English Literature A '07

MUTIARA INTAN PERMATA
LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESENCE
ENGLISH LITERATURE 2007 A

CHILDREN’S AND ADOLESCENT LITERATURE

Literature is an art expressed in words. Thus, is not dance, it is not music, it is not a cinematography. It may have elements in common with each of these arts; nevertheless each art has their own identity and special means of expression.
As usual paradigm, literature uses a more complex words, it has to be interpreted beyond. It seems that literature is only intended to adult whose thought can catch the meaning that conveyed in literature.
It can be true, yet actually some of literary works in the world is intended to children. It has no beginning in a traditional sense, that is, we do not know the circumstances leading up to this statement.
Among of the various kinds of literary production, three predominate: fiction, drama and poetry are existed in children’s life. For instances, a nursery rhymes, It seems a poems that intended to children. And of course, there are a bunch of literary works intended to children.

First, Children’s literature deals with the limitation of experiences and understanding of children
Children seldom look back on their childhood, but always forward. Mostly children books or storybook always added by illustrations and pictures by artist because in here the illustration play important role for communicating the mood and the message of the story. the type for children should be large enough for easy reading, space between the lines (leading) should be sufficient to make text clear. Young adult books are focus on developing their skills of reading and deepen understanding of the element of the stories. So that most books or novels for older reader have no illustrations. The using of language in children books is usually everyday language to make it easy to read but this sort of writing does not stretch the reader’s vocabulary or imagination, while older books is usually using wider language.

Second, children’s literature deals with the reflection of children’s life
Everyone figures out that children’s understanding on book or story is different to adult. They understanding are limited to their daily life, what their parents do, the pet do, playing ground, etc. That is why many of children’s books appear these thing obviously to ease children understanding. For instance, in the story of Hiawata (little Indian), the author convey a moral lesson by showing Hiawata’s activities (his daily life).

Third, Children’s literature full of a bunch of imagination
Intended to make children think creatively, an author of children’s book often create a bunch of imagination in their story. For instances, a fairy tale, a fable, etc. it seems a stimulus to encourage children’s thinking yet in the easiest way.
Children are purposed to enjoy and happy while they reading, this is the point that why a lot of children’s book contain of imagination. For example : a Cinderella story, a sleeping beauty, peterpan, and so on.
There were books published as a Children’s books:
1. Fairy Tales – Hans Christian Andersen- 1846 (English)
2. The Blue fairy book –Andrew Lang-
3. The children of the new forest -Frederick Maryatt- 1847
4. Grimm’s Fairy Tales –Jacob and Willhem Grimm- 1823 (English)
5. The jungle book- Ruyard Kipling- 1894
6. Peter Pan – J.M Barrie – 1904-
7. Pinocchio – Carlo Collodi- 1891 (English)
8. Tales of mother goose - Charles Perrault- 1729 (English)
9. Etc
And now let’s concern to adolescence literature which common known as Young-adult literature. The first recognition of young adults as a distinct group was in 1802. The subject matter and the story lines is more complex than children’s literature, they are typically consistent with the age and experience of the main character. The young-adult literature shares the main elements of literature which are character, plot, point of view, setting, theme and style.
Nowadays the classification of adolescences literature/young adult literature is really distinct to children’s literature. The young-adult literature is a fiction, poem, or another pieces of writing that expressed art intended to adult from age 10-21.
Unlike children’s literature, the young adult literature brings more factual events in wide aspects. The theme is also challenging, and the meaning that written in the literary text often appear implicitly.
However, the young adult (adolescence) literature is really important to create a critical thinking for young adult.
And then a books that considered as a young adult book:
1. Harry Potter series –J.K Rowling-
2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn –Mark Twain- 1884
3. The Adventures of Tom sawyer – Mark Twain-1876
4. A journey to the center of the earth –Jules Verne- 1864
5. Kidnapped –Robert Louis-1886
6. Etc
As explanation above the distinctions between children’s literature and adolescence literature have been flexible and loosely defined. Yet, now we can figure out a little bit boundaries that exist in both. However children’s and adolescence literature is really useful in the term of creating imagination and critical thinking.

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Sarah Safitri Nurbaihaqi

NDA 07

0703723

VALUING LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN


This report is based on chapter one which is Valuing Literature for Children of book Children’s literature in the Elementary School. This book is written by Charlotte S. Huck with Susan Hepler, and Janet Hickman, published by Harcourt Brace College Publisher.

This “Children’s Literature in the Elementary School” book tells that literature as the imaginative shaping of life and thought into the forms and structures of language. The literature field is the human condition which by shaping our insights, literature illuminates life. W.H. Auden distinguished between first-rate literature and second-rate literature. Book and reader cannot be separated from the experience of literature because the quality of literature must always be tempered by an awareness of its audience.

A good children’s book consist of traditional criteria, special criteria, and additional criteria. In general, there are nine elements to build a good book for children:

1. Plot
The plot is the plan of action; it tells what the characters do and what happen to them. A well constructed plot is organic and interrelated. Most plots in children’s literature are presented in a linear fashion.
2. Setting
Time and place of the story should affect an action, the characters and the theme. The setting that the authors construct includes geography, weather, and the news of the day and the details of everyday life. The setting of a story, then, is important in creating mood, authenticity, and credibility.
3. Theme
The theme is the larger meanings that lie beneath the story’s surface; it reveals something of the author’s purpose in writing the story.
4. Characterization
People portrayed in children’s books should be as convincingly real and lifelike as our next-door neighbors. The credibility of characters depends on the author’s ability to show their true natures, their strength, and their weakness. In addition to depth in characterization, there should be consistency in character portrayal. Everything characters do, think, and say should seem natural and inevitable.
5. Style
Author’s style in writing is simply selection and arrangement of words in presenting the story. Good writing style is appropriate to the plot, theme, and characters, both creating and reflecting the mood of the story. Most children do not enjoy a story that is too descriptive, but they can appreciate figurative language, especially when the comparisons are within their background of understanding. They also dislike a story that is too sentimental; and they see through the disguise of the too moralistic tales of the past.
6. Point of View
Many children’s books take a point of view that also uses the third person but gives the author less freedom. This limited-omniscient, or concealed narrator view does, however, provide closer identification with a single character.
7. Illustration
The elements of design like line, space, and color help describe an artist’s work.
8. Format
The format of a book includes its size, shape, the design of pages, illustrations, typography, quality of paper and binding.
9. Comparison to Others
A book should not be considered in isolation but as a part of the larger body of literature. Individual books need to be compared with others on the same subject or theme.

This chapter informed about some differences between children’s literature and adolescence’s literature:

Children's Literature :

Reading by children
generally less frank
limited by the experience and understanding of children
Seldom looking back on childhood but always forward
doesn't include cynicism and despair, expects good things happen in life
has the child's eye at the center
influenced by children experiences
Adolescence’s Literature:

Reading by adults
much frank
sometimes there is the feeling of nostalgia
sometimes close the door on hope
sometimes negative thinking
has the adolescent eye at the center
influenced by adolescent experiences
Here are some examples of children’s literature and adult’s literature:

Children’s literature:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
Peter Pan - JM Barrie
The Ugly Duckling - Hans Christian Andersen
The Lost World, by: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adolescence’s Literature:

Harry Potter, by: J. K. Rowling
Speak, by: Laurie Halse Anderson
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Hamlet by Bill Shakespeare
All Creatures Great and Small, by: James Herriot

Name : Annisa Nuzulul N

Student id : 0704930

Class : Non-Edu A

Children’s and Adolescent Literature

According to what I read, in the chapter one of “Children’s Literature in the Elementary School” which is written by Charlotte S Huck, Susan Hepler, and Janet Hickman, tells about knowing and valuing literature for children. In this book, literature means as the imaginative shaping of life and thought into the forms and structures of language that produce an aesthetic experience which may be a vivid reconstruction of past experience, an extension of experience, or creation of a new experience.

Talking about children’s literature, in the past generation, especially before the nineteenth century, there were not too many books that written for the specific readership of children. Children in this era read books written for adult, taking from them what they could understand. And it was still continued by children today. But, the difference is, children today appear more sophisticated and knowledgeable about certain life experiences than those of any previous generation.

The content of children’s literature is limited by the experience and understanding of children. Mostly, the books for children are filled with childlike imagination and joyful exuberance. Certain emotional and psychological responses seem outside the realm of childhood. Appropriately, children’s books are books that have the child’s eye at the center.

In this chapter, there are two kinds of viewpoint in valuing literature for children, the first is personal values, and the second is educational values. There are sixth values in the personal values in valuing literature for children, such as:

1. Provides enjoyment

Literature provide delight and enjoyment, it can educate at the same time it entertains.

2. Reinforcing narrative as a way of thinking

Actually, thinking in narrative form is a typical of children’s thinking. The book narrative has provided a reassuring ending for inner story that children have told themselves.

3. Develops the imagination

Literature develops children’s imagination and helps them to consider nature, people, experiences, or ideas in new ways.

4. Offers vicarious experiences

Literature provides vicarious experiences of adventure, excitement, and sometimes of struggle.

5. Develops insight into human behavior

Literature is concerned with feelings, the quality of life. It can educate the heart as well as the mind.

6. Presents the universality of experience

Literature continues to ask universal questions about the meaning of life and our relationships with nature and other people. It enables us to live many lives, good and bad, and to begin to see the universality of human experience.

And bellow is the other sixth values from educational values in valuing literature for children, they are:

1. Language developments

The role literature plays in developing the language power of children.

2. Literature and reading

· Reading aloud to children can increase their enjoyment and interest in reading.

· Developing a sense of story

· Developing fluency

3. Literature and writing

The role literature is significant to the development of writing.

4. Literature and critical thinking

Literature provides great opportunity for thinking critically and making judgments.

5. Literature across the curriculum

All areas of the curriculum may be enriched through literature. Literature has the power to educate both the heart and the mind.

6. Introducing our literary heritage

Children have experience with books, and they are also learning about literature. Children’s appreciation for literature and knowledge of their literary heritage should be developed gradually in the elementary school as a way to add to the enjoyment of literature rather than as an end in itself.

There are some differences between children’s literature and adolescent’s literature:

Children’s literature:

1. The book is read by children

2. Using children’s eye at the center

3. less frank

4. filled with childlike imagination and joyful exuberance

5. limited by the experience and understanding of children

Adolescent’s literature:

1. The book is reading by adolescent

2. Showing life from many perspective

3. much frank

4. not too much imagination, even more showing the emotion and reality of life

5. unlimited in experience

And below are the examples of children’s and adolescent’s literary works:

Children’s literary works:

1. Winnie The Pooh: A. A. Milne

2. Peter Pan: J. M. Barrie

3. The Lost World: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Adolescent’s literary works:

1. To Kill A Mocking Bird: Harper Lee

2. Speak: Laurie Halse Anderson

3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This chapter also explains about evaluating children’s books. It is evaluated by look at such elements like plot, setting, theme, characterization, style, point of view, and format.

In the conclusion, the first chapter is a kind of introduction of literature for children, especially in the elementary school. It gives the information about knowing and valuing literature for children. Besides that, it is also explaining about evaluating children’s books.

The age range for children's literature is from infancy through the stage of early adolescence, which roughly coincides with the chronological ages of twelve through fourteen. Between that literature most appropriate for children and that most appropriate for adults lies young adult literature. Usually young adult literature is more mature in content and more complex in literary structure than children's literature.

Most of the literary genres of adult literature appear in children's literature as well. Fiction in its various forms–contemporary realism, fantasy and historical fiction, poetry, folk tales, legends, myths, and epics–all have their counterparts in children's literature. Nonfiction for children includes books about the arts and humanities; the social, physical, biological, and earth sciences; and biography and autobiography. In addition, children's books may take the form of picture books in which visual and verbal texts form an interconnected whole. Picture books for children include storybooks, alphabet books, counting books, wordless books, and concept books.

Evaluating children books criteria:

• Plot
• Setting
• Theme
• Characterization
• Style
• Point of view
• Illustration
• Format
• Comparison to others

Those committed to an understanding and appreciation of young adult literature should be able to:

1. Describe the historical development, current trends, and enduring characteristics of young adult literature.
   
2. Identify current reading, viewing, and listening interests of young adults and incorporate these findings into collection development and program planning.
   
3. Apply factual and interpretive information on adolescent psychology, growth and development, sociology, and popular culture in planning for materials and services for young adults.
   
4. Recognize literary elements in story and apply critical judgments to selected literature.
   
5. Use Reader-Response, Feminist and other literary theories in work with young adult literature.
   
6. Interpret current research on young adult reading, information needs, and library usage and apply it to selecting materials for young adults.
   
7. Provide a variety of information services (e.g., information referral, crisis intervention counseling, etc.) to meet the diverse needs of young adults.
   
8. Select and use appropriate tools in collection building and user guidance; analyze and criticize the usefulness of the tools in terms of coverage, cost, and special features.
   
9. Devise and publicize pathfinders, book lists, displays, etc., which will ease access to collections and motivate use.
   
10. Develop a materials collection for young adults which includes all appropriate formats, using a broad range of selection sources.

Assignment
Meity Karlina Wulansari
0707829
Children’s Literature

 Book Report

Valuing Literature for Children

This book think that literature as the imaginative shaping of life and thought into the forms and structures of language. The province of literature is the human condition. Literature illuminates by shaping our insights. Judgments about the quality of literature must always be tempered by an awareness of its audience.
Obviously, the line between children’s and adult’s literature is blurred. Children today appear more sophisticated and knowledgeable about certain life experiences than those of any previous generation. This generation is exposed to more violence in the name of entertainment than any other generation in the past.
The content of children’s literature is limited by the experience and understanding of children. Certain emotional and psychological responses seem outside the realm of childhood. Children’s literature rests on childlike imagination and joyful exuberance. Cynicism and despair are not childlike emotions and should not figure prominently in a child’s book. Children are still expecting good things to happen in life. They may have endured pain, sorrow, or horror; they may be in what we would consider hopeless situations, but they are not without hope. Children also see beauty where there is ugliness. They think and feel, they also wonder and they dream.

Personal Values
Literature should be valued in our homes and school for the enrichment it gives to the personal lives of children. There are some affective values of literature
 Provides enjoyments
Literature provides delight and enjoyment because literature can educate also entertains.
 Reinforces narrative as a way of thinking
The book narrative has provided a reassuring ending for the inner story that they have told themselves.
 Develops the imaginative
Literature develops children’s imagination and helps them consider nature, people, experiences or ideas in a new ways because some books invite children to use their imaginations to solve they problem
 Offers vicarious experiences.
The experiences children with literature give them new perspective on the world. Good writing can transport the reader to other places and other times and expand his life space.
 Develops insight into human behavior
Literature is concerned with feelings, the quality of life. It can educate the heart as well as the mind. Literature can show children how others have lived and “become” no matter what the time or place, it can help them to develop better understanding of themselves and those around them.
 Presents the universality of experiences
Literature continues to ask universal questions about the meaning of life and our relationships with nature and other people.

Educational Values
Research has proven an essential value of literature in helping children learn to read and write.

Evaluating Children’s books
Children show what they think of books through their responses, but they are not born critics in the conventional sense.
1. Plot
The plot is the plan of action; it tells what the characters do and what happen to them. A well constructed plot is organic and interrelated. Most plots in children’s literature are presented in a linear fashion.
2. Setting
Both the time and place of the story should affect an action, the characters and the theme. The setting that the authors construct includes geography, weather, and the news of the day and the details of everyday life. The imaginary setting of fantasy must be carefully detailed in order to create a believable story. The setting of a story, then, is important in creating mood, authenticity, and credibility.
3. Theme
The theme is the larger meanings that lie beneath the story’s surface. The theme of a book reveals something of the author’s purpose in writing the story.
4. Characterization
The people portrayed in children’s books should be as convincingly real and lifelike as our next-door neighbors. The credibility of characters depends on the author’s ability to show their true natures, their strength, and their weakness. In addition to depth in characterization, there should be consistency in character portrayal. Everything characters do, think, and say should seem natural and inevitable.
5. Style
An author’s style in writing is simply selection and arrangement of words in presenting the story. Good writing style is appropriate to the plot, theme, and characters, both creating and reflecting the mood of the story. Most children do not enjoy a story that is too descriptive, but they can appreciate figurative language, especially when the comparisons are within their background of understanding. They also dislike a story that is too sentimental; and they see through the disguise of the too moralistic tales of the past.
6. Point of View
The term point of view is often used to indicate the author’s choice of narrator(s) and the way the narrator reveals the story. Such stories have an omniscient or all-knowing narrator. Many children’s books take a point of view that also uses the third person but gives the author less freedom. This limited-omniscient, or concealed narrator view does, however, provide closer identification with a single character.
7. Illustration
Just as there are elements of writing like, plot, theme, and characterization, so too are there elements of design like line, space, and color that help describe an artist’s work.
8. Format
The format of a book includes its size, shape, the design of pages, illustrations, typography, quality of paper and binding.
9. Comparison to Others
A book should not be considered in isolation but as a part of the larger body of literature. Individual books need to be compared with others on the same subject or theme.

Principles of selection the materials
Evaluation of a single book involves knowledge of literary criticism. Evaluation of many works for many children who will use them for a variety of purposes involves many considerations and requires the establishment of criteria for selection.
 Who select the materials?
Teachers, students, and parents may recommend particular titles, but the final selection of materials for the school library should be determined by professionally trained personnel.
 Quality of material
Criteria for evaluation and selection of all types of instructional materials should be established. Such criteria should be available in written form.
 Appropriate content
The content of the materials to be selected should be evaluated in terms of the quality of the writing or presentation. Which one is appropriate or not is decided by people who select the material.
 Needs and interest of children
 School curriculum needs
 Balance in the collection
 Selection vs. censorship
 Dealing with censorship

 COMMENT
In this book, we can see the differences between children and adult literature more clearly. I conclude that the purposes of the readers when they reading a book is one of some differences that this book mention for children and adults literature. For example, children tented to take the book for enjoyment, so the book that children will read will fills with enjoyment and simplicity. Different with adolescent, they purposes when reading a book is more complicated than children, so the content that makes adult interest in a book is also more complex, and variation.

 The differences between children’s literature and adult’s literature
Children’s literature is a works for example books that’s written for children and appropriate for children. But many classic books that were originally intended for adults now commonly thought as work of children.
Based on the book, the line between children’s literature and adult literature is blurred. The differences between them can be seen in the content of the works, what is exist in children’s literature is based on the experience and understanding of children. Different with adult’s literature, we know that experience and understanding of adult is more far and wide than children, so the content of the works will be different. Also we can see from the feeling and emotions that draw in the works, there will be different.
Some elements of a book such as plot, theme, setting, point of view, characterization, and style of children’s and adult’s literature is also has a differences. Adult’s book will be more complex than children’s book because of the understanding of both readers are different. The characters of both works will appropriately with the readers, so the character of children books is usually children to make the readers interested to the book. The length of children’s literature is usually shorter than adult’s literature.
In children’s literature for genres, we can find traditional literature such as myths, fable, fairy tales and many more; we also can find children fiction and fantasy. In adults we can find horror, romantic and et cetera.
For example, in children’s book the character is usually children with a fun story and colorful cover. Different in adult’s book, we sometimes find a darker cover, and the story is sometimes confusing, complex, and full of adult’s emotions and feelings.

 Example
Children’s literature
1. Peter Pan - JM Barrie
2. Chronicles of C.S. Lewis
3. Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame
4. The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
6. Little House in the Big Woods- Laura Ingles Wilder
7. The Princess and the Goblin- George MacDonald
8. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
9. Stuart Little by E.B. White
10. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Adult’s literature
1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. Hamlet by Bill Shakespeare
3. Duma Key – Stephen King
4. Just After Sunset – Stephen King
5. Harry Potter -J.K. Rowling
6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
7. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
8. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
9. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski