Course Descriptions

Fall 2004

• ENGL 501: Literature for Children, A. Allison
  English 501, Literature for Children, as an upper division course in literature distinct from a course in pedagogy, surveys genres in children's literature, focusing on aesthetics, the books' contents and the authors' styles ("close reading"), and on interpretive perspectives such as feminist, symbolic, or political. The goal of the course is to enable students to make substantive, independent evaluations of the texts at hand and other texts they encounter. Since students will read, discuss, and write a good deal, comprehension and writing skills are essential. Grammatical errors are marked down. Requirements: Five 2-3 pp. study questions with two possible revisions, four quizzes, a midterm, and a final. Study questions and quizzes comprise 30% of your grade. For each book we read, I'll give you several study questions to vector your thinking; you'll choose one question per due date, answering in no more than two pages. The midterm and final are each 30%. The other 10% is participation in class.
  Books Include:
  L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz
  F. Jimenez, The Circuit
  Randall Jarrell, The Bat Poet
  K. Paterson, Bridge to Teribithia
  Leon Tillage, Leon's Story
  R. Townley, The Great Good Thing
  K. Hesse, Witness
  Minfong Ho, The Clay Marble
  I.B. Singer, When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw
  ***And English 501 Reader at Cal Copy
• ENGL 503: Imaginary Places in Children's Literature, J. Griswold
  Oz, Harry Potter's sorcerer's world, Moominland-this course will examine imaginary places in Children's Literature, parallel worlds of encyclopedic completeness. In addition to those locales already mentioned, we will explore Miniature Realms (The Borrowers, Beatrix Potter's picturebooks), Worlds Where Toys Come Alive (Pinnochio, The Mouse and his Child), and Animal Lands (Doctor Dolittle, The Jungle Books, the Babar books).

Graduate Courses

• ENGL 607: Children's Literature and Visual Media/Child as Subject and Object, J. Cummins
  In this class we will consider the fluctuating positions the child inhabits as both subject and object through visual media. To understand this fluctuation, we will take two major and often intertwined approaches, one that considers the child through various artistic media and another that considers the child's role in the culture of commodity. When looking at children through artistic media, will examine forms that posit children as either seeing subjects or seen objects. To this end, we will study picture books, other illustrated literature, and film, asking ourselves about the relationships between vision and power when the child views (as subject) or is viewed (as object). When analyzing the commodification of childhood, both in terms of child as consumers (subject) and consumed (object), we will examine the packaging of children's literature into things such as toys and food as well into other art forms, such as film, video, computer games, and television. We will ask ourselves if children themselves are packaged, fashioned into commodities, or if they have some control in the economy as packagers. Does this fluctuation between object and subject have something to do, in the end, with the transitory nature of childhood? We will read several picture books and novels. Most likely, the course will be divided into units covering different media, such as film, television, comic strips, etc. In addition, we will read critical analyses relevant to our topics. You will be responsible for your own critical analyses, expressed through writing assignments and an oral presentation.

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