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.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, January 18, 2010
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.
I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions on the course syllabus.
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.
I have read and agreed to the terms and conditions on the course syllabus.
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