Who needs parents?

I have found that when reading stories, parents either play a major role or have no role at all. In the story "The Wide, Wide World", parents or we should say a parent plays a major role. We see an absence of a father figure and a bond between a mother and a daughter. The text encourages us to view the role of parents and challenge our opinion on the effects they have on children.

If you notice in the story, the parental role is switched between Ellen and Mrs. Montgomery. For example in the beginning it mentions that " To make her mother's tea was Ellen's regular business"(25). Mrs. Montgomery is very sick and needs to be taken care of; Ellen takes care of her mother in a way that shows her maturity at a young age. We already know that this book was written as a type of instruction manual for young women learning to become ladies. Even though Ellen's mother is very sick, she is capable of preparing Ellen for her future. You can see the importance of a mother on a young woman and how in this story the presence of the mother and absence of the father is evident. Ellen sees her mother as a mentor someone she can come to to ask advice. She is envious of her mother and it is obvious when she says "But mamma... you know he is not my friend in the same way that he is yours... Oh, I wish he was"(35).

You can tell that Ellen looked at her father in a different light. She did not want to learn from him or envy what he does. She considered her father someone who kept them comfortable in their home and safe from becoming poor. In one section Ellen and her mother are talking about how her father has lost another lawsuit and the consequences, "It has cause an entire change of all our plans. Your father says he is too poor now to stay here any longer" with Ellen's response being, "Well, mamma, that is bad; but he has been away a great deal before, and I am sure we were always very happy"(23). She is not worried about her father being in her life and is only concerned for her mother.

How do we create children?

After reading MacLeod and Snachez, I feel that it is capable to create your own ideas and theories about children and children literature. Obviously, societies ideas about children and how to raise them have changed drastically over the years even past decade. It's amazing how we can change the way we want to raise our children based on the intellectual progress we have noticed. This change all began "When an American fictional literature for children began to be written about 1820, it was distinctly a product of its time" (MacLeod). From the beginning, we have tried to control and create the next generation the way we see best fit.

One theory that I have found myself agreeing with is when MacLeod said " national feeling required that books for American children should be home products". It is important for children to read books that take place in their own country. When children read books about America they are also learning about their culture and society. If a child was raised on other stories their based culture would be that of another country. Learning American culture is very important for these young minds. They need to grow up reading about and loving the country that they call home.

Secondly, children books used to be based solely on what parents want their children to think and how they wanted them to act in the future. "It will not be an issue here,' Jacqueline Rose writes in her study of Peter Pan, ' of what the child wants, but of what the adult desires- desires in the very act of construing the child as the object of its speech". Parents realized the control they had over children by creating stories that taught children how to act. This is a smart tactic that many of Americans learned and still to this day continue to use. Children need to learn from children books and create from the beginning reasoning behind the moral.

Continuing on with the persuasiveness of young children, Sanchez provides another point that I have to agree with. "Lockean conceptions of childhood as a 'blank slate' upon which parental authority must write, Romantic visions of the child as natural and as innocent as nature vied and mingled with each other" (Sanchez). When children are young, adults are able to create an impact on the way they think. Books and children literature are able to do this, especially when the parents pick out the certain books that their child will be able to read. This again is a smart tactic that was used then and now.

I feel that a reason for the change in children literature is the study of how it effects the next generation. Sanchez states that "this book treats children and childhood as part of cultural studies". Children are a culture of their own, they have their own language, signs, styles and they create them on their own to be distinguished. We still study children today and they way that they interact with each other and do the strange things that we witness. Children literature has changed because of the studies and research that have seen that what children read affects how the next generation will act. Childhood is all a part of science.

One point that I do disagree with is in MacLeod's article. She states that back in the day, "The focus of the stories was extremely narrow. They were written to teach and specifically to teach morality". Children need more than just a narrow boring story. They need to be able to imagine and let their mind wonder off in to new places. This type of imagination is what helps our society create bigger and better things for our community. The creativity helps children in different subjects and allows them to be expressive in whatever they may pursue.

I agree with most of what we have read and am amazed that I have never realized the control authors of children literature have over our future generations. It really surprises me and even though this may sound stupid I feel as though I am being let in on a little secret and I like it.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Yes, Texas is far away from home but there is a reason for my decision. Family is very important to me, so when I was looking at schools I looked for places close to where I had family members. One of my brothers lives in Dallas and my mom mentioned looking at TCU. In the fall of my senior year, I took a tour of TCU and completely fell in love (it was magical). I have two older brothers, both of which are married and with children. Having nephews and a niece is pretty special. I am a sophomore with my current major as secondary level English education.

If I was chancellor at TCU the first thing I would change is parking. It's awful! To me a good teacher is one that is comfortable with his/ her class and is able to have fun and enjoy the curriculum. A good student is one who starts with an open mind, is willing to take chances in the class and wanting to succeed to their fullest. If I could have dinner with anyone it would be my friend Loren and my grandparents. Three things that people should know about me are: I'm a huge goof and do not have a problem laughing at myself, I'm very outgoing and can talk to anyone, I seem to be a therapist because people always come to me with their problems. Three things that I would like to know about my class are: who really loves English, if this class will be fun with the group we have and everyone's name!

I choose to take this course because it was a requirement, but besides that I love to find great authors. I'm hoping to be able to find a favorite author because of right now I couldn't tell you one.

Final Statement: I have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course.