literary analysis- Diary Of A Wombat
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School of Education Diploma of Education support (CHC51308)
Assessment Task 2
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VU20758 Analyse literary texts and genres Element 1: Examine the relationship between a range of texts and the contexts in which they are produced and read
Element 2 :Analyse the relationship between genres and their cultural Context
Element 3 Analyse differing interpretations of texts from a range of theoretical perspectives
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CHCEDS503A Support the development of literacy skills Element 5: Identify what students do when they read and write
Element 8: Support accurate use of spelling, grammar, structure and punctuation
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Title of Assessment: |
Assessment Task 2 – Genre Analysis 1 – Written Analysis of a Children’s Book
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Assessment Description and Context:
This assessment task is partial assessment for Units VU20758 and CHCEDS503A. It covers the work you have been doing over the last two weeks deconstructing and analysing the broad genre of Children’s Literature and different text types within this genre.
The task is part of your genre analysis work.
Study Notes for the assessment task (an analysis of a children’s book)
Terminology:
The genre of Children’s Literature is a huge category which can be broken down into sub-categories :
· wordless books;
· picture books including traditional stories, concept books - alphabet/counting/colour/days/ time/ seasons and fantasy;
· chapter books, in which words begin to take precedence over images.
Each category is analysed using the following concepts:
Genre (see above), text type, purpose, audience, context, tone, interpretation, format and layout, plot, image, conflict (trouble), character, word choices, rhythm, rhyme
The task: A written analysis of a picture book
In a written piece of between 600 and 900 words, use the concepts listed above to write an analysis of your chosen picture book. These concepts enable you to describe and explain in an analytical way how and why the picture book is the way it is.
Analysis is the process of identifying what the components are and explaining their functions.
Background notes
1. What is a good children's book?
Good children's books share qualities with good adult novels primary school teacher Rosie Charles says.
"Firstly, quality writing is never boring. Good children's books, no matter how simple or complex, have a sense of joy. They can make us laugh and cry. Regardless of how young, readers need strong characters who they can relate to and care about."
Good books also teach kids things subtly while still telling a great story.
For example, in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, kids learn about numbers, fruit and days of the week, but it's hardly noticed because they have fallen in love with the illustrations and their newly discovered ability to predict what is going to happen next.
Good stories allow kids to explore other worlds and other lives but they are still familiar enough that they see themselves in the characters.
"The best way to know if it is a good book for your child is through your child," Rosie says.
"Allow them to reject the books they dislike and encourage them to tell you what it is they do like in others," she says.
At a glance
The best way to choose a good book is through your child.
Good books teach kids things subtly while still telling a great story.
Good books are authentic, credible and captivating.
Resist the desire to choose only books you read as a kid.
Don't worry if the words appear hard; this exposes kids to more complex language in context.
(http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au)
2. Following are a few of the specific benefits children derive from reading and listening to books:
• Strengthening a bond between the child and adult reader
• Experiencing the pleasure of escaping into a fantasy world or an exciting
adventure
• Developing a favourable attitude toward books as an enrichment to their lives
• Stimulating cognitive development
• Gaining new vocabulary and syntax
• Becoming familiar with story and text structures
• Stimulating and expanding their imaginations
• Stretching attention spans
• Empathizing with other people’s feelings and problems
• Learning ways to cope with their own feelings and problems
• Widening horizons as they vicariously learn about the world
• Developing an interest in new subjects and hobbies
• Understanding the heritage of their own and other cultures
• Acquiring new knowledge about nature
• Bringing history to life
• Stimulating aesthetic development through illustrations
• Exploring artistic media used in illustrations
(http://www.pearsonhighered.com PART ONE: Entering the World of Children’s Literature)
3. Modelling an analysis
Here is a clip of the picture book Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus, with pictures by Jose Aruego
Here is the analysis:
Analysing literary texts and genres
Leo the Late Bloomer
By Robert Kraus
Pictures by Jose Aruego
Introduction
Published in 1971 and written by Robert Kraus, with pictures by Jose Aruego, Leo the Late Bloomer tells the story of a little tiger who is not developing at the same rate as the other animals. His father is worried about Leo, but his mother patiently waits until Leo blooms ‘in his own good time’. This story is suitable for children aged three years and up, particularly those at kindergarten or embarking on the journey of learning at school. Its message may appeal to reluctant readers and the book could be used for encouragement by parents and teachers.
Plot and subplot
The plot revolves around Leo and what he cannot do in contrast to the owl, the elephant, the snake, the plover and the crocodile children. He is unable to read, write, draw, eat neatly or speak until, finally, he develops all of these skills. His father’s anxiety about Leo’s apparent lack of ability and his mother’s calm confidence in him provide a sub-plot to Leo’s story. The more his father watches Leo, the less likely it is that he will ‘bloom’. Mother Tiger counsels patience – “Patience,” said Leo’s mother, “A watched bloomer doesn’t bloom.”
Characters
The characters are all animals, so that the young child engaging with the book is enabled to consider the rather scary concept of not meeting up to parental and/or teacher expectations. As the child ages from three to around five years of age, cognitive development is normally expected to mirror the transformation from baby to young child. However, advances in motor and language skills do not always reflect readiness to read and count, or use the manners that elders would like the child to have. These have to be acquired at the child’s own pace.
Conflict
Thus, the conflict in the story is based on the idea that learning may not always be a smooth process. The beginning of the narrative illustrates the distress a child may feel at not being like their peers. The first line says, “Leo couldn’t do anything right.” It is accompanied by the image of a sad-looking Leo entangled in a vine, unable to go forward. Leo’s father wears the same glum expression as he worries that there is something wrong with his son. Time has influence here too as Leo’s father anxiously watches for signs of blooming through winter and spring, but nothing seems to reward his constant attention. Leo is a late bloomer, unlike his peers, and no amount of over-attention will change that. All that is needed is time.
Images
The images in the book are brightly coloured in the main, creating a cheerful tone. This is in contrast to Leo’s situation for most of the story, thus inferring that things are not as bad as they might seem. Plants feature strongly in the background on some pages, reinforcing the metaphor of blooming and the idea of everything having a ‘season’. “Then one day, in his own good time, Leo bloomed!” The double page carrying this part of the text is filled with yellow, orange, red and pink flowers and Leo is leaping happily from among them. Success has been achieved at last. The pages dealing with the desired skills and Leo’s eventual command of them focus on the simple coloured outlines of the animals and show happiness and satisfaction in the facial expressions of Owl, Elephant, Snake, Plover and Crocodile. When Leo eventually gains command of reading, writing etc., his expression changes to match those of the other animals who are just as pleased as he is with his progress.
Language
The story is told in third person and in the past tense because, being potentially a recount close to a child’s experience, it appears more objective and less personal. Simple sentence structures are used for emphasis – “he couldn’t read…..he couldn’t write…..he couldn’t draw…..” These structures are reiterated when Leo ‘blooms’ – “he could read….he could draw….he could write”, thus showing that change has occurred. Repetition supports the aim of picture-books to use language both suitable for target readers and easy to follow. Various forms (as a noun and as a verb; addition of suffixes: -er, -s, -ed, -ing) of the word ‘bloom’ are used, keeping the metaphor and the concept of growth it represents in the foreground. The important factor of time passing is shown in conjunction with images of seasons and night and day through repetition of “ Every …… Leo’s father watched him for signs of blooming”; and “The …. came. Leo’s father wasn’t watching. But Leo wasn’t blooming.” Nouns and verbs dominate the text since the story depends on individuals and their experience. Readers enjoy the combined effect of text and image in this story. For example, it’s fun to sound out the onomatopoeia of the animals’ ‘speech’. Children may also notice that Father Tiger doesn’t keep his word to stop watching Leo on some pages. Both of these techniques support pre-reading and reading strategies.
Rhythm
Rhyme is not used in this story, but the repetition of words, phrases and clauses creates a sense of rhythm. The contrast between the first and last parts of the book is shown through a similar image of Leo in which the variation of pattern in image and word choices, echos the process of Leo’s development.
Conclusion
Kraus’ words and Aruego’s pictures treat their subject lightly and with some humour. Their purpose is two-fold – 1) to show that learning to do things can take time, but does happen; and 2) to reassure both children and adults that patience brings success.
4. Developing a plot
1. Who? Who is the story about? Who is the main character, the person whose story is being told? Who is the villain? Who are the other characters?
2. What? What is thestory about? What is the character’s main problem? What is stopping them from solving it? What happens?
3. Why? Why does it happen? Why can’t thekey character achieve their goal?
4. Where? Where is the story set? Where does the key character live? Where does the action take place – a village, a city, under the sea, in a fantasy world?
5. When? When does it all happen? Is the story set in the past or the future? Does it happen over a day, a week, a year? Does the problem have to be resolved a certain way?
6. How? How does the problem occur? How does it get resolved? How does the key
character succeed? How does the story end?
7. What if….? What if the character loses a favourite toy, has to move home, falls out with
a friend, and so on…?
Some common plots
1. Rags to riches
2. ‘Tragedy’
3. Voyage and return
4. Quest
5. Good versus evil
6. Comedy
7. Rebirth
5. Hints for study
· Write down the written text and examine this first (there are usually only 100 or so words in a picture book).
· Decide upon the tone and text type of the text and write these down.
· Write down your impressions of the illustrations.
· While viewing the picture book think about how the illustrations have changed or added to the written text.
· Write down how the tone has changed.
· As picture books are usually only 32 pages long you can easily re-read them many times.
· As you are re-reading the picture book, make a note of all the elements of design and how they contribute to the tone, meaning, characters, plot and themes of the picture book.
www.skwirk.com/...analysis/Picture-book...picture-books/English-Skills/
6. Your own notes
Analysing literary texts and genres
Features of picture books
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FEATURES of PICTURE BOOKS
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FEATURES OF MY CHOSEN TITLE |
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Purpose
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Audience
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Context |
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Plot (Sub-plot) |
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Format and layout
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Characters Human, animals, fantasy creatures |
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Images Simple or complex, use of colour, cartoon or more realistic |
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Conflict Own personality, other characters, nature or circumstances |
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Words and sentences Tense, sentence fragments, adjectives, sounds
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Tone
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Rhythm, rhyme
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Interpretation
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