Introduction:
The Introduction Lecture was by far my favorite lecture so
far. “Why do we share literature with
children?” is an excellent question. This
chapter was a powerful reminder of why we do all of this. We share literature with children for many
reasons. The obvious reasons being
because it is fun and engaging, and adds growth to readers with research saying
20 minutes a day will increase readers growth.
The most inspirational reasons for sharing literature with children for
me was how it develops empathy among readers.
We share literature with children so they can live through characters,
experience their consequences for their actions without having to make them in
our own lives. Readers have these
experiences through literature and build empathy for others. They are able to “look through a window at
someone else’s live” which is extremely powerful.
Chapter 2: Divisions of Young People’s Literature
In this chapter, I was able to clear up misunderstands of
age ranges and categories of readers.
Children’s Literature is birth to eight years old. During this time, readers are exposed to
wordless picture books, picture books, illustrated chapter books, easy readers,
and some novels. Middle Grade/Tween
years are ages eight to twelve years old.
This is usually the upper elementary grades. It is easy to get this division confused with
Middle School readers. However this is a
completely different division. Middle
School readers are ages eleven to thirteen years old. This age has material with tougher
issues. Young Adult is the division for
readers thirteen to eighteen years old.
The characters in this age range reflect the target readers ages. New Adult is ages eighteen to thirty years
old. Examples of characters are recent
high school graduates, characters leaving home, or living away from home for
the first time. What stood out to me in
this chapter was putting the pieces together that the characters usually reflect
the targeted audience. The perspective
of the character is age appropriate for that audience.
Chapter 3: The Anatomy of a Book
I actually really enjoyed dissecting the anatomy of a
book. This is helpful when referring to
the physical description of different books.
The anatomy of a book includes endpapers, which are the two sheets of
paper at the beginning and the end of a book.
The casewrap is usually laminated paper with visuals. The book block is the main body of the
book. The gutter is the white space in
the margins of the book where the book is bound together. The headband is the decorative strip on the
book block. The backbone (spine) is the
outside edge of the book. The only one I
have heard of before reading about the anatomy of a book was the backbone.
Chapter 4: Genres
and Formats
I was very surprised to learn my lack of knowledge with genres. I was considering subjects and categories as
genres. I have also been guilty of
considering some formats as genres as well.
There are two main genres; fiction and nonfiction. Everything else is subgenres. In the fiction genre, a reader may chose
realism or fantasy. Realism may cover
realistic modern contemporary texts, or historical fiction. Fantasy may be split up into traditional
fantasy and modern fantasy. Traditional
fantasy cover texts of myths, fairy tales, folktales, ballads, fables, and
legends. Modern fantasy is split into
science fiction and high and low fantasy.
I learned that high fantasy involves worlds and languages created by
authors while low fantasy involves elements that are not possible but is still
in our world. Science fiction is also
split into hard science fiction, which involves the main course of the story
around science, and soft science fiction, which involves the characters as the
main element of the story. Nonfiction is
also considered informational, and may be spilt into biographies
(autobiographies and memoirs) , narrative nonfiction, and expository nonfiction. I was surprised to learn that categories I
have used in my classroom are not genres, like mysteries, sport fiction, and
horror. I also learned that formats
involve poetry, drama, graphic novels, and short stories.
Chapter 5: What is YA Literature?
I enjoyed reading the notes on what describes YA
literature. Young Adult literature
involves a youthful protagonist whose story is told from the viewpoint of that
age range. It mirrors contemporary issues
and how the character grows, changes, and handles these issues. The character has consequences for decisions
and actions. Readers usually read about
a character that is independent and has a sense of how adolescents develop.
No comments:
Post a Comment