...CLB 9003 Cross-cultural Studies of Children's Fantasy Literature (1st Term, 2013-14) Term Paper “Compare children’s images in Western and Chinese children’s fantasy literature” Name : So Lok Ching Student ID :4028177 Instructor : Dr Tong Man The development of Western and Chinese children’s fantasy literature varies a lot. Western children’s fantasy literature has a much earlier development process. In Ancient Greece and Rome, there was no distinction between children and adult’s literature, children and adults shared the same literature. Until the 18th century, a remarkable French philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed that every child has a unique value and children should not be seen as immature adults. He also emphasized the importance of moral development in his writing ‘Emile’, in which he believed it could be performed by living a simple life. Rousseau’s ideas had a major influence on the development of children’s literature. People raised awareness about children and children’s fantasy literature was flourishing in the 19th century. In this Golden Age, different varieties of children’s fantasy literature were written to entertain children, such as modern fantasy stories and adventure stories. The naughty image of children could be shown in many adventure stories as well, such as ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ (1876) by Mark Twain and ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ (1883) by Carlo Collodi. Up to the 20th century and recent decades, Naughty main...
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...Fantasy and Poetry in Children’s literature The two selections of literature are Cinderella for the fantasy story and a poem by Eloise Greenfield called “Tradition”. Both selections are from different cultural traditions, but portray positive messages to children and adults in today’s society. Every little girl dreams of finding her prince charming. There are more than 1500 different versions of “Cinderella” from cultures all over the world. The story of Cinderella has been in existence since 1865 and published by George Routledge. This fairy tale is one of the oldest and most familiar to young children that inspire them to believe anything is possible. The literary elements in Cinderella include the setting, characters, plot, conflict, climax, and ending. The setting was in a faraway kingdom a long time ago. The characters included a young girl name Cinderella, her stepmother, two stepsisters, the prince, and fairy godmother. The Plot of this fairy tale is a young girl who is being treated unfairly, but dreams of finding her true love. She is being mistreated by her stepmom and sisters and works as a maid in the home. Cinderella begs to go to a ball and is told she could go after all chores are completed. Once she completes the chores and finds a dress, she is maliciously attacked by her stepsisters and destroys her dress. Cinderella was shattered and thought she would never recover from this. The conflict in this story is the continual dislike from the stepmother and...
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...The fantasy literature of Cinderella was introduced by many cultures and every culture seems to have its own version. Cinderella stories date back as early as 850 A. D. with the first written version of Chinese tale yeh-shen (Cinderella: A cross-cultural story by Patricia w. Kite) Even though Cinderella is a fantasy story it shows many meaning to the character that portrays Cinderella. In many cultures there are stories of Cinderella where every girl dreams of having a Prince charming. The story of Cinderella is a fairy tale that is told and read to children of very young ages (ALA American Library Association) Research shows that many versions have been found first in Europe and the story tale origins appear to date back to a Chinese story from the ninth century. (ALA American Library Association) The book Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah is a story portrayed by a very young girl who mother died giving birth to her. Cinderella lived with her family who thought she was bad luck to them, therefore she was discriminated against and treated very bad. In the Chinese culture many Chinese people prefer sons then daughters. In many cultures children look for the love of their parents. The book emphasizes that quote “how you should do your best in the face of hopelessness; to have faith in the end your spirit will prevail; to transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion.” (by Adeline Yeh Man) ...
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...conform to the conventions of the fantasy genre in a number of ways. The main elements of fantasy are discussed in relation to the two texts, with examples provided. This essay will discuss several of the core characteristics of fantasy literature, including the concepts of magic, otherworlds, good vs. evil, heroism, special character types and talking animals. These characteristics of literature are all identified in the two texts, Assassin’s Apprentice by Hobb and The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. Fantasy, as a genre of literature, is a story or series of stories, which exhibits certain definable elements that make the plot unreal and challenge the reader to suspend disbelief. There are many of these unreal elements, which feature in the fantasy genre. These unreal elements vary from mythical beasts roaming an imagined world to Earth-like natural settings in which animals take on human characteristics. There are also clearly recognizable conventions of fantasy, such as toys coming to life, miniature humans, magical powers, and time-warp stories. A fantasy novel would usually encompass more than one of these unreal elements. However, a fantasy story needs to possess only one of these unreal features in order to be classified as a part of the fantasy genre. Put simply, a fantasy story is one with at least one element that cannot be found in the human world. Magic is the most basic element of fantasy; magic is what draws a reader to fantasy. Magic involves charms, spells or rituals...
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...THE MEANINGS OF FANTASY We can describe fantasy in two different ways. One one hand, as a literary term, it is defined as any narrative that manages with impossible and preternaturals; such as, Gulliver, the ancient mariner, the crock of gold etc. Although they are very similar in spirit and purpose but actually the only subject in common they have is that they are all fantastic. This is why CS Lewis calls this fantasy, literary fantasy. On the other hand, as a psychological term, it can have three meanings. Firstly, an imaginative building which may please patients and is mistaken for reality; for example, a woman in this condition will imagine a famous person is in love with her and a man might imagine that he is the long-lost son of nobles who is wealthy and overwhelmed with luxuries. Secondly, a satisfying imaginative construction entertained constantly by the patient but without the delusion that it is a reality. Also known as the waking dream, of military or erotic triumphs, of power or grandeur and even of popularity; dreamers hold onto this type of psychological fantasy for pure consolation and only satisfaction. Nevertheless, these dreamers no longer aims to achieve their dream in real life but rather live it as achieved in their mind. A man dreaming of wealth will not save a penny and a man dreaming of handsomeness will not do anything to make himself agreeable to any woman he meets. The author calls this activity Morbid Castle-building. Thirdly, the same type...
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...Fantasy is a broad concept discussed for over many years. Many writers have tried to define fantasy according to different perspectives. Fantasy is something which takes you into imaginative and supernatural world and allows anything to happen (JoAnn 2005). Fantasy is a field involving and practiced in different media. It is greatly related to imagination and mythology ( Laetz & Johnston 2008). The genre of fantasy is most widely used in arts and entertainment world where writers and art related persons us this concept to gather public interest. The Harry potter series is a good example where writer has use fantasy genre and gained huge success. Fantasy is a process which shows the thinking capability of person that how far he/she can think beyond the actual world. Fantasies lead to creative idea generations. As successful in other walks of life, fantasy is widely used in business. Marketers usually use this concept of fantasy in their product promotions. The main motive is to seek maximum attention. The promotional campaigns and ads are designed in such a way that they take customer into an imaginative world. The customers impressed with promotional campaign tend to think that the product will give them ultimate comfort and is the best available solution to their needs. The fantasy campaigns go a step further and create artificial need by making a customer realize that his personality or surrounding will remain incomplete without this product. This particular ad is...
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...Fantasy Some people believe that fantasy is dangerous for children to read, and some people have a completely different opinion. According to Ursula Le Guin, fantasy is not just for children, but for adults too, “Tales of talking animals and fantastical adventure aren’t just for children, argues Ursula Le Guin – we can and should return to them throughout our lives” (Quote page 1 line 1-3). Right from the beginning you know that ULG is a fan of fantasy being a part of everyone’s lives. You can always use your child or grandchild as an excuse to read fantasy, if you don’t have the courage to do it by yourself. Fantasy has always been perceived as being for children only, and fantasy has been conflated with immaturity, which according to ULG is a rather sizeable error. Many of the texts are poetry and it contains different elements from different genres. Many fantasies which actually were published as for children, is often read by adults, “It begins with, say, George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind and runs on through Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, The Wind in the Willows, the Just So Stories and The Jungle Book, the Pooh books, Dr Dolittle, The Hobbit, The Once and Future King, Charlotte’s Web, to my first three Earthsea books and all the serious imaginative fiction that continues to be published “for children” but is often read by adults” (Quote page 2 line 48-52). Realistic fiction does not affect everyone, but only people in...
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...Guin’s text: “Why are Americans afraid of dragons?”. The theme is about the phenomenon fantasy, and the importance of being allowed to use ones imagination as a child, as well as an adult. Throughout the text, she uses poor argumentation as to why reading fantasy is important. But still her argumentations makes sense, are trustworthy and entertaining. The reason why I categorize it as poor but entertaining and trustworthy is that she doesn’t use a variety of argumentation types. She uses pathos throughout the whole text with some experiences of her own to back up some of her points. Her overall claim in her text is that reading fantasy feeds the imagination, and therefore one doesn’t crave poor TV series and porn as examples, as an adult. Also that proper feeding of one’s imagination in an early age through fantasy books has a positive impact in one’s adult life. But why aren’t there more adults reading fantasy then? That question gives birth to Le Guin’s question and title of her text “Why Are Americans Afraid Of Dragons?”. Le Guin’s text appeal to the adult readers, as to why they should read fantasy or fiction for that matter, and that immersing in a good fantasy or novel shouldn’t be something taboo in the American society. She states that many Americans are not only antifantasy, but antifictional altogether. She also claims that men in modern society aren’t allowed to read fantasy or fictions unless it’s a bestselling novel, or something business related. Who can blame...
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...Books for Military Children ENG 290 1422 South Tech Lane, Meridian, Idaho, 83642 November 26, 2013 Mr. Thomas Luna Superintendent State Board Of Education 650 West State Street, Boise, Idaho, 83720 Dear Mr. Luna, We are a concerned group of students from University of Phoenix who want to address a lack of appropriate reading material for our students from military families. These children, and their families, are seemingly always on the move. The culture shock a typical military child goes through every time his family moves can be stressful. Although there are communities within the confines of the base, the world outside the gates can be overwhelming and even scary. Within the gates and fences there is relative safety, and a sense of security. However, outside those parameters are challenges that most children may have no idea how to handle or what to expect when they arrive in their new temporary home. There is a need for children of military families to make friends easily, and to find a community of his or her peers, but many of them find it hard to be accepted into a group when continually viewed as a temporary “new kid.” Rarely do military children have lifelong friendships from their childhood. They will better equip themselves to make friends easier and form meaningful relationships if they would prepare themselves with a sneak peak at the culture they will be living in ahead of time. Our goal is to put more books regarding these issues into...
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...Max Horner Laleman Lit 120 10 May 2015 Why The Hobbit is a Classic Novel What makes a novel a classic piece of literature is many times a hot topic in the world of literature. Many times being a great book, or an interesting read is just not enough for a book to be included in this great company. The Hobbit written by JRR Tolkien though, must be included in this conversation. Tolkien a writing style may not be the most exciting but it is important to remember "One of the most important things to remember is that "classic" does not necessarily translate to "favorite" or "bestselling". Literature is instead considered classic when it has stood the test of time" (gradesaver.com) Tolkien's book has most definitely stood the test of time in the literary world. When talking about the reasons The Hobbit is considered a classic there are three key points to discuss. One must look at J.R.R Tolkien’s rejection of the much more popular "god like" hero, and its replacement with an everyday hero and how it was crazy during that time. Also, one must look at its ability to stand the test of time, and its ability to influence other artists stretching across the fantasy field. In talking about Tolkien’s replacement of a "god like" hero with an everyday hero one must realize the trends of that time. Most novels with heroes leading up to this time were filled with great powerful men who possessed some sort of mystical weapon or power. In this story Tolkien decided to break the mold and introduce...
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...people speechless and heart-broken for their fallen hero. Even though this Anglo-Saxon epic was written between the fifth and seventh century, it carries many similarities to modern day society. The similarities can be seen in modern literature and pop culture, the comitatus, the various struggles that occur, and the qualities that make up a great leader. The poem epic has left a huge print on modern day writers and pop culture. Its influence can be seen in many modern fantasies from J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy “Lord of the Rings” and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. J. R. R. has been known to be one of the few scholars that have seriously contributed his works to Beowulf. In “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” he states how Anglo-Saxon literature had a long-lasting effect on present thoughts. Similarities between the Anglo-Saxon themes and ideas can be found throughout the trilogy along with the Old English derivation of the character and location names. For example, the root word searu-, which means "treachery” or “cunning,” appears in the name Saruman – whom devoted Tolkien fans will recognize as a major antagonist in the fantasy novels; and the Old English word for earth, middan-geard, becomes Middle-earth, the aptly-named fantasy world of the novels (neh)....
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...The Fantasy Appeal in the Hobbit Fantasy is a type of genre that allows the reader to experience a place or world unlike any they have before. Fantasy lifts all our ideas of reality, and allows us to be a part of experiences that we would otherwise have no chance of taking part in. One of the first genres to be used in literary fiction was romance and this genre embraced fantasy by creating princesses and princes fighting an epic battle and mythical creatures such as dragons, Vampires and Ghost. In this paper I will explain how J.R.R Tolkien “The Hobbit” fits the genre of fantasy. This is important because every writer has there own writing style and there favorite genre. The novel “The Hobbit” by J.R.R Tolkien fits the characteristics of the fantasy genre because it has everything a fantasy book would have such as mythical creatures, wizards and an epic hero. J.R.R Tolkien was a scholar of English language and was a professor at oxford. He Specialized in Anglo Saxon and medieval literature. Tolkien being writing fantasy novels in 1976 and has said “No other Genre can put you in such a magical state expect fantasy”(A Short History of fantasy pg.123). J.R.R Tolkien has explained that his love for fantasy goes back to his childhood and when he would read books and forget about everything and everyone around him. J.R.R Tolkien has used every aspect of fantasy in his book “The Hobbit”. The majority of fantasy is based in a medieval-type setting, a unique fantasy world...
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...hill towards a volcano this is a big turning point. This was because he used to be a skater; he was rediscovering is old self. This image encouraged by the green hills in the background and the happy music playing. In this scene he is not wearing a suit and tie as he was in the beginning of the film; he was wearing camo green pants and a long sleeved T-shirt. As the movie progresses his clothing becomes more colorful and rugged, so does his face, at the start of the movie he was freshly shaved but now he has a beard, this is a metaphor for the internal changes he is experiencing. Secondly another journey is to go from fear to confidence. He was helped to face his fears by Cheryl singing Major Tom as he is in the bar. Even though it was a fantasy it helped him get on the helicopter and go where he needed to go. From this point he faced his fears by jumping out of a helicopter into the ocean, getting attacked by a shark and running away from the volcano. All of...
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...The Familiar In this essay, “The Familiar” by Andre Norton will focused on the relationship between the main character, Fossi and Jeseca. The focus will be on, how it develops from a relation with the toy with trust, to become a relation based on friendship and I will examine the fantasy elements and why is makes this short story to a fantasy story. “I exerted the invisible bond, we shared and she hugged me tightly against her breast” The relationship between Fossi and Jeseca from the start based on trust because Jesaca do not know that Fossi is a real cat, only that he is a stuffed toy. The relationship changes fast to a friendship because Fossi is taking care of Jeseca “Jeseca gave a cry of pain and flung the hilt from her a though of had suddenly become too hot to hold”. In this quote make Fossi the knife too hot to hold because he do not want Jeseca to kill, but still he wants to see Jesaca used his power. . Fossi can control with Jeseca “As though controlled by the strings of a dance-doll, her right arm lifted until it pointed to blank barrier before us” and mental can Fossi also control with Jeseca “ My familiar had trown back the lid of the massive chest that stood on that corridor. Now she knelt and reached in, stripping away the layers of cloth stored until she came to the cloak that had been folded over me. A moment later she brought my forth. I could feel her surprise at this actions which I had directed; why should she place herself in peril to retrace...
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...Visual 1 This visual message is not clear at all. This visual does not tell a story about the overall pyramid. The sections in the pyramid was properly labeled accordingly. The visual was from a credit source being the United States Department of Agriculture. The visual was designed properly and the colors was used properly. The visual was free of any form of chart junk. The visual was misleading because it did not tell a story about the pyramid. The pyramid just stated food groups and servings but not real overall picture. Visual 2 This visual message was real in this pyramid. The stories in this visual was determined in thorough sentences what occurred in this pyramid. Business Training Center (2013), “When pre-senting important information, a visual – such as a chart or graph – is worth a thousand lines of da-ta”. The sections in the pyramid was properly labeled accordingly. The visual was from a credit source being the United States Department of Agriculture. The visual was designed properly and the colors was used properly throughout he visual. The visual was free of any form of chart junk. This visual was easy for the readier to follow and was well organized. The colors were used great according to the information in the pyramid. This was a well put together visual. Visual 3 This visual message was not clear. The visual did not tell an overall story of the bar chart. This visual could have told more information about malaria mortalities...
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