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Genre In Children's Literature

Literature Notebook

Annotated book lists by year: 2005 -- 2004 -- assorted genre ---

Genre a type of literature in which all the members of one genre share common characteristics.Not all of the common characteristics in every piece of literature within a specific genre areclearly distinguishable; some pieces' charateristics may be included in more than one genre. Listof genre vocabulary .

Printed Literature Genre

Folktales are stories that were passed on with oral tradition until they were written. There is noparticular author. Myths, short stories, oral stories, parables, fables, tall tales

Realism stories are possible, but not necessarily probable.

Fiction stories are created from imagination and not necessarily fact. They include realistic,animal, thrillers, mysteries, romances, sports, fantasy, high fantasy, science fiction, fairy tales,fables, myths, legends, and folk epics, see Fiction lists

Elements of fiction Story elements rubric Elements of fables Elements of myths and legends

Elements of realistic fiction Elements of fantasy Elements of historical fiction

Poetry is literature with rhythm and verse. It includes nursery rhymes, ballads, epics, songs,poems, and lyrics

Nonfiction literary works that are true. They include biography, autobiography, informational,speech, essay, history. Elements of nonfiction , Elements of nonfiction summer 2003 , Elementsof biography

Across genre there are picture books , pop-up books, classics, and concept books : (alphabetbooks, number books, predictable books).

Literature / Arts Evaluation Matrix

Visual Arts

Directory - Realism, Surrealism, Modern, Impressionistic

Music

Directory - Popular, Classical, Country western, Rap, Jazz, Blues, Bluegrass, Folk songs
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iterature/genre/art/picturBks/index.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/nonfiction/bioElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/nonfiction/bioElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/nonfiction/elements2003.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/nonfiction/elements.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/nonfiction/index.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/poetry/index.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/histrclFictnElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/fantsyElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/realFictnElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/folktales/mythLegndElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/folktales/fableElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/instruction/assessment/outcmsStrylmnsGras.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/ficElmnts.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/index.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/fiction/folktales/index.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/genreVocab.htmhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/genreVocab.htmhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/lists/reqBkLstAnnotatd.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/lists/base2004.htmlhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/genre/lists/base2005.htmhttp://www.huntel.net/rsweetland/literature/index.html


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Drama, Theater, Film, Video, Pictures

Film directoryTheater directoryOpera, Comedy, Tragedy, Realistic, Documentary

Dance

Directory - Folk dance, Ballet, Modern dance (Waltz, Tango, Swing...)

Books

Book notes

Robert Sweetland's Notes

Elemnts of realistic fiction

Characterization

Characters are ordinary real peopleCharacters usually change as a result of the problem and must to be able to resolve it

Setting

Place is imaginary or of another world or universeT ime is anytime or no time. Time travel is possible

Plot

Must be plausable and believableUsually problem or puzzling event for characters to resolveReader/listener usually feel that the story really happened or may want to believe that it did

Theme

Life themes as well as good versus bad/evil

Style and Tone

Characters, plot, setting, theme, events, problems, mirror real lifeAuthor usually uses foreshadowing or clues to tease the reader/listener curiosityEvents are historically accurate, but don't necessarily have first person accounts
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Fable Elements

Characters

Very fewAnimated, inanimate or personified.

Setting

Place anywhere and time is real

Plot

Very simple, though interesting

Thought provoking to didactic

Theme

Moral or message implied or stated for societal or personal benefit.

Tone mood style

Reflection of human strengths, frailities, weaknesses, or imperfectionsReader is lead to new insights and/or understandings


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Elements Of Fantasy

Characterization

Animals act like people (animorphisism)Characters can have special powers

Setting

Place is imaginary or of another world or universeT ime is anytime or no time. Time travel is possible

Plot

Varied, but usually suprising twists or developments

Theme

Good versus bad/evilDescribes how science or other ideas applied to the extreme

Style and Tone

Use of magic or scientific principles not yet discoveredUse of technology or mental powers that are not possible or not yet discovered.


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Elements Of Fiction

HOB Literature Notebook Genre Directory

Elements of fiction and elements of story in general can be used by the reader to increase their

enjoyment and understanding of different literary pieces. Once students are aware that allstories have elements of character, setting, plot, theme, point of view, style, and tone; they canbe encouraged to ask themselves to identify the characteristics of each for a story. The morefamiliar they become with the different kinds of elements the better they will become atunderstanding and analyzing stories.

Character

Character is the mental, emotional, and social qualities to distinguish one entity from another(people, animals, spirits, automatons, pieces of furniture, and other animated objects).

Character development is the change that a character undergoes from the beginning of a storyto the end. Young children can note this.

The importance of a character to the story determines how fully the character isdeveloped. Characters can be primary , secondary, minor, or main.

Characters are developed by

Actions: In Charlottes' Web , Templeton, creeps up cautiously to the goslings, keeping close tothe wall. Later he grins when Wilbur falls trying to spin a web. At the fair he bites Wilbur's tail

as hard as he possibly can. His actions portray him as sneaky, ill-tempered, and pleased atothers' discomfort.

Speech: In Charlottes' Web ,Templeton after Wilbur asks him to play, frolic or have fun.Replies, "...I never do those things if I can avoid them... I prefer to spend my time eating,gnawing, spying, and hiding... I am a glutton not a merry-maker. Right now I am on my way to yourtrough to eat your breakfast, since you haven't got sense enough to eat it yourself"

Appearance: In Charlottes' Web ,Templeton after his night at the fair returns swollen todouble his usual size. He agrees to fetch the egg sac so that he may eat first every day andgrow fatter and bigger than any other known rat.

Other character's comments: Other characters' comments help form judgment of thecharacters by supporting other characters' actions speech, appearance, and author's comments.

Author's comments: The wording the author uses in the narrative adds to characterization.In Charlottes' Web , White describes Templeton ...had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, noconsideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunction, no higher feeling, nofriendliness, no anything. He would kill a gosling if he could get away with it. These statementscertainly develop character.

Unity of character and action: the character must be credible. If the character changes thenthe change must be shaped by events which the author is obligated to explain how theyimpacted to create the character's change. Stories with main character change: Meg; A Wrinkle
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in Time , Claudia; From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the Duck; The Ugly Duckling , Wilbur; Charlotte's Web and Jess; Bridge To Terabithia.

Types of characters

Round characters are those the reader/listener/viewer gets to know well. They have a varietyof traits that make them believable. Central characters are well developed in good literature.Meg, Claudia, Duck, Wilbur, and Jess are the central character, or protagonist (hero or heroine).

Flat characters are less well developed and have fewer or limited traits or belong to a group,class, or stereotype. Fern in Charlotte's Web . A character foil are minor characters whosetraits contrast with a main character. The lamb is young and naive as Wilbur, but she is smuginstead of humble.

Anthropomorphic characterization is the characterization of animals, inanimate objects, ornatural phenomena as people. Skilled authors can use this to create fantasy even from stuffedtoys (Winnie-the-Pooh). The characterizing of inanimate objects from tiny soldiers to trees andso on is represented in Andersen's works and the ballet The Nutcracker .

Animal characters in realism are best when the animals act only like animals as in The Incredible Journey .

Character Change

Dynamic characters are rounded characters that change . Wilbur as the panicky child. "I can'tbe quiet," screamed Wilbur, racing up and down. "I don't want to die. It is true... Charlotte. Is it

true they are going to kill me when the cold weather comes? Later: "Listen to me? ... Charlotte ...has only a short time to live. She cannot accompany us home, because of her condition.Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that I take her egg sac with me. I can't reach it, and Ican't climb. You are the only one that can get it. There's not a second to be lost... Please, please,please, Templeton, climb up and get the egg sac. This desperate plea does not come frompersonal need. Further, he tells Templeton to "stop acting like a spoiled child.", and he who onceplanned his day around his slops offers Templeton to eat first and take his choice of all the

yummies. Other dynamic characters are Meg in A Wrinkle in Time, Jess in Bridge to Terabithia,and Claudia inFrom the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Static (stock) characters are round or flat characters that do not change during the story.Charlotte is the same wise and selfless character at the end of the story as at the beginning.Folktales, fairytales, and other types use static and flat characters whose actions arepredictable, so the listener or reader is free to concentrate on the action and theme as itmoves along toward an often times universal discovery.

Plot

Plot is the order in which things move and happen in a story.

Chronological order is when a story relates events in the order in which they happened.


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Flashback is when the story moves back in time. Jean George, Julie of the Wolves or dreams inMaurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Dreams are easier for children to understandbecause of their experience with them. Flashbacks are more problematic.

Conflicts occur when the protagonist struggles against an antagonist (villain that goes against

the protagonist), or opposing force. Conflict and order make plot. The author creates theconflict by describing one of the following types of interactions.

Person-against-self: Tom Sawyer's fear of Injun Joe and guilt, can't sleep, fear of talking insleep, ties mouth shut, struggle with moral responsibility even in the face of danger. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin. Ged struggles against the flaws in himself, as the shadow, mustmake himself whole. "a man who, knows his whole true self cannot be used or possessed by anyowner other than himself. He will now live his life for its own sake, not for hatred, pain, ruin, orthe darkness of evil.

Person-against-person: Meg and IT in A Wrinkle in Time , Michael and his mother in The Hundred Penny Boy by Sharon Bell Mathis, Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs Vs.the wolves.

Person-against-society: Child will probably call it "will Wilbur live?", but it is really Wilbur Vs.dinner table, Wilbur Vs. good business. Kit Vs. the Puritans in The Witch of Blackbird Pond byElizabeth George Speare.

Person-against-nature: Julie in Julie of the Wolves by Jean George. Karana in Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

Lack of conflict: A story that lacks struggle, lacks suspense, lacks alternatives, lacks a sensethat it had to happen, and therefore, satisfaction. All the reader can say at the conclusion ofsuch a story is "So what does that prove? A Wrinkle in Time shows Meg in a powerful planetsaving person-against-person conflict. The author builds the plot, character, ... so well that thereader/listener cares very much what happens to Meg. Even simple stories like Goldilocks, The Three Little Pigs, and The Billy Goats Gruff have conflict and tension. Double Fudge by JudyBlume has a different sense of conflict. There are little incidents that happen throughout thebook but nothing of significance to anyone but Fudge and maybe some family members. Howeverthe reader's attention is maintained by an attachment to Fudge and his struggle with childhood.

Pattern of action

Rising action builds during the story and reaches a peak at the end. The Borrowers by MaryNorton.

Steady action: maintains the same amount of action through out the story, rising and fallingfrom time to time. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Rise and fall action: the action rises to a climax and then trails off. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.

Suspense is what makes us read on. Charlotte's Web : Wilbur's fate. Will he live? WillCharlotte run out of words? Is Templeton too selfish to help? Will Wilbur win at the fair? CanCharlotte go? Lose to Uncle? New category? Dead pig! Templeton bites tail...


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Cliffhanger: Trouble River by Betsy Byars, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and the High King by Lloyd Alexander.

Foreshadowing is the planting of clues to indicate the outcome of the story. Not all readers willbe alert to these. Some may notice them subconsciously and describe their inferences as

guesses or feelings. Charlotte's Web : When we first meet Charlotte we are told that she eatsliving things and the friendship looks questionable. But White adds that "she had a kind heart,and she was to prove loyal and true to the very end. A prophetic statement. Another clue iswhen Charlotte assures Wilbur, after he learns of the slaughter, with, "I am going to save you."

Sensationalism: the thrilling and the startling. Achieved at the expense of the character andthe idea. A writer must be careful with sensationalism, so as not to weaken the character ortheme, to balance suspense over action, and then hint at the outcome, as not to overpower smallchildren but provide relief as needed.

Climax: The peak and turning point of the conflict, the point at which we know the outcome ofthe action. Children call it the most exciting part. In Charlotte's Web when the pigsurvives. The Borrowers when the boy ventilates the fumigation. A Wrinkle in Time when Megdiscovers what she has that IT does not.

Resolution: is the falling action after the climax. When the reader is assured that all is well andwill continue to be, so the plot has a closed ending. If the reader is left to draw their ownconclusions about the final plot then the ending is open. Many adults as well as children aredisturbed by open endings.

Inevitably is the property of it had to be. This is high praise for a writer.

Coincidence: events that happen by mere chance. The Incredible Journey has some coincidentalevents that remove credibility from the plot. First, a handwritten note blows into the fire andleaves the housekeeper baffled. She therefore does not know that the two dogs and cat havestruck out on their own, and does not search for them. Later a crumbling beavers' dam gives wayat just the right moment to sweep the frightened cat downstream. Later a boy hunting for thefirst time with his own rifle saves the cat from a lynx with one remarkable shot.

Sentimentality is a natural concern or emotion for another person. The way a soap opera or atear-jerker plays on its viewers.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is told by the horse and stuffed with sentimentality.

"Poor Ginger" a title of a chapter concludes with these observations. "A short time after this a cart with a dead horse in itpassed our cab-stand. The head hung out of the cart-tail, the lifeless tongue was slowly dropping with blood; and thesunken eyes. But I can't speak of them, the sight was too dreadful. It was a chestnut horse with a long, thin neck... Ibelieve it was Ginger; I hoped it was, for then her troubles would be over. O! If men were more merciful they shouldshoot us before we came to such misery."

Because of the sentimentality, the reader/listener/watcher may sob more soulfully overGinger's death than over that of a human being, although there is little confusion in some mindsas to which misused creature is more deserving of grief.


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The rapid pace of folktales does not allow time for tears by false sentiment. We do not anguishover the fate of Rumpelstiltskin, when he stamped his feet and split in two and that was the endof him.

The most destructive element from the over use of sentimentality is not boredom, but the fact

that the young reader, faced with continual sentimentality, will not develop the sensitivityessential to recognize what is truly moving and what is merely a play on feelings. If, after all, weregard the death of a pet mouse with the same degree of emotional intensity as the death of abrother, we have no sense of emotional proportion.

By contrast Katherine Paterson in Bridge to Terabithia uses a wide range of emotions thatchildren wrestle with or the genuine sentiment that a small child, reading or being read to,experiences during the relationship with Charlotte and Wilbur. The child fed only on suchsurface sentimentality as soap operas, the average television program, and Walt Disney, withtheir sterile and stereotyped pictures of human beings and their distorted sensationalism withsimplistic solutions, risks developing emotional shallowness.

Types of plots

Progressive plots: have a central climax followed by denouement. Charlotte's Web and A Wrinkle in Time are examples.

Episodical plots: have one incident or short episode linked to another by a common character orunifying theme (maybe through chapters). Used by authors to explore character personalities,the nature of their existence, and the flavor of a certain time period.

Setting

Setting includes time and place.

Backdrop setting is when the setting is unimportant for the story and the story could takeplace in any setting. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne is an example of a story in which couldhappen in any setting.

Integral setting is when the action, character, or theme are influenced by the time and place,

setting. Controlling setting controls characters. If you confine a character to a certain settingit defines the character. Characters, given these circumstances, in this time and place, behavein this way. The Tail of Peter Rabbit is an example of how the setting is an integral part ofPeter's behavior. Charlotte's Web is another example of an integral setting.

Functions of setting: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare creates a setting ofPuritanical austerity: hand-rubbed copper, indicating hard work, the heavy fortress-like door,the dim little mirror, the severe wooden bench, the unpainted Meeting House, the whipping post,the pillory, and the stocks. The tasks of a typical day performed by Kit: mixing soap with a stick,the lye fumes stinging her eyes, tiring muscles, with one of the easiest tasks: making cornpudding, which keeps her over a smoky fire with burning and watering eyes. A frightening anduncompromising environment compared to her carefree Barbados upbringing.


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Setting as antagonist: Characters must resolve conflict created by the setting: Julie of the Wolves , The Incredible Journey, and Island of the Blue Dolphins .

Setting that illuminates character: The confining setting of the attic in Anne Frank and Flowers in the Attic help the characters find themselves and grow as individuals.

Setting as symbolism: a symbol is a person, place, object, situation, or action which operates ontwo levels of meaning, the literal and the figurative, or suggestive. Children will understand onlyobvious symbols. Forest: unknown; garden: natural beauty; sunlight: hope, goodness; darkness:evil, despair. A grouping of symbols may create an image called an allegory. The Narnia books byC. S. Lewis are allegories. In The Witch of Blackbird Pond , Speare uses symbols in the usual wayand to create conflict, as when she describes Hannah as a kind and harmless woman who lives inthe sunny meadows. When you would expect a witch to live in the deep dark shadowy forest orswamp.

Theme

Theme is the main idea that weaves the story together, the why, the underlying ideas of whathappens in the piece of literature, often a statement about society or human nature.

Explicit theme is when the writer states the theme openly and clearly. Charlotte's Web :friendship. Primary explicit themes are common in children's literature, as the author wants tobe sure the reader finds it.

Implicit themes are implied themes. Charlotte's Web : If two such unlikely animals as a spiderand pig can be friends, then so can we. Even a Tempelton can be a friend to a degree. Friendshipis giving of ones self, as Wilbur did for the egg sac and devotion to the babies. Best friends cando no wrong. Friendship is reciprocal.

Multiple and secondary themes: Since a story speaks to us on our own individual level ofvarying experiences, many individual themes will be obtained from a good piece ofliterature. Charlotte's Web secondary themes could include: People don't give credit wherecredit is due, Youth and innocence have a unique value, Be what you are, There is beauty in allthings, Nature is a miracle, Life is continuous.

Children may not be able to express themes but they are beginning to build an understanding ofthem, which they need before they can express them.

Didacticism: If we give students stories that are too preachy, they will turn off and nothing isgained.

Students need time to smell the fragrances of plants, compare their colors, feel their textures,and have aesthetic experiences, so they will develop an appreciation of plants before they willparticipate in a botany lesson. Likewise they must develop a caring relationship with charactersin a book before they will accept understanding from the story, good literature does this.

The Tail of Peter Rabbit can be used to illustrate this. Although Peter didn't feel very well theevening that he returned. However, there is no hint that it served him right, or that he was


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naughty. Peter's mother puts him to bed and gives him a dose of chamomile tea. Potter does notcall it punitive medicine, nor describe it as tasting bad. Nor does she call Flopsy, Mopsy, andCotton-tail's bread, milk, and blackberries rewards for goodness.

Peter Rabbit can become didactic, however, if some reteller adds a single phrase to Potter's

final paragraph, saying that Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, "who were good little bunnies," atebread and milk and blackberries at supper time. Or when we see another illustrator's picturewith an admonitory plaque hanging on the kitchen wall, saying, "Good bunnies obey," or preaching"Obedience is rewarded.

It seems unlikely that didactic messages made Peter Rabbit a childhood favorite and has kept ita much-loved story for generations. A less didactic theme seems more likely. Animals, or people,mature and go into the world to discover. Mother, scared to death about the consequencesaccepts them because of her love for her children.

Nonsense: seems to say, The world and all its inhabitants, thank heaven, make no sense.Nonsense, in its own way, may develop a theme. If it does not, it will fail.

Point of view

Point of view is determined by the authors' descriptions of characters, setting, and events toldto the reader throughout the story.

First-person: told with I, as in Island of the Blue Dolphins, A Ring of Endless Light; Madeleine L'Engle, Dear Mr. Henshaw, Huckleberry Finn, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, It's Like This Cat,Pigman and The Slave Dancer. The first person point of view may present difficulties for smallchildren, because they are learning their own "I" identity, and may have trouble identifying withthe strange "I" of the story.

Telling a story from one character also limits the amount of information available to the reader,requiring the reader to add information. Small children may lack enough experience to do this.However, Dr. Seuss wrote several successful books in first person: If I ran the Zoo, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and May I Bring a Friend? .

Omniscient: third person (he, she, they) is all-knowing in every detail of action, thought, and

feeling (conscious or unconscious) Charlotte's Web .

Sometimes the author uses limited omniscient point of view (when only a select amount ofcharacters are presented omnisciently), Little House stories where Laura's actions and thoughtsare told but not other characters. Laura's understanding of Santa Claus. "Santa Claus did notgive grown people presents, but that was not because they had not been good... It was becausethey were grown up, and grown people must give each other presents.

In Summer of the Swans , Byars tells most of the story from Sara's point of view but there aresome parts where she tells what is in the mind of Charlie, her retarded brother. "The wholeworld seemed to have been turned off when Sara went into the Weicek's house. His tickingwatch is his pleasure as he listens to it and watches the red second hand sweep around the dial.


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Objective or dramatic point of view: There is no explanation to the reader of what is going onor what the characters think or feel. The camera selects and we see and draw our ownconclusions. Incredible Journey, is an example. Since the characters are animals we are not ableto know what they think, if indeed they do. We must imagine their actions and movements orother sensory images. The old dog walked gingerly into the shallow water, shivering... turning his

head away. Once more the Labrador swam the river, climbed out... shook himself, and barked.There was no mistaking the command. The old dog took another reluctant step forward, whiningpiteously, his expressive tail tucked under... again the Labrador swam across...

Style

Style is how the author says something, the choice of words and the use of language, sentenceconstruction, imagery... not what the author says. It adds significance and impact to theauthor's writing.

Exposition : narrator or third person passages to provide background information to explainstory events.

Dialogue between characters.

Vocabulary words used. Two kinds of words are combined to add meaning: connotation anddenotation:

Connotation : is the associative or emotional meaning of a word.Denotation : is the dictionary meaning of a word.

Sentence structure

Imagery words used to create mental sensory impressions (sights, sounds, textures, smells, andtastes). It creates setting, establishes mood, or describes characters.

Figurative language is language used in a non literal context to add intensity of meaning.

Figure of speech is an expression used in a non literal context to add intensity of meaning.

Personification is a figure of speech that gives human qualities to inanimate objects, nonhumanorganisms, or abstractions.

Simile is a figure of speech that makes comparisons using like and as and occasionally than. Thatdescribe something in a manner that communicates a deeper understanding with economy ofwords or beyond a physical or direct description.

Metaphor is a figure of speech that transfers an idea associated with one word to anotherword.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that exaggerates or uses an extravagant statement.

Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole.


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Allusion is a figure of speech that refers to something in our common understanding, our past orour literature. Allusion is difficult for children since it relies on background information whichthey often lack.

Symbol is a person, object, situation, or action that operates on two levels of meaning, the

literal and the figurative or suggestive. Dove: peace, flag: nationality of a country, handshake orgift: friendship.

Puns or wordplay

Devices of sound

Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like what it represents.

Alliteration is repetition of initial consonants

Assonance is repetition of similar vowel sounds.

Consonance is the close repetition of consonant sounds.

Rhythm or in music meter , in prose cadence . Rhythm in Greek means flow. Reading aloud is thebest test. Often used in picture books, Millions of Cat, by Wanda Gag and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Compare:

Once upon a time there was a Mama Duck. She was sitting on four eggs, waiting for themto hatch.Every day she said, "Quack, Quack, Just wait till my babies hatch. I always have such

beautiful ducklings!"One day the shells began to go Crack. One, two, three baby ducks hatched out of theirshells.

Or

"It was so lovely out in the country - it was summer! The wheat was yellow, theoats were green, the hay was stacked in green meadows, and the stork walkedabout on his long red legs speaking Egyptian, because he had learned thatlanguage from his mother. The fields and meadows were surrounded by largeforests, and there were deep lakes in the middle of the woods.Yes, it was really nice out there in the country. And right in the middle of thesunshine was an old castle. It had deep moats, and burdocks that grew on thebank, from the walls down to the water; the burdocks were so big that small

children could stand under the leaves of the tallest ones. It was a wilderness - likethe thickest forest - and that's where a duck had her nest. She was sitting on hereggs, but she'd had just about enough of it because they took so long to hatchand she rarely had visitors. The other ducks would much rather swim in themoats than sit under a burdock and gossip with her."

Anderson unabridged translation by Diana Crone Frank and Jeffrey Frank.

Tone

Tone tells us the author feels about his or her subject. Words express the writer's attitudetoward his or her work, subject, and readers. Without vocal inflection to help convey tone, thewriter must choose words with great care. We often describe a writer's tone but are not aware


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of how we discovered the tone. It sort of creeps into our consciousness. Tone can be serious,humorous, satirical, passionate, sensitive, zealous, indifferent, caring, caustic...

The kindness in Charlotte's Web begins in the first pages when Mr. Arable looks at Fern "withlove", and speaks to her gently. Fern kisses her father and her mother, pleased that the runt pig

is safe. White describes the setting and characters in the same terms. The chapter "SummerDays" begins: "The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest days of the year.Lilacs bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade. Apple blossoms come with the lilacs, and thebees visit around among the apple trees. The days grow warm and soft. School ends, andchildren have time to play and to fish for trout in the brook. ...

In A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle begins with Meg, being wakened during a storm, andrecounts her miserable day. Very depressing, until she thinks of home and then the tonechanges.

"...A delinquent, that's what I am, she though grimly. That's what they'll be saying next. Not Mother. But Them.

Everybody Else. I wish Father... The interactions of Meg with Charles Wallace and her mother:Meg enters the kitchen and Charles Wallace says, "I've been waiting for you...Later when "Charles Wallace said. "Would you like a liverwurst-cream-cheese sandwich? I'll be happy to makeyou one. "That would be lovely, Mrs. Murry said, "but I can make it myself if you're busy. "No trouble at all. CharlesWallace slid down from his chair and trotted over to the refrigerator, his pajamaed feet padding softly as a kitten's. "Howabout you, Meg? he asked. "Sandwich? "Yes, Please," she said. "But not liverwurst. Do we have any tomatoes?"Charles Wallace peered into the crisper. "One. All right if I use it on Meg, Mother?" "To what better use could it be put?"Mrs. Murry smiled.

Humor is an important tone in children's literature. Types of humor include: exaggeration,incongruent, surprise, absurd, parody, ridicule, slapstick, situational, defiant, violent, verbal

Unexpected humor: The cow jumping over the moon, the dish running away with the spoon, thebarber shaving a pig.

Absurd: Winnie-the-Pooh , sailing off on an overturned umbrella or disguising oneself as a blackcloud.

The Summer of the Swans , When Sara tries to dye her orange sneakers baby blue. "...Look at that.That is the worst color you have ever seen in your life. Admit it. "I admit i t. "Well, you don't have to admit it so quickly.They ought to put on the dye wrapper that orange cannot be dyed baby blue. "They do. "Well, they ought to put it in bigletters. Look at those shoes. There must be a terrible name for that color.? "There is," Mary said. "Puce." "What?""Puce." "Mary Weick, you made that up." "I did not. It really is a color." "I have never heard a word that describesanything better. Puce. These must look like puce shoes."

Parody is a device that retains the original form but changes the words and the tone forhumorous effect. "An hour of freedom is worth a barrel of slops, is a parody for "an ounce ofprevention is worth a pound of cure." This device is usually for older readers, since readersmust have previous knowledge of the original writing.

Tone related to the story: although each reader has their own opinion as to the tone createdby the author and their own personal preference for enjoyment, there is a limit to the range oftone for each story.In A Wizard of Earthsea , LeGuin needed to create a tone of another world. She did so with long

and grand phrases to emphasis the seriousness of the struggle between good and evil in the soulof Ged. She also uses inverted word order to describe the otak, a small animal, Ged carries with


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him. "They are small and sleek, with.... fur dark brown or brindle... Their teeth are cruel andtheir temper fierce, so they are not made pets of. They have no call or cry or any voice."

Variety of tone: even though tone should relate to the story it needs to vary according to thesituation. Tone varies from person to person to create people as individuals and group to group

to create different social groups. Tone also changes to change the pace, create character-conflict, fit the theme, add pleasure...Note the various changes of tone in The Ugly Duckling , Anderson is sometimes humorous,sometimes tender, often critical, and even, sometimes, almost cynical.In A Hero Ain't Nothin but a Sandwich, Childress changes point of view with each chapter asshe shows different characters: The principal as resigned: " No matter what I do or don't dothere are drug addicts." Benjie is naive when he says of his addiction, "I kicked once and I cankick any time I wanta." Walter the pusher, angry and protesting that anyone who sells anythingis a pusher, says he is "pushin for cops, when you get right down to it. You heard me. When I payoff, what the hell you think I'm payin with?"

Condescending tone is when the author looks down upon the reader or treats them as thoughthey are unintelligent or immature. A retelling of what seems to be obvious or explanation thatsteals the opportunity for the reader to be awed, or to gain admiration from self discovery. Canbe moralizing, didactic, sentimental, or cynical none of which are appropriate for children.

In Bridge to Terabithia , Katherine Paterson portrays Jess with a tone deserving of a Newberry Award. We read thatJess' stomach "felt so odd" And yet, the morning after the news, pancakes doused in syrup taste "marvelous." Jess'sister accuses him of not caring, and he is puzzled: "The coldness curled up inside of him and flopped over." As Jess'mother and sister talk, he "could hear them talking and they were farther away than the memory of a dream." He cannotleave the table, but he doesn't know what to do. Then, his mind a blank, he mumbles, "What little girl?" Paterson'sdepiction is not sentimental, filled with sighs and tears and sobs. Nonetheless we see that Jess is shocked and grief-stricken.

In The Slave Dance, and My Brother Sam Is Dead the authors could have sensationalized, butinstead they have used their creative knowledge to present their characters with enough depththat the reader is aware of the alternative consequences and struggles the characters mustface, instead of presenting only sensational events that would be condescending to the reader.

Didactic tone: refer to plot.

Robert Sweetland's Notes


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Myths And Legends Element Characteristics

Characters

Very fewAnimated, inanimate or personified.

Setting

Place is cultural relevant. Time is past realistic time.

Plot

Entertaining with plenty of action, suspense, and conflict

Theme

Explains natural phenomena, origins of life, human behavior, (social and religiouscustoms and human strengths and/or weaknesses) and lessons for life.

Tone mood style

Reflects culture's customs, values, and beliefs.Reader is lead to new insights and/or understandings


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Elements Of Historical Fiction

Characterization

Characters are ordinary real people who could have lived in the historicalsettingCharacters are usually shaped by the settingCharacters usually change as a result of the problem and must to be able toresolve it

Setting

Place is a particular historical geographical locationT ime is a particular historical period

Plot

Must be plausable and believableUsually problem or puzzling event as a result of the time or place in history forcharacters to resolveReader/listener usually feel that the story really happened or could havehappened

Theme

Life themes as well as good versus bad/evil

Style and Tone

The story must be told with significant detail to place the reader/listener inthe historical setting and situationCharacters, plot, setting, theme, events, problems, mirror historical life

Most events are historically accurate, but minor events and/or charaters areadded or modified


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Story Elements Related To Students' Development By Grade

Story Element Kindergarten 1-2 Grade 3-4 Grade 5-6 Grade

Characters

Recognize maincharacter

Identifycharacters'moods (happy,sad, angry,helping, mad, )

Recognize thatcharacter's

actions arerelated to theirmoods andpersonalities.

Identifypersonalitytraits ofcharacters(good, bad,selfish, greedy,mean, shy,friendly, caring,cooperative, ...)

Recognizemaincharacter in astory

Understandthat the storyis about themaincharacter

Understandthat thestory'screator oftenuses feelingsto describethecharactersand make amoreinterestingstory

Recognize thatcharacters maychange from thebeginning to theend of a story

Recognizecharacters'development mayor may not beimportant for the

story

Identify thefeelings thatcharacters aredescribed as having

Recognize thatcharacters are able tohave all thecharacteristics ahuman can have andmore

Recognize thatcharacters may becreated with anycharacteristic that a

creator choosesweather it is real orimaginary.

Recognizes thatcharacters aredeveloped by theiractions, speech,appearance,comments, and othercharacters' actionsand the author'schoice of words.

Recognize andsympathize orempathize with theplight of thecharacter

Recognize thatcharacters usuallychange within the plotof the story

Recognize impliedthoughts and feelingsrelated to thecharacters

Plot

Can retellsimple linearstories bychaining events.

Recognize thebeginning,middle, and

Identify conflictand tension in astory

Understandcomplicated plots

Recognize stories


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end of a story

Recognize aproblem and

resolutionwithin a story

Recognize theclimax as themost excitingpart of astory

Predict theoutcome of a

story usingthe cluesprovided bythe creator

Recognize thatcreators use avariety ofstrategies and

patterns to makestories interesting

Recognize thatseveral conflictscan happen in astory and may ormay not buildtoward the climaxand resolution

Recognize thatmany stories haveconflict caused bya struggle betweencharacters (aprotagonist andantagonist)

within stories

Recognize strategiesthat authors use to

create suspenseduring thedevelopment of theplot

Recognize that mostplots follow a generalpattern

Recognize a variety ofinteractions or

conflicts (person vs.person, person vs.self, person vs.society, person vs.nature...)

Setting

Can relatewhere the storyhappened.

Can tell thetime as day ornight, winter,summer, fall, orspring, holiday

Identifywhere thestory takes

place

Begin tounderstandthat theselections ofdifferentkinds ofsettings areimportant forstory and tone(it was a darkand stormynight)

Explain how thesetting is or isn'timportant for the

story and tone

Describe how thestory andcharacters areaffected by thesetting

Recognize all storieshave settings

Recognize time canmove steadily forwardor jump forward orbackward in leaps oftime

Recognize thatsettings can be usedto create tone anddevelop plot

Theme

Tell theme as asimple morale(It's good tohelp. Its notnice to bemean.).

Recognizethat storieshave a mainidea

Identifygeneralexplicit

Begin to identifyimplicit themes insome stories

Understand thatthe story is aboutthe theme

Recognize a variety ofthemes

Recognize that astory may havemultiple themes

Understand implied


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themes insome stories

themes

Point Of View

When askedwho is tellingthe story willanswer acharacter orcreator (author,writer..)

recognizefirst personnarration

Recognizethat theauthor isn'talways thestory teller ormaincharacter

Recognize theomniscient (knowingeverything)narrator

Recognize all points ofview

Recognize that a pointof view may change ina story

Recognize that pointof view can be used toassist thedevelopment of astyle and tone

Style

Recognize wordpatterns andrepeat onesthey think areinteresting.

recognizestyle that ismost concrete(rhyme,alliteration)

recognize witha little morepractice(assonance,

consonance,rhythm)

Picture intheir mind'seye, fromreading orlistening toimagery,images fromreal their life

experiencethat relate tothe author'sdescription.

Recognize figuresof speech (simile,metaphor,hyperbole, allusion)

Understand puns,word plays, andfigures of speech

Can recognize mostkinds of style withsamples or otherkinds of assists

Recognize symbols inliterature

Tone

Can look atpicture booksand describethe tone withregards to theillustrations.

(Happy, sad,

Describe howthe creatordescribed thecharactersand told astory

Describe how thetone relates to thestory

Read aloud withinflection that

indicates an

Can recognize a widevariety oftones.(absurd, parody,condescending,didactic,


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stormy..)

Recognize sad,happy, and

other emotionsthat are in astory

Recognizehumor

understanding ofthe creator's tone

Created in EDU 600 summer 2000 and refined summer 2003

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