your discussion of the significance of a passage, slipping into non-academic or informal tone in your writing, and misusing critics' arguments or terms in your argument. If you lost points for coherence and appropriate language, you should work on your writing. Continue to practice your writing in class, in your blog posts, see me in office hours, or make an appointment at the university’s writing center to work toward improving. If you received a grade lower than a C on your exam, I suggest you see me so that we can discuss how you can improve your writing and understanding of the course material. I am also happy to meet with you no matter what grade you received in order to talk through anything you are concerned about in regards to your writing or your understanding of the course material.

Remember: all grades are non-negotiable and final (unless I have made a calculation error that is not in your favor). Regardless of whatever grade you earned on the midterm, if you have any questions about your exam or how you can improve your writing, please feel free to see me during my scheduled office hours or make an appointment at a time that works better for you. For your privacy, I will not discuss your exam with you before, during, or after class in our classroom in front of other students. I WILL NOT DISCUSS YOUR EXAM WITH YOU THIS WEEK. Please carefully review all comments and wait until Tuesday of next week at the earliest to see me if you have concerns or questions.

Keep in mind: Your goal in this class is to make progress and work toward continual improvement in your writing, critical thinking, and understanding of children's literature. Think about this exam as the starting point from where you can learn, grow, improve, and move forward as a writer and scholar of literature.

Homework

• Read Neil Gaiman's Coraline and Kara K. Keeling and Scott Pollard's "The Key Is in the Mouth: Food and Orality in Coraline" 
• POSTER PROPOSAL DRAFT due at the beginning of class next week

Blog Post Drop Box: Tim Federle's _Better Nate Than Ever_

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: _Better Nate Than Ever_ (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, March 11 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, March 14 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Cassi, Vincent, Carla, and Gianna
Responders: McKenna, Jonathan, and Bryan

Course Recap for March 1

Midterm Examination
Today during class you took your midterm exam. You can expect to have these graded and returned to you after spring break. I will also post your midterm grades on GoWMU. Please see the grading rubric on the left hand side of the course blog under "course documents." Remember: this exam is worth 20% of your final grade. When I hand back your graded exams, I will note both your exam grade and your current course grade. Your current course grade will include the following (everything completed before the midterm): midterm exam (200 points), 6 quizzes with two dropped/added as extra credit (40 points), blog posts (25-200 points, each student's total will vary depending upon how many have been completed), and attendance/materials checks (80 points). The total points available for the course so far are between 345 and 520, depending upon how many of blog posts you have completed, which means we have completed 34-52% of the course work. I will also note if you have had any absences under your current course grade; remember: you are allowed TWO absences for any reason during the semester, your final grade will incur a 10% penalty for your third absence, and if you miss four classes you automatically fail the course. See the syllabus if you have any questions about the attendance policy. If you have questions about your grade, the exam, or the grading rubric, please see me during office hours or make an appointment with me that fits your schedule.

Homework

• Read Tim Federle's Better Nate Than Ever
• Read Read Jil Hermann-Wilmarth’s "Full Inclusion: Understanding the Role of Gay and Lesbian Texts and Films in Teacher Education Classrooms" and Eric Tribunella's "Boyhood"
• Begin thinking about and drafting your poster proposal (I've linked the poster presentation assignment sheet, a sample poster proposal, and a sample slide on the left hand side of the blog under "course documents"). Your poster proposal DRAFT is due March 22 (I've pushed the due date back one week) at the beginning of class. Your DRAFT should include 1) the name of your primary text of choice and your research question, 2) three passages from your primary text typed out, 3) just the citation information for three critical secondary sources, and 4) your thesis. You will expand upon this information when your final draft is due on April 5.

Course Recap for February 23

Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese

Today at the beginning of class, you took a short reading quiz over Yang's speech and Chen's article. We then spent some time discussing the text as a large group. I then gave a short presentation introducing the medium of comics; you can access that presentation HERE on the left-hand side of the course blog. I provided you with a handout on the basics of visual art that summarizes some of the key points of the presentation; you can access that document HERE. I then asked each of you to choose a significant image from Yang's American Born Chinese and to use a term from the handout to discuss its significance.

Critical Approaches to American Born Chinese: Chen and Yang

During the second half of class, I asked you to work with small groups in order to identify and examine the three narrative strands running through the comic, answer questions related to Chen's article, and examine Yang's discussion in his Printz speech of his depiction of the Chin-Kee character. You can access that exercise HERE. One group focused on the narrative threads chart, one group focused on the Chen article questions, and one group worked on a comparative analysis of the Chin-Kee character and the historical images upon which Yang based his representation. Each group presented their work, and we continued our discussion of Chen's article and Yang's speech and their relationship to the narrative strands in American Born Chinese.

Studying for the Midterm Exam 

At the end of class, I gave you suggestions for ways that you might study for the midterm exam. First, I suggested that you continue to practice writing about passages in a timed situation. Next, I suggested that you make table and list all of the possible critical ideas and terms that could be used to discuss the five primary texts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Brown Girl Dreaming, and American Born Chinese. As a class, you identified the following terms/ideas for American Born Chinese: Chen's reverison, Nodelman's discussion of elements of visual dynamics (shapes, size, location and composition, figure and ground), Bang's discussion of space and line, Joseph's liminal character, Hintz and Tribunella's historical models of childhood, Bakhtin's the carnivalesque, Hintz and Tribunella's discussion of anthropomorphic fantasy, Trites's Entwicklungsroman and/or Bildungsroman, and Yang's discussion of his use of historical references to political cartoons in his creation of the Chin-Kee character. 

Remember: Beyond simply identifying that one of the above ideas/theories relates to the novel you are discussing, you should also explain the significance of the theory and relate it directly to the passage you are discussing and its significance to the novel as a whole. Keep in mind that the majority of your writing in part one of the exam should focus on your own analysis of the passage and its significance, while a much smaller portion of your discussion will focus on another critic's theory. You are using the critic's ideas to add weight to your own argument. Be sure to practice transitioning from your idea to the critic's idea, and then linking the critic back to your main point. Your midterm exam will take place next week on Tuesday during our regular class time (do not to miss class and be sure to be on time or early). This exam is open book, and all you will need to bring to class is your books and a pen. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me, contact me during office hours, or to set up a time to meet that works better for you. Once again, the best way to study for the exam is to write timed practice responses to significant passages in each novel AND to identify several critical ideas/terms that you could use to talk about each novel. Be sure to take some time to relax and breathe in between study sessions!

Key Questions From Class
What are the three interwoven narratives within American Born Chinese, and what major themes and conflicts emerge in each? How is stereotypical representation figured in the novel? How does this comic address issues of authenticity (especially compared to other texts we have encountered this semester)? What are the historical roots and origins of the Cousin Chin-Kee character? What was Yang trying to achieve with this representation? Where did the Chinese folktale “Monkey King’s Journey to the West” originate? How has this tale been altered for a western audience?

Homework

• Study for the Midterm Exam

Course Recap for February 16

Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming
Today at the beginning of class you took a short quiz over Woodson's verse novel. I then gave a short presentation on race, ethnicity, and culture in literature for young readers. You can access that presentation HERE and on the left hand side of the blog. I provided you with a document with some vocabulary and pointers for how to begin talking and writing about poetry. You can access that document HERE. I then asked you to spend some time working with a small group to identify significant poems from Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming and writing about different elements of form and poetic craft present in Woodson's verse novel. You can access that exercise HERE. You worked with your small group to evaluate your written responses according to a rubric I wrote on the board. Your response should include: citation of the author (first and last name, correctly spelled), book title (capitalized and underlined), poem title (in quotation marks), and significant characters/speakers in the poem; identification of the context of the passage or poem; discussion of the significance of the poem or passage to the text as a whole (at least one paragraph); and identification of a scholar (last name) and their idea or term to bolster your argument. We then came together as a large group to begin our discussion of the novel.

Critical Approaches to Brown Girl Dreaming: Stevenson and Woodson
After the break, I asked you to break into pairs to work on a series of discussion questions related to Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming. You can access that exercise HERE. These questions relate to the theme of naming in the novel, the haiku series, the paratext, the awards the novel has won, the narrative's participation in the Künstlerroman tradition, racism, and the We Need Diverse Books movement. Each group then presented on their questions, and we continued our discussion of the novel.

Key Questions From Class
What formal techniques and elements of poetic craft (music/sound, language, emotion, imagery) does Woodon use in Brown Girl Dreaming? What impact do these elements have on the reader? What is the verse novel? How are race, ethnicity, and culture represented in children's literature (historically and contemporarily)? How does Woodson's verse novel represent racism historically, and how do the events that occurred last year at the National Book Award ceremony relate to historical discussions of racism? What is the We Need Diverse Books movement, and why is diversity important in children's literature?

Homework

• Read Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese
• Read Irene Chen’s “Monkey King’s Journey to the West: Transmission of a Chinese Folktale to Anglophone Children” and Gene Luen Yang’s “Printz Award Winner Speech”
• HERE is a link to some of the images Yang references in his Printz Speech 

Blog Post Drop Box: Gene Luen Yang's _American Born Chinese_

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: _American Born Chinese_ (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, February 19 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, February 22 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Vincent, TeAnna, and Bryan
Responders: Michelle and Jonathan

Blog Post Drop Box: Jacqueline Woodson's _Brown Girl Dreaming_

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: _Brown Girl Dreaming_ (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, February 12 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, February 15 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: Summer and Bryan
Responders: Carla and TeAnna

Course Recap for February 9

Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Today at the beginning of class you took a short quiz over Sommers's and Reid-Walsh's articles. I then gave a short presentation on gender and sexuality in children's literature. You can access that presentation HERE and on the left hand side of the blog. Next, I asked the class to break up into four small groups to work on a series of different literary interpretation exercises; each group spent ten minutes at each "station," and the final group at each station presented the completed work to the class. On one white board, students worked on identifying the types of conflicts present in Blume's novel; you can access a handout including the skeleton of this activity HERE. On another white board, students created a bubble map for the term "girlhood" citing page numbers from Reid-Walsh's chapter. On another section of white board, students used a list of critical terms (Hintz and Tribunella's models of childhood, Hintz and Tribunella's three tensions that define children's lit, Trites's entwicklungsroman and bildungsroman, Nodelman's home-away-home, Reid-Walsh's girlhood, Butler's gender as performance, Joseph's liminality, Gruner's unschooling, Sommers's sororal dialogism) to talk about events, characters, passages, and the representation of childhood in Blume's novel. On the back table, students worked to group significant passages from Blume's novel (written on post-it notes by students at the start of class) into different categories. We then spent time discussing your thoughts and responses to Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Critical Approaches to Margaret: Sommers and Reid-Walsh
After the break, I asked you to work in small groups to complete a longer annotation (break down piece by piece) of Sommers's critical article. You can access that document HERE. Because this article was a bit more difficult and contains some heavy Bakhtinian narrative theory, we spent a good deal of time working through the article. I asked each group to be responsible for a series of five questions relating to four or five pages of the reading. Each group then presented their responses to the larger group. I asked each group to type up their response and send them to me. You can access the completed document HERE. We spent some time at the end of class defining Sommers's "sororal dialogism" which means sisterly communication and disclosure across time, space, and cultures; he identifies this sororal dialogism as happening between the reader and the text. We also discussed some textual examples of this term.

Key Questions From Class
How is growing up gendered? What is the relationship between religion and puberty in the novel? What are the significant conflicts in Margaret?
What is the value of the problem novel (and the entwicklungsroman)? How have these genres been critiqued? What is sororal dialogism? And how/where do we see it in the novel? What is Sommers's argument? What is the relationship between Margaret and the reader? Where in the novel do we see Margaret directly address the reader? Why, according to Sommers, does she do this?

Homework

• Read Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming
• Read Jacqueline Woodson's "The Pain of the Watermelon Joke" and Deborah Stevenson's review of Brown Girl Dreaming

Blog Post Drop Box: Judy Blume's _Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret._

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: _Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret._ (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, February 5 at midnight (for discussion leaders) and Monday, February 8 at midnight (for responders).

Discussion Leaders: McKenna, Amanda, Carla, and Aly F.
Responders: Cassi, Gianna, Alison M., and Summer