EXTRA CREDIT!

After reading Sissy and comparing it to Ragged Dick, we see completely different themes in both the novels. In Sissy I found that he broke the mold of the “American boy” the other authors set up. Rather then being tough and dirty like Ragged Dick, Sissy was clean and somewhat feminine. Sissy didn’t care what other people thought, which was not a problem cause everyone accepted him, "he made no effort to conceal his tastes and preferences, but openly pursued his girl-work and good naturedly maintained that it was more respectable and enjoyable than getting into the dirt "to mumble the peg", or than hopping about o none foot, and kicking a bit of china or brick across lines, as in "hop-scotch" (546). The boys never gave him a hard time from him acting like a girl. Everyone really liked him. In Ragged Dick we see this rough, mischievous character. Even though he caused trouble he still got away with all of his actions, "I am afraid he swore sometimes, and now and then he played tricks upon unsophisticated boys from the country, or gave a wrong direction to honest old gentlemen unused to the city"(367). Sissy put a new spin on little boys that I found really interesting and fun to read about whereas Ragged Dick was more predictable and we kind of new what to expect from him. Sissy invited people to be open with whom they are and that boys can be accepted even though they may have some famine characteristics. In Ragged Dick, I think it showed that little boys can get away with being mischievous and rebellious and in Sissy we see that he is calm and he likes to be “good”. I think both Sissy and Ragged Dick showed two different perspectives on how little boys can grow up to be and that there is not just one stereotype.

THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP

After reading “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” what struck me about this reading was that there was no true female in the story. Most of the pieces we have read this year entailed of a young girl, or a young girl and her mother. Every female was different: some were poor and lived on the streets, some were ugly, some were pretty, some were crazy and some were wealthy, but never did we encounter a female prostitute of any sort. The one woman that was mentioned in, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" was looked down upon by the entire community. I'm sure it did not help that she was the only female, so practically an outcast since she could not easily relate to the men, and the men found it hard to accept her simply because she was mentally and physically different. Even though when she dies giving birth to the only baby that Roaring Camp has ever seen or had, they make it clear they don't want another female among their presence. "It was argued that no decent woman could be prevailed to accept Roaring Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that 'they didn't want any more of the other kind.'" It is weird though how these men strongly believed that this baby, Luck, brought all the luck that Roaring Camp had ever had. This baby had come from a woman, one they looked down upon, but she gave birth to a being that brought luck to them. This baby was viewed as something of value to these men. If the baby was a girl I wonder if the circumstances would have changed. This is also we see a baby viewed in a positive way. I think this was a very interesting reading especially since this roaring camp was male dominant, which is something we aren’t use to.

GILMAN AND CHOPIN

Throughout this semester we have been reading excerpts from children’s literature that are longer in length then a short story, which has a quick story and ending. My reading habits completely change when I am reading a short story as opposed to a long novel. I pay more attention to short stories and I can focus more on every word in the story cause I know it is going to end soon. Unlike long novels where there is a lot of detail and sometimes I tend to skip over some words and not read it as carefully. I also think since short stories only have like 10 or fewer pages to them if you do not read it carefully you may miss an important part of the story. Whereas long novels have a lot of detail and you can still figure out what’s going on in the story.
In the short stories written by Gilman and Chopin, I Paid a lot of attention to all the words and details that went on in those readings. After reading The Yellow Wallpaper I found that I could not skim this story at all because I would miss some of the important aspects of the story. “Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it. All those strangled heads and bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths just shriek with derision”(515). This quote from The Yellow Wallpaper shows how important every word of detail is especially since this quote is towards the end of the short story and is pretty much trying to pull the whole story together. This shows how important details and short stories are.

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY

By knowing that Frances Burnett, the author of “Little Lord Fauntleroy” is a woman makes me look at the story differently. Especially in the way she describes Cedric, she says “He has a beautiful face and a fine, strong, graceful figure; he has a bring smile and a sweet, gay voice; he was brave and generous, and has the kindest hart in the world….”(442). The adjectives she uses are extremely famine and ones that I believe only a woman author would choose to use in describing a little boy. She also makes Cedric extremely sensitive to other people’s feelings and also the way he dresses is exactly how a woman would picture a clean-cut boy to dress like. After Cedric won the race against Billy we see him console him by saying “I guess I won because my legs are a little longer then yours. I guess that was it. You see, I’m three days older then you, and that gives me a ‘vantage. I’m three days older” (476). Most little boys are not usually sensitive to other people’s feelings, they usually only care about themselves and the glory they got from winning. In this passage we see signs of how Frances Burnett may have used Cedric to have a woman’s sensitive nature in caring and consoling Billy.
By not knowing whether the author of a story is a woman or a man it allows you to have no biases of how the story is written. If we can’t tell at the beginning of a story of whether the author was a male or female we tend not to look at that as a important part of the story. I think the gender of the author makes a difference in the story. Once we found out that Frances Burnett was a woman it made more sense that she was describing Cedric in words such as “beautiful.”

TOM SAWYER

One of the most interesting things that I found about Tom Sawyer is how likeable a character he is, yet he does create mischief and trick others around him for his own personal gain. This passage is an example of one of the ways he convinces a boy to do something mischievous.
“Say. Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewasl some.”
Jim Shook his head and said:
“Can’t, Mars Tom. Ole Missis, she tole me I goe to go an’ git dis water an’ not stop foolin’ roun’ wid anybody. She say she spec’ Mars Tom gwine to ax me to whitewash, an’ so she tole me to go ‘long an’ ‘tend to my own business-she ‘lowed she’d ‘tend to de whitewashin’.”
“Oh, never you mind what she said, Jim. That’s the way she always talks. Gimme the bucket- I won’t be gone only a minute. She won’t ever know.” (409).
Tom goes on to convince Jim, assuring him that he will not really get in trouble and that his punishment will never as bad as it seems. This shows one of the many ways that Tom is excellent at tricking people into getting his way. Even though he deceives and tricks a lot of people, we all still love him. In another passage we see Tom persuading the kids that painting is fun, “Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth-stepped back to note the effect-added a touch here and there-criticized the effect again- Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed” (413). Tom made painting look like so much fun that kids where paying him things such as a key, marbles, and bottle glass to be able to paint. Tom had an extremely strong personality that always got him his way, especially when he wanted other people to do his work for him. Even though we see this as extreme laziness, his witty personality made people like him as a character.

RAGGED DICK

In the other 19th century readings from Children’s Literature we have been dealing with little girls and their constant struggles and roles in society. In the story Ragged Dick, however, has introduced us to little boys. By comparing Dick to the other little girl characters, such as Ellen and Gerty, we are able to draw differences between the two.
We have seen that little boys tend to be more rebellious and mischievous, on that note, they always seem to get away with it too. "I am afraid he swore sometimes, and now and then he played tricks upon unsophisticated boys from the country, or gave a wrong direction to honest old gentlemen unused to the city"(367). Whereas little girls where always striving to be “good.” Little boys where also more self-relient unlike Ellen and Gerty who were extremely dependent on their guardians. In Capitola’s case she has to dress up like a little boy in order to fend for herself. That shows that little boys may have been a lot more respected.
Dick has no problem being self-reliant and living on his own. Unlike the little girls we see no type of parent figure in Dick’s life and he seems to be content about it. Humor is another difference we see between little boys and little girls. The little girl characters have not really shown much humor at all. In Ragged Dick we see Dick’s character with a very entertaining side to him. In speaking with one of his clients about his clothing Dicks says, comically, "This coat once belonged to General Washington" (337). The last difference I saw in little boys and girls was the importance of religion. We constantly saw Ellen and Gerty struggling with the Bible and the meaning of God in their lives, but in Ragged Dick we see no religious undertones at all. The one time the Bible was brought up Dick tells Frank, "I heard it's a good book, but I never read one. I isn’t much on reading. It makes my head ache"(387). Little girls in 19th century Children's Literature take on life much more seriously. They are always striving to be moral and good and please their elders. 19th century little boys, however, in a way "play" and "poke fun" at American society and all its seriousness.

A WHISPER IN THE DARK

A Whisper in The Dark touches on a new theme we have not seen in the other stories. The theme of insanity is not something we have seen before in the other text, but it fits perfectly with this story. In all the previous novels we have read, the reader has had either a strong bond with their mother or not one at all. We have never really seen insanity connect a mother and daughter like it does in this story. I don’t think that insanity was seen often in 19th century novels. I think the idea of insanity draws people into the story and allows people in the 19th century read about something new.
At first Sybil represents herself as a normal girl with no mental problems at all other then the issues with her uncle, but other then that we assume that she has been raised normally from the first half of the reading. Then after one turn of the page she is in an insane asylum. With this aspect being brought into the story who wouldn’t start to have mental issues? “Child! Woman! Whatever you are, leave this accursed house while you have power to do it”(238). This is a quote from Sybil’s mom’s letter. After reading this you can see that Sybil is having to deal with all these issues at only age eighteen. This really shows just how the insanity in this story really actually seems to make sense and pull the whole story together. This story really struck my attention and really brought in another aspect of children's literature in the nineteenth century.

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

I have seen throughout most traditional children’s literature there are certain themes that authors try to get across. Morality is one of those themes. After reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, it completely goes against the idea of promoting right morals. In children’s literature authors use the text to show children examples of how to live a right moral life. I feel like Stowe is doing the opposite by showing children a side of evil through the horrible act of slavery. As a child you do not really seem to recognize what is going on in the outside world especially such a horrible thing like slavery. Stowe does not bother going through a set of lessons in teaching them right from wrong. She goes directly to the point in proving what is not morally right in real life. Unlike all the rest of our readings this is the first author to express the message of immorality.
This book does not portray the idea of fantasy life we usually see in children’s literature. For example when talking about tearing families apart, Stowe puts it into perspective by making us think about " If it were your Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going to be torn from you by a brutal trader, tomorrow morning..." and continues to describe what if would feel like to go through this with all the different elements and trials you have to face on the way (244). Through this quote we see families being torn apart with no hope for the future, rather then seeing how families stick together and are always there for you. The idea of teaching morality is seen in a twisted way from what we are use to seeing in other children’s novels. Stowe shows children how our ancestors supported such a thing as slavery and allowed it to go on. Ultimately, Uncle Tom's Cabin is essentially a novel that crosses all boundaries when teaching morals and the importance of family life.

THE HIDDEN HAND

After reading The Hidden Hand I noticed reoccurring theme that was also in the other texts we have read. Growing up in New York alone, Capitola, a young poor girl, has to learn to take care of herself and teach herself all the lessons a parent would usually do. At such a young age, Capitola has seen a great deal and has had to endure certain situations no girl her age should. In both The Wide Wide World and The Lamplighter I noticed that both Ellen and Gerty had to grow up faster then normal also. The theme of being independent and learning how to take care of yourself at such a young age was apparent in all these texts.
Capitola had no parent like figure to guide her in life or teach her certain things that she would need while growing up. She was completely on her own, which lead her to do some uncommon things in order to survive. For example in order to get a decent job she dressed up in boys clothing. Capitola also lived on the streets. She experienced and saw things that a normal girl her age should not be seeing. The author recalls, " She had indeed the innocence of youth, but not its simplicity" (187). Capitola still was a child, helpless and wandering, but her lifestyle was not simple in that she had seen horrible lifestyles and dangerous ways for her age.
Even though Ellen did have parents and it was very apparent that her mother loved her deeply, we see early on that her mother is ill and dying. Because her mother is so ill Ellen had to take the responsibility of taking care of her by doing everything and anything her mother wanted her to do. After the doctor visits her mother on her deathbed, he warns Ellen, " You mustn't let her talk much, or laugh much, or cry at all, on any account; she mustn't be worried in the least-will you remember? Now, you know what I must expect of you; you must be very careful" (31). The doctor gives her all this responsibility and commands at such a young age, which was a lot of pressure for a child this young. Even though she had a father he was completely out of the picture and she had to deal with her dying mother and the responsibilities that came with it all on her own. In comparison to Capitola, we see that Ellen has to act like an adult even though she is just a child.
Gerty, however grew up with a horrible parental figure, Nan Grant, who treated her poorly and could care less about her. Nan Grant pretty much robs Gerty from her childhood innocence and turns her into this little monster. Gerty never really had the chance to be a child because she had to take care of herself until Trueman Flint comes into the picture. True Flint in a way restores her of some of her childhood she had lost, but it was hard to reverse what Gerty had already been though. Especially after dealing with the horrible ways Nan Grant put her through, which caused her to be so angry. Gerty never learned anything a normal girl her age would have, not even basic things like cleaning, as Mrs. Sullivan states, " You never have been taught to do anything, my child; but a girl eight years old can do a great many things, if she is patient and tries hard to learn" (108).
Capitola, Ellen, and Gerty’s youth was all taken from them. They all had to learn to start being their own caretaker and missed out on normal things a child should be experiencing. This seems like a popular theme among 19th century writers, maybe in order to teach children to learn to be independent. These three girls had completely different experiences during their childhood, but still shared the similarity of having to become independent at a young age.

THE LAMPLIGHTER

Anna and Gentry are both two young 8-year-old girls who share the same struggles and complications that they struggle with everyday. Even though the girls are from completely different time periods we can still find comparisons in them. Some comparisons are that they both face the same struggles, to find balance and to be useful.
In The Lamplighter we see that Gerty is constantly struggling with certain obstacles daily, which we can blame on the way she was brought up. Nan Grant never taught her anything or cared about her at all, which causes Gerty to be unaware of how she is suppose to handle life. Gerty finally starts to figure things out when she moves in with True Flint. She has a complete change in heart and we see her behavior change as well. Because of the way Nan Grant treated her it is hard for her to get over some of the habits she developed. Gerty still has occasional breakdowns and fits. "The child's language expressed unmitigated hatred, and even a hope of future revenge. True looked worried and troubled at hearing her talk so angrily. Since he brought her home he had never witnessed such a display of temper, and had fondly believed that she would always be as quiet and gentle as during her illness and the few weeks subsequent to it." True was shocked to see these emotions come out of her especially since this is the first time he has really been close to her. This was one of the ways Gerty would express her emotions. I think in a way this was one of the ways when living with Nan Grant she could actually get her attention and by being so dramatic it would catch Nan Grants attention.
In the clip of Anna, she explains that she copes with her emotions, stress, and hard times by doing yoga. We can draw a comparison in the way that Gerty uses burying her hands in her face and the different positions in yoga, such as child's pose, as a means they use to cope with their issues. Through this we see that even though these two girls live in completely different decades they share some similarities in how they deal with stress. Anna has obviously had a much different upbringing then Gerty. Unlike Gerty, Anna’s parents where probably around to teach her how to deal with her emotions. In the video Anna describes how she responds to those who say they try and can't do it by saying "try your best and try harder." This is seen in The Lamplighter when Willie brings up the discussion of religion. He asks her “Don’t you ever pray-pray to God?” “No I don’t-Who is God? Where is God?” He goes on to continue telling and teaching her about God. Anna could be compared to Willie in this particular instance because Willie is encouraging Gerty to know God, such as Anna encourages other people in her life.
I think little girls at this age have a somewhat of a similarity when it comes to their behaviors and mindset. We see Anna as more mature then Gerty because of the way she was brought up. The two although both seemed to share characteristics such as the way they dealt with their stress. Essentially all little girls act a certain way according to their age whether it be now or a 150 years ago.

THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD

In "The Wide, Wide World,” the text shows us that parents play a crucial role in teaching children right from wrong and how to behave. We see throughout the chapters that Ellen looks up to her mother, Mrs. Montgomery and wants to spend every minute of the day with her. Ellen will do anything and everything her mother tells her to do. Ellen states that she has many faults “but amidst them all, love to her mother was the strongest feeling her heart knew” (25). Even though her mother does take care of Ellen, throughout the text we see the roles reversed to where Ellen is taking care of her mother. Because of Mrs. Montgomery’s illness, Ellen is always making her toast and tea, and doing everything else in her power to please her. It is extremely apparent that Mrs. Montgomery is the center of Ellen’s world. On the other hand, Ellen is very distant from Mr. Montgomery. She states “Captain Montgomery was away, which indeed was the case most of the time”(36). Ellen says this multiple times throughout the text that he is never around. At the end when Ellen is leaving it discusses how Captain Montgomery shows no emotion at all towards her leaving.
To differentiate the roles between mother and fathers, the author creates an emotional bond to mothers and a distant bond towards fathers. This shows how mothers back in the 19th century may have been more involved in their children’s lives then fathers where. Fathers served the role of working to support the family and where hardly around because of that work.
I think the way Ellen perceives her parents is very apparent. She absolutely loves her mother and will not do anything to go against or disobey her. Ellen says “she would rather even die so, on her mothers breast, than live long without her in the world-she felt that in earth or in heaven there was nothing so dear” (51). This shows how much she loves her mother, and how she would rather be in heaven with her rather then continue living without her. We see a completely different view when it comes to her father. I think she perceives him as more of the provider that is very distant and just works to help the family financially. Even though he may make the money for the family, Ellen never expects anything out of him. When Ellen met the old man and he was giving her gifts, I think she saw him as the father figure she was missing out on.
The wisdom and advice that Mrs. Montgomery offers Ellen is something Ellen will always hold on to and abide by because of the great respect she has for her mother. Mrs. Montgomery even tells Ellen to search in the Bible for advice to get by in life and also to trust in God. Ellen is shown to be very dependent on her mother throughout the text and her mother is trying to teach her to depend on the Bible and God, because she is not going to be around much longer.

THEMES OF CHILDHOOD LITERATURE

Throughout 19th century children’s literature we as adults see various theories that are further developed. Even though we may never fully understand exactly how children see the world, through children’s literature we can help draw out some conclusion when analyzing the essence of children. I have drawn out five theories in which I believe are most important throughout the readings.
The first theory I believe to be one of the most important theories is that in all children’s literature there is always a moral to the story or a lesson that is taught. In most of the lessons that are presented in children’s literature the lessons tend to be based on some sort of good behavior. In other words trying to non-intentionally persuade children to stay on the right track and do what is right in life. In “Children’s Literature for a New Nation,” the author Macleod states that children’s literature is “…written to teach, and specifically, to teach morality. All Americans of the period agreed that a high level of individual morality was indispensible if the promise of the nations future was to be fulfilled.” During this time and even now adults agreed that moral behavior was one of the most important traits a child could develop.
Secondly, the theory of children being able to express their creativity and imagination is seen through children’s literature. By allowing a child to fully express his or her own ideas either on paper or through a book is an important concept in a child becoming his or her own person. We see throughout children’s literature there is always a point in the story where a child could have their own ideas of what is going on. In Sanchez-Eppler’s “Dependent State: The Child’s Part in the Ninetieth Century American Culture,” he states how “…childhood is increasingly praised for embodying what is best about the literary-imaginative freedom.”
Thirdly, the theory that was emphasized in both of these stories was how important it was for children to love and care for their family. We see the importance of family is in a lot of children’s literature. In Sanchez-Eppler’s “Dependent State: The Child’s Part in the Ninetieth Century American Culture,” he states that children need to be trained or taught by their family members. Also that “The love of children inside the family might serve as a mode of social control.” When children are loved at home they are most likely going to show this loving nature to other people in the real world.
Another theme that we see in children’s literature is the theme that children should be nice and humble. Children should not rely on material things nor should they be selfish. Children should appreciate what they have rather then what they want. We see this among various types of children literature. In Macleod’s “Children Literature for a New Nation” he states that, “…wealth could never insure contentment.” Children are taught that it is not only money that matters in life, it’s the love you find within people or something you love doing. Money is only a material thing that may not always lead to happiness.
My last theme that was apparent throughout both the readings was that children should be obedient to their elders. Obedience was taught through children’s literature at an early age so that children would understand to always follow their parent’s rules and act responsibly. In “Children’s Literature for A New Nation” Macleod states "Obedience was the most fundamental virtue for a child to acquire" During this time period a child obedience was extremely important among parents and elders.

About Me

My name is Blair Magee, and I am from Austin, Texas. I am currently a Sophomore and my major is Advertising/Public Relations with a minor in Spanish at Texas Christian University. This is my first year at TCU. I spent my freshman year at the University of Mississippi. After being at Ole Miss for a year, I realized that it was not the school for me and ended up applying and transferring to TCU. I choose TCU because my younger sister would also be a freshman in the fall and I wanted to move back to Texas to be closer to my hometown Austin. I absolutely love TCU and could not have made a better decision to transfer here! Besides school I love hanging out with friends, working out, skiing, fishing, going out, movies, tubing and wake boarding on Lake Austin or Lake LBJ!
If I was the chancellor at TCU, the one thing I would change about our campus is the student parking situation. There is absolutely no where for students to park if they have to drive to campus because they live off campus. It has become a huge problem because students are not only getting outrageous parking tickets they are also usually late for class as well. So by creating more parking for students we would stray away from these problems. I choose to take this class because I needed a Litterary Traditions credit and also I have heard great things about this class through your previous students. After taking this course I hope to have a greater appreciation for litterature and find more enjoyment in it. I do enjoy to read on my free time, but most of the books I do read are not school related. So I hope to broaden my genre of literature. I also enjoy reading a lot of magazines and interesting news articles that deal with topics that interest me. I do somewhat enjoy writing. In school I would rather write a take home long essay then take a written or multiple choice test. My typical writing consists of a lot of informal writing such as journaling, facebook, text messaging, and emails. A lot of this writing is technology based because we are now in a culture and society that revolves completely around computers and cell phones. Rather then writing a letter most people choose to email or send a text message. Now that technology is becoming more advanced we are now able to access emails and send emails through our phones, which is making writing out letters less likely.
The Message I plan to send out through my blog is open and inviting. I choose vibrant colors such as lime green because it conveys my personality, which is easy going and that my posts are welcome to everyone. I believe that my vibrant energy and willingness to learn in this class will be portrayed through this blog. I am interested and excited about all I can learn from this course.
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