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The Ideology Of Persistence In Children’s Literature Analysis
If you work hard you will find success. Persistence leads to success is a comforting truism, because we feel the future is under our own control. Work hard, you win. An episode of a Freakonomics podcast provides a strong, economically sound argument for sometimes giving up. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a book for…
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Humour Writing And Spongebob Squarepants
SpongeBob Squarepants is a fast-paced children’s cartoon for a dual audience, written by a guy who is also a marine biologist. This is a highly successful and long-running show, with humour that broadly appeals. This series has been running since 1999. Critics say the show has been declining in quality in the last few years,…
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Welcome To Camp Nightmare Storytelling Study
R.L. Stine has written a huge number of horror books for middle grade and young adult readers. I was a bit old for them when they first came out, though I recollect reading one or two. Now I’ll read some of his works to see how, exactly, Stine took the horror genre and bowdlerized it…
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Moral Dilemmas And Children’s Stories
What Is A Moral Dilemma? Philosophers are especially concerned with moral dilemmas, and ask the following question: Is it possible to do a morally wrong action in order to do what is morally required? Various branches of philosophy disagree on the answer to that question. Some believe the question itself contains a paradox, rendering the…
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Ghosts, Flaws and the Psychic Wound in Fiction
There are various words to describe the event from a main character’s past which holds them back in the present: the fatal flaw, the psychic wound, the ghost. “Our culture believes strong individuals can transcend their circumstances. I myself don’t much enjoy books by Hardy or Dreiser or Wharton, where the outside world is so…
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The Juniper Tree by Lorrie Moore Analysis
“The Juniper Tree” is a short ghost story by American writer Lorrie Moore, published in the collection Bark (2014). Or is it a ghost story? I interpret this story as a metaphor for the death of middle-aged friendship, and the mourning process one goes through when deciding to let a friend go. WHAT HAPPENS IN…
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Birds In Children’s Literature
Birds occupy a special place in children’s stories, as they do in the Bible, in folklore and in fairytales. Are they good or are they evil? No other creature has so successfully been both, equally. If you’re writing a children’s story, you can do what you like with birds. Whereas dogs as companions in children’s…
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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Short Story Analysis
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948) was first published in The New Yorker and remains the most controversial story The New Yorker has ever run. The magazine was bombarded with vitriol and many cancelled subscriptions. Some readers were angry because this story ruined their day.
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Silence Of The Lambs Film Study
Silence of the Lambs is an excellent thriller which also does active harm to the trans community.
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Story Structure: The Plan
In life we frequently fly by the seat of our pants. In fact, that may be the default. Plans are illusory. But precisely because life is so unstable and subject to change, characters in stories do need a plan. Even passive character types need to be actively passive. Initial plans will most likely change. There’s…
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Symbolic Archetypes In Children’s Stories Analysis
These symbolic archetypes are very old. The earliest written record we have is often in fairy tales. Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity Some characters exhibit wisdom and understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge. Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as they accompany the hero on the journey. This pretty much…
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Story Structure: Character Desire
Kurt Vonnegut famously advised writers: Characters must want something, even if it’s just a glass of water.
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Child Moves House Trope In Children’s Fiction
Child moves house and starts at new school. This trope is hard to write well because it has been done so many times before. But it’s very useful, because many children’s stories are about friendship, and all stories about friendship must start from a point of loneliness. Everyone is lonely when they move to a…
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In The Middle Of The Night by Robert Cormier
In The Middle Of The Night is a young adult horror novel by American author Robert Cormier. Written in the mid 1990s, this was one of his later works.
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Children’s Stories and Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary theorist who died in 1991 aged 78. Frye was considered one of the most influential literary theorists of the 20th century. Sometimes his theories applied equally to children’s literature; at other times he was off the mark. One of his theories — The Displacement Of Myth — does not…