Mid-Term Study Guide Literature for Children & Adolescents
Elements "surrounding the story"
(such as dust jackets, inner flaps, endpages, and frontmatter) all add to the understanding and experience of the picturebook story.
self-knowledge
Both fantasy and science fiction address the theme
distinctive types
Distinctive types, or subgenres, of contemporary realistic fiction include adventure and survival stories, mysteries and thrillers, animal stories, and sports stories.
Historical fiction allows young readers to imagine themselves in different times and places. It also lets them see the impact one person can have on history, and the impact history can have on one person.
Historical fiction allows young readers to imagine themselves in different times and places. It also lets them see the impact one person can have on history, and the impact history can have on one person.
How are picture books published?
Picturebooks are published in trade editions, library editions, soft-cover editions, and in reading anthologies. Using the trade edition, the edition found in children's or young adult sections of bookstores, provides the fullest expression of the artistic design of the whole picturebook.
themes
Themes in contemporary realistic fiction reflect important issues of contemporary society.
Picturebooks span all genres
They are commonly divided into fiction (including folklore, fantasy and science fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, and historical fiction), nonfiction (including informational books, concept books, and biographies), and poetry or song.
folk and naive art
a broad designation for the style of artistic expression of a particular cultural group.
Line
a mark on the paper or place where different colors meet
science fiction
a type of fantastic literature, imaginatively extrapolates fact and theory: stories project what could happen in another time through logical extension of established theories and scientific principles.
Shape
an area or form with a definite outline that works, with line, to direct the viewer's eye and suggest feelings and ideas.
Biography
and memoir recount real people's lives and are either written by someone else or themselves.
Quality fantasy
and science fiction for children has a detailed and believable world, imaginative yet logically consistent set of story events, multidimensional characters, and identifiable and meaningful themes.
Mysteries
and thrillers are both full of suspense
Poetry and verse
are condensed language that expresses imaginative thoughts and perceptions. They often contain rhythm and other devices of sound, imagery, or figurative language.
Nonfiction books
are informational sources that explain, describe, or inform about a subject a subject using facts about the real world.
Literary Lore
are not a cultural variant of well-known folktales but rather the deliberate construction of an author intending to imitate, embellish, or alter traditional folktales, usually in full-length novels.
Quest tales
are often high fantasy that explore serious themes such as the struggle between good and evil in well-developed fantasy worlds.
Animal fantasy
attributes human thought, feeling, and language to animals. Animal fantasy in picturebook form is especially popular
Storytelling
began with the songs and tales early societies composed to describe their daily work.
Magical Realism
blurs the boundaries between fantastic and realistic literature, since it involves elements that are not considered "real" in an otherwise realistic fiction text.
Science fiction
books are set in future realities based on scientific possibilities. Future realities can take the form of grim dystopias but usually end with hope for the future.
science fantasy
books are those in which the line between the fantastic and a scientific possibility is very fine.
Combining Styles
combining styles to produce intriguing illustrations.
Sports stories
contain exciting sports scenes, but the central story tells how the main character uses the sport in life.
impressionistic
emphasizes light and color, and create a fleeting impression of reality.
outline style
emphasizes line and often reduces features to simplified shapes.
Animal stories
feature realistic relationships between animals and humans.
Hard Science
fiction is based on possibilities suggested by sciences like chemistry, biology, or physics.
soft science
fiction is based on possibilities suggested by sciences like sociology.
first significant work of fantasy
for children was Alice in Wonderland; fantasy then flourished in the twentieth century with books like Peter Pan, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and more. Series books in the fantasy genre are common and include such popular series as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, and The Lord of the Rings.
Popular formats
for contemporary realistic fiction include transitional chapter books in series, novels in verse, graphic novels, picturebooks, prose novels, and short stories.
Contemporary realistic fiction
has a strong sense of actuality; its plausible stories are about people and events that could actually happen. It reflects many of the problems that our society is concerned with today.
has a strong sense of actuality; its plausible stories are about people and events that could actually happen. It reflects many of the problems that our society is concerned with today.
has a strong sense of actuality; its plausible stories are about people and events that could actually happen. It reflects many of the problems that our society is concerned with today.
Adventure and survival stories
have exciting, fast-paced plots and usually have a man versus nature conflict.
setting cont.
in a contemporary realistic fiction story could or does exist.
current issues
in contemporary realistic fiction include gaining independence, losing loved ones, political oppression, war, race and class, cultural differences, exceptionalities, relationships, gender identity, sexual preferences, and families.
Characters
in contemporary realistic fiction reflect human beings we know
main theme
in realistic fiction is growing up or coming-of-age.
Types of folklore
include nursery rhymes, folktales, fables, myths and pourquoi stories, hero tales, folk songs, and fractured fairy tales and literary folklore. Types of folktales include talking animal tales, noodlehead tales, fairy tales, tall tales, and fables.
challenges in selecting literature
include such issues as considering literary excellence, evaluating cultural content, dealing with standards, mandates, tests, and time to read, and issues of censorship. Resources for selecting literature include review journals, book awards, and websites.
Media and Technique
includes acrylic, cut paper and collage, computer-generated or computer-augmented art, gouache, graphite and pencil, mixed media, oil paintings, outline drawing and comic strip, pastels, crayon, and charcoal, pen-and-ink, photographs or photomontage, scratchboard and engraving, watercolor, and woodcuts and other printing techniques.
Design
includes attention to composition, unity, repetition and more
Fantastic literature
includes folklore, fantasy, and science fiction, and seeks to explain and explore the mysteries of the world, the universe, and the behavior of we humans who inhabit it.
High fantasy
includes stories placed in fully realized fantastical settings,
Representational
literal, realistic depictions of characters, objects, and events.
Variants
of folktales appear in many different cultures. Many stories have hundreds of variants from countries all over the world.
size and shape
of the picturebook and its illustrations vary according to the subject matter of the book and its purposes. The trim size refers to the final dimensions of the pages of the book.
miniature worlds
offer details about life in miniature and seriously explore human needs, desires, and emotions on a miniature scale.
social and cultural factors
parental and peer influences, cultural individualism or collectivism, and gender norms
Texture
smooth or rough to convey a sense of reality or suggest movement, action, roughness, delicacy, and so on.
Surrealistic
startling images, attitude about conventionalities.
Low Fantasy
stories include something that is fantastic in the real world.
Historical fiction
tells the stories of history; it consists of imaginative stories grounded in the facts of our past. It is realistic—the events could have occurred, and the people portrayed could have lived—but it is a fictional story.
Color
used to express character, mood, and emotion.
Picturebook illustrations have a critical relationship
with the illustrations that come before and after them. Page turns similarly affect the story and vary according to the content and purpose of the story. Cut-outs include illustrations that have no straight lines for borders, but appear to "float" against awhite backdrop.
how do windows and mirrors work in contemporary realistic fiction
Contemporary realistic fiction presents stories that can act as windows through which we see the world, and as mirrors in which we see ourselves.
Reading historical fiction can help children realize that they are players on the historical stage, and that their lives, too, will one day become part of history.
Reading historical fiction can help children realize that they are players on the historical stage, and that their lives, too, will one day become part of history.
the importance of reading
Reading literature contributes to language growth and development, vocabulary, writing development, and can create the motivation and engagement needed to become a successful reader.
cognitive and language development
The communication of thoughts and feelings through symbols that are arranged according to the rules of grammar
dialogue
The dialogue of the characters, an element of style, in contemporary realistic fiction should reflect today's language forms, including current slang and appropriate dialect variations.
plot
The plot in a contemporary realistic fiction story is one that is probable in today's world and that matters to today's children.
Aesthetic reading
involves being aware of the sound and feeling of a text, as well as identifying with the characters and participating in the story world-- virtually experiencing the story.
Theme
is a central, unifying idea that ties the story together.
censorship
is a suppression of reading material in an attempt to deny others the right to read something the censor considers offensive. Selection is a process of choosing appropriate reading material for readers according to literary and educational judgments.
A transactional view of reading
is defined as the view that meaning does not reside in the text alone, but rather is created in the transaction between a reader and a text.
Style
is how an author writes—the vocabulary and syntax used to create a story or convey information. It also includes point of view, which is the perspective used to tell a story or give information.
Efferent reading
is reading primarily for the practical purpose of gaining knowledge from a text.
Contemporary Realistic Fiction
is set in modern times with events, settings, and characters that could occur in the real world.
Fantasy
is set in places that do not exist and contain characters that could not exist or events that could not happen.
historical fiction
is set in the past, portraying realistic actual or fictional characters, events, and historical settings.
Plot
is the sequence of story events and usually revolves around a central conflict or multiple conflicts.
response-centered curriculum
is to engage readers in the act of reading responsively.
Folklore
is traditional stories, myths, legends, nursery rhymes, and songs passed down through generations by word of mouth, and the original author is unknown.
Fantasy suspends scientific explanations and natural laws;
it contains some element of character, setting or plot not found in the natural world as it asks age-old question about life, goodness, and balance.
Ideology
refers to the cultural assumptions and attitudes that the author expresses consciously or unconsciously.
Characterization
refers to the means an author uses to define and establish credibility of a character.
Setting
refers to the time and place in which the story events occur
