ENG 224(C) - Children’s Literature

Credit(s): 3
MassTransfer Block Code: Humanities/Fine and Performing Arts
ENG 224 provides an introduction to the vast field of children’s literature, offering an overview of historical changes in this literature; a review of major genres, including picture books, fairy tales, novels, poetry, and creative non-fiction; and tools for analysis, such as psychological development, educational philosophy, or literary theory. Students will read texts geared for a range of ages, including several texts aimed at young readers ages 0 to 8, several texts for readers ages 7 to 12, and at least one or two texts meant for the young adult market. Students can expect to learn techniques of visual analysis for picture books and graphic novels, and should also expect to trace common themes and pre-occupations found in children’s literature, such as the home away home story pattern or the construction of alternative families. While the course might primarily focus on children’s literature within the Western tradition, students have the opportunity to explore children’s texts in translation from other traditions, such as China or India. Regardless, students can expect to explore the enormous cultural and stylistic diversity of Western children’s literature, and to expand their ideas of what children might read, from dark realism to whimsical fantasy to subversive humor.

Prerequisite(s): ENG 102

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