Week 3

This week we have read an excerpt  of Susan Warner's The Wide, Wide World. Reading this text, it becomes apparent that Ellen's parents function to provide an example to follow and to be teachers to Ellen (though this is mostly to do with her mother, as the father is largely absent). Mr. Montgomery serves as the example of what a man should be: someone who (if he must work) provides for his wife and children and insures their security, as is exampled by him insisting that Mrs. Montgomery be taken overseas to improve her health. Mrs. Montgomery is to Ellen the example of what she should be: a humble servant of God, an obedient wife, and a composed and gentle woman.

Mothers' role is to provide and take good care of Ellen while father is out making money for the family. She does her best to see that Ellen is acquainted with God and to provide Ellen the things that she needs to grow up into a lady. Against even the wishes of her physician, she leaves the house to insure that Ellen has a Bible perfectly suited to her, a writing desk for proper correspondence, and even a work-box so that Ellen may mend her own clothes when Mrs. Montgomery has passed (which she suspects may be sooner rather than later). Mr. Montgomery, on the contrary, takes almost no part in the raising of Ellen. He is not featured in the story but once at breakfast. While Ellen and his wife sit at home all day doing whatever it is that they do, he is at work making the money that will go towards doctor bills and other such expenses. Ellen is brought up almost entirely by her mother, yet the ultimate authority figure in her life is instead her father. Since father has commanded that Mrs. Montgomery will go overseas and that Ellen will stay behind, it shall be done, and neither of the women contemplate disobeying him. Since he provides the means by which they live off of, both defer to him, and they both take care of the domestic activities so he does not have to.

To Ellen, her mother is the ultimate source of love in her life as well as the most trusted. She even tells her mother how she doesn't know how she could ever love God more than her, even as her mother says that she does indeed love God more than Ellen. Since father is so frequently absent, her mother is really all that Ellen has. Naturally, she is much more emotionally invested in her mother than in her father.

Week 2

Sanchez-Eppler states in the beginning of her introduction that children are both “objects of socialization” and “forces of socialization.” As I’ve gathered from the literature we’ve read so far, this is true, and what I take to mean that children’s literature is used to propose a set of values to be modeled and vessels in which to instill these same values. Children will guide the way into the future, but we must prepare them to guide us in the direction that we want to go. Though the value of childhood “specialness” was beginning to be recognized, children were still being seen as “culturally irrelevant” since they were still dependent upon adults. They were not studied or taken seriously because adults believed that children were basically drawings to be colored in with their favorite colors, and such it was reflected in the purpose behind the literature to teach them morals. But at the same time, while they wrote with an emphasis on teaching morality, their writing constituted the importance of children to society by the simple fact that they saw it important to educate them.

MacLeod makes several claims in Children’s Literature for a New Nation, two of which are that the stories are mostly lacking in setting and that they strive strictly to teach morality. Well even in our very first reading this seems to be untrue. Rip van Winkle is filled with beautiful descriptions of the Catskills Mountains which sparked the imagination of even this modern reader. In addition to that, the main character seems to come out on top, waking up to find his shrewish wife deceased and having “arrived at that happy age when a man can do nothing with impunity.” True, many of his friends were gone and his dog no longer remembered him, but the story is lacking in a “dire consequence” that results from the faults of the characters. Rather, this story seems to cautiously advise against the vice of sloth while building a detailed setting to hold the attention of the children it was made to be read to. Morality is important, but it is not overwhelming. Setting is more important than MacLeod gives it credit for because you have to have something to hold your audiences’ attention, and setting does that very well.

As is mentioned several times in our reading, children’s literature is mostly meant to be understood by adults. Adults are the ones writing the literature and are frequently the ones reading it to the children. Therefore it would be prudent as we are reading to think critically about what the author is trying to communicate to the children, as it is most likely going to contain commonly held values or anxieties of the time.

First Assignment

Hello, my name is Sarah Fulkerson. I'm from the small town of Mansfield, Texas, about 25 minutes south of Fort Worth. I am a sophomore pre-law Economics major with a minor in Political Science.

I came to TCU my freshman year because I wanted a small university experience, so I could get to know professors on a more personal level. Also I liked it because it is rather close to my home. I maintain good relations with my family so I like to visit often.

If I was made Chancellor of TCU, I think the first thing I would change is the way the dining plans are organized. Last semester I calculated that I spent about $17 every time I swiped my card to get into Market Square. I just don't eat $1800 worth of food every semester so it's silly that I should be mandated to buy a dining plan that costs that much.

I think a good teacher is always patient with their students, accessible outside of the classroom, willing to repeat or further explain an idea, knowledgeable about their topic, and always prepared for class. Good students are willing to put forth the effort to learn what they are being taught, always in attendance, and prepared for classroom discussion and tests.

If I could have dinner with any three living people, they would be my late grandmother, Coco Chanel, and Greg Mortensen. I would have dinner with my grandmother because I never got the chance to really ask her about her life and my mother as a child. Coco Chanel as well, because I admire her prowess as a business woman during a time when women were expected to stay in the home. Finally, my hero Greg Mortensen, who risks his life day in and day out to build schools for children in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hmm, what are three things you should know about me? Well, I tend to write quite a lot, in case you haven't noticed by now. I consider myself to be a good writer and I rather enjoy it. I really, really, really want to live in New York someday, and hopefully practice law there. Here's a random thing about me: I'm terrified of the ocean. I hate swimming in it unless I can see the bottom, and usually I don't even do that because I hate sand. And seafood. Just about anything even associated with the ocean I don't like.

3 things I'd like to know about you: Anybody here from out of the country? I love traveling! Does anybody else besides me love old movies? Gone With the Wind, North by Northwest anyone? And who else could care less about American Idol?

I decided to take this course because I've always found American literature to be highly organic and a true product of the American spirit, so I wanted to learn a little more about how it works and what the major themes are throughout our history.

Well inside the classroom I do a lot of reading for my political science classes, as they're simply reading intensive courses. Outside the classroom though I do try to stay up to date with what is going on in the world. One of the first things I do every morning is check the headlines, both national and international. I have a large interest in the Middle East, so I love books such as The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and 3 Cups of Tea. Like my parents, I also enjoy books in the fantasy genre, from authors such as R.A. Salvatore and Mercedes Lackey and novels like Wayfarer's Redemption and Medalon.

I don't do too much writing outside the classroom, and when I do it is usually bursts of creativity that I don't tend to expand upon. I've always wanted to write a book, so I'm kind of waiting for that one idea that I'll fall in love with and expand upon. I do it well when I do write, but I don't ever show it to anyone, for reasons known only to psychologists.

Though I at first wanted the color scheme of my blog to be black, I ending up choosing the one you see now. I always try to be a happy person, so I like to surround myself with things that exude positive energy. The humor I do use tends to just be a bit of dry wit now and then as I see appropriate, but usually I take no large steps to include it. I've started this blog out with just cut and dry information and tried to sort it out by question so that the reader can easily acquire the information that I'm trying to say. I am a well organized, efficient person, so I'd like my blog to reflect that.

For the benefit of Professor Irvin: I have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of the course syllabus. Thanks for reading.