A few examples of responses to Midterm Prompts (and my comments):
Discuss the significance of The New England Primer for Children's Literature:
The New England Primer continued the idea of Christian- centered education in America by focusing on religious content, including the Lord’s Prayer, biblical rhymes, and catechisms. This was important because the communities at the time wanted to be more educated in reading and writing, but they also wanted to strengthen their moral and religious values; The New England Primer catered to both of these desires. The New England Primer built on previous alphabet books, such as The Childes Guide, as the author incorporated rhymes which made the material easier to understand and remember. This primer also began using the methods of Comenius by including woodcuts with the alphabet, corresponding with the idea that learning can be interesting and captivating as well as educational. Today, children’s books still often use rhymes and pictures to engage the readers.
You do a very good job here--and you might have mentioned something specific about the religious content, especially with the alphabet--not much fun at all here in the long and short run, for the moral imperative never lets up, to be sure. And the primer enjoyed a long run of success in the schools in our country; consider the argument about curriculum, especially in connection with what the Primer does not include, which is of importance for Children's Literature and the Primer's broader significance.
Why did authorities for a long time reject Fairy Tales, seeing them as inappropriate to children?
For many years, authorities rejected Fairy Tales mostly because of their lack of Christian value. Authorities at the time believed literature should be educational rather than entertaining. Fairy Tales supposedly contained little educational value because of their focus on fantasy and magic, disconnected from the real world. Instead, people desired literature which provided clear instruction and morals, encouraging students to live and think logically according to Christian principles. More people finally accepted such tales as Beaumont’s Beauty and the Beast because of its clear moral and the interwoven relation to Christian values.
You move in a very positive direction here--and you want to push the distrust of anything imaginative and without obvious moral imperative. And we see, indeed, the strong didactic imperative in the story you mentioned. Good.
Discuss the significance of the role of the grandmother in Francesca Lia Block's "Wolf," Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood," and Tomi Ungerer's "Little Red Riding Hood.
Block, Perrault, and Ungerer each portrayed the grandmother in a different manner because they each had a different purpose for their stories. Block’s story culminates around the main character finding peace and comfort; therefore, the grandmother from Block’s story poses as a shelter --- a place of peace to which the girl may run. The grandmother also signifies kindness and caring as she takes the blame for the crime her granddaughter has committed. Perrault portrays the grandmother as being a typical, kind, old grandma who makes clothes for Little Red and enjoys visiting with her family. Perrault’s main purpose regards the moral of the story, placing blame on Little Red. The author strengthens the moral through the idea of the nice old grandmother being eaten because of the thoughtlessness of the girl. Ungerer defines the old woman as cranky, smelly, and no fun to be around, coinciding with his focus of humor and switched roles.
Yes, you address the flexibility, the protean capacity of the stories, to be sure. Note that Ungerer's story upends the status quo and suggests, especially through the grandmother, that one should question tradition, from grandmother to the wolf.
Discuss what makes John Newbery of special interest for the history of Children's Literature.
John Newbery was an author and publisher in the mid 1700's. During these times the average person was rather poor, but the number of literate people was growing. Books were generally expensive and unavailable to the working populace that was growing more and more interested in having books to read. Newberry was able to put books together cheaply and make them available to the masses. Newberry's publications included fun fictional stories as well as informational books and all of these were available to help the working people to read and to learn. He also came up with the idea of selling toys with the books so that the children would be more likely to want the books and associate reading with fun. Newberry's efforts helped boost literacy rates and helped many stories to survive to be passed on to new generations. In fact, he is the first major publisher of this literature.
You do a very good job here. He also took advantage, smart fellow that he was, of the rising need for this literature. We honor him with the Newbery Award--he was the first significant publisher of Children's Literature. A champion of the rising Middle Class, he also published and perhaps wrote a story that champions meritocracy over aristocracy, "Little Goody Two Shoes."
Discuss the significance of Chapbooks for Children’s Literature:
Chapbook are important to Children's Literature in that they were cheap books that could easily be afforded by the masses. Many people who could not afford other types of literature were able to buy chapbooks which included everything from the alphabet to fairy tales. While there were those who did not believe that stories in Chapbooks were appropriate, the ability of poor families to buy these books was seen by some as a way to keep children from reading less savory material. Chapbooks are also credited with helping many of the earlier stories to survive by making them available to those who may not have heard or told these stories otherwise. Chapbooks contributed to the continuance of the traditions behind these stories as well and allowed for the number of versions of these stories to proliferate to the varieties available today.
Again, we have the rising literacy and the demand for the literature, despite the official frowns over quality and content. You do a good job--they were cheap, to be sure, and you might mention some of the items in the table of contents, for these books kept fables, wonder stories, legends, and romances alive. And over the years into the1880s, these texts became more and more centered on what me come to call Children's Litrerature.
Midterm Examination Prompt for Part Two: In approximately 1.5 to 2, double-spaced pages, write an essay about Ella, the central character in Ella Enchanted.
The novel, as many of you noted, offers in many ways a rewriting of the ever-popular story of "Cinderella."
Write an essay in which you discuss what in your estimation makes Gail Carson Levine's portrayal of Ella and Char contemporary, marking, if you will, specific distinctions between these characters in Levine's novel and their more traditional rendering in fairy tales.
Focus most of your attention on Ella and both her qualities and her actions, bringing in Char to reinforce your central concerns.
Ella, the main character of Gail Carson Levine’s “Ella Enchanted”, is a young girl who has lost her mother, has a rarely present father, is abused by her step-mother and step-sisters, and falls in love with the prince. In these ways Ella is similar to the Cinderellas of past fairy tales, but this is where much of the similarity ends. Levine creates a character that is much more complex and realistic than any of her predecessors by giving the character brains, strength of will, and strong relationships.
Past Cinderella stories have portrayed the main character as a lonely girl who is easily pushed around. This girl works as a servant, waiting on her step-mother and step-sisters, but never complains and is kind to everyone. While this ideal may be pleasing to many people, it is hardly a realistic picture. In order to make Ella into a more realistic person, Levine created the curse of obedience placed upon Ella as a baby. This curse forces Ella to do whatever she is told, but the strong-willed girl attempts all within her power to put off performing these tasks and shows the reader her rebellious nature. Most young readers can relate to this sort of behavior and that makes Ella more real and more likable than if she were willingly submissive. When Ella decides she has finally had it with her curse she goes on a quest to find Lucinda, the fairy who cast the spell. She does not wait for Lucinda to come to her or for other help to come.
Ella is also highly intelligent, a virtue which is not even discussed in other Cinderella stories. Ella has an ear for languages and enjoys reading, especially the fairy tales that appear in the book that her fairy godmother, Mandy, gave to her. Ella uses her wits to get herself out of sticky situations, such as when Hattie commands her to tell Arieda that they can no longer be friends. This is when Ella leaves on her quest, knowing that she cannot tell Arieda this news if she does not see her friend in the morning. Ella’s intelligence saves her again when she is captured by ogres and is able to use the ogres own language to control them and save; showing again that she is a modern woman and does not necessarily need a man to save her from trouble.
Another of the ways that Ella differs from Cinderellas of the past is the real relationships that she develops. Most Cinderella stories portray a girl with little or no friends, who falls in love with the prince at first sight. Ella is a more developed character in that she has friends such as Areida and Mandy who she loves and who love her back. Mandy is a particularly strong supporting character and is often there to give Ella advice when needed. Ella also develops a friendship with Prince Charmont early on in the book when he speaks to her at her mother’s funeral. These characters did not just meet and fall in love over one dance; they created a relationship based on friendship and common interests. Most modern people do not believe in the idea of love at first sight, so the development of a real relationship between Ella and Char is very important in creating a story people can relate to their own lives.
In the end of the story, it is the differences between Ella and previous Cinderellas that allow Ella to save herself and those she loves. Ella uses her brains, strong will, and belief in the importance of her relationships to finally break her curse and become the heroine of her own story. Levine’s additions to the original story of Cinderella allow contemporary readers to relate more closely with the characters, making this a very entertaining and interesting book.
Another Example:
In Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, the author presents an old fairy tale in a modern manner, changing up the characters’ personalities. Instead of the traditional gentle, submissive Cinderella character, Ella displays attitude, bravery, and independence. Even the prince has different characteristics than the traditional Cinderella story, as the author does not make him the official hero of the story. The qualities of Ella especially lead the story down a modern path, giving the novel a feministic touch.
Unlike Cinderella, Ella has attitude and a sense of rebellion. The curse of obedience she is under tends to bring out these attributes. Despite the curse, Ella does everything she can to disobey orders when she does not agree with them. For example, when Hattie orders Ella to remove her slippers for her, Ella does so out of necessity, but she proceeds to throw them out the window. Also, Ella often tries to put off her obedience for as long as she can until she becomes nauseous. This sense of rebellion contrasts the qualities of many fairy tale princesses, including Beauty from Beauty and the Beast, who carefully remains in her place as a submissive and obedient daughter and potential wife.
Aside from Ella’s unique attitude, she shows a serious interest in education throughout the novel, unlike many traditional fairy tales. Though not interested in the education offered by finishing school, Ella does enjoy reading and writing. She does well in Writing Mistress’s class, and she loves reading the magical book Mandy gives her. Ella also reveals an interest in different languages, and she even receives a dictionary of exotic languages which becomes her second favorite book. This interest of hers carries great significance, especially because of its usefulness in saving herself from the ogres.
Though most fairy tales present the prince as the hero, Ella becomes her own hero, as she displays independence and bravery. Prince Char does help save her from the ogres twice, but even in these instances, she shows her heroism, once as she rescues a baby gnome from the ogres and another time as she outwits the ogres by using their own tricks against them. Ella’s bravery, intelligence, and independence relate to other stories with similar feminist views, such as “The Paper Bag Princess.” Both Ella and Elizabeth from “The Paper Bag Princess” outwit their foes, Ella outsmarting the ogres while Elizabeth outwits the dragon. This contemporary view of the female role strongly contrasts the traditional view of the submissive, dependent damsel in distress. Gail Carson Levine finishes her story following the same theme of feminine independence: instead of the prince rescuing Ella, she rescues herself from the curse of obedience.
Truly, Ella Enchanted compares to Cinderella in many ways with evil stepmothers and stepsisters, fairy godmothers, and charming princes. However, Levine’s story takes a different turn as she develops her characters to provide a modern, feminist twist. Ella’s qualities of rebellion, bravery, and independence and her desire to learn bring the story together into a unique, modern-day fairy tale.
And a third successful esssay:
At birth, Ella of Frell was visited by the well meaning, but misguided fairy Lucinda. She gave Ella the gift of obedience, which turned out to be a curse because now Ella must obey any order given to her. To add to her problematic life, Ella’s beloved mother dies and her penny-less father re- marries a rich widow who has two deviant daughters of her own. Ella becomes a slave in her own home, not only because of her father’s standing but the new step-sisters become aware of her ‘gift.’ The story, Ella Enchanted becomes a modern-day twist to the classical fairy tale Cinderella. Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature states, “Most revisions of classic fairy tales engage seriously with contemporary mores and values,” and Ella Enchanted is no exception (Norton, 183). Because of her difficult problems, Ella must persevere, grow, learn and eventually overcome her disadvantages in order to become her own person and find happiness. The use of humor, the power of words, and love help her to achieve this gargantuan task.
Throughout Ella Enchanted, Ella finds humor in many situations. Like many people, she uses humor as a way to cope with the difficulties and challenges she faces. Ella rebels against Mandy’s order with teasing silliness and jokes about her bad experiences. Even in difficult situations, such as her imprisonment by the ogres. She manages to make them laugh to the point where one of them replies, “Maybe we should get to know our meals better. This one makes jokes (99).” Ella even uses humor when others aren’t aware of it. She makes jokes at her step sister’s expense as they go unnoticed by them, and identifies the fairies at the wedding by their small feet, saying “ordinary foot. Small, but not small enough. Ordinary…Very tiny! Very tiny (121)!” Humor throughout the book is not only an important tool for coping, but a part of her character, and a crucial step in regaining her freedom from the curse.
The power of words for Ella becomes another decisive step in gaining her freedom. This power is expressed in many different forms throughout the book. The entire story is set in motion by the poorly chosen words of Lucinda. Her thoughtless gift of obedience to Ella proved disastrous, as the reader learns from the onset that how you say something is just as important as what you say. Words prove to be vital, as well, as Ella’s talent for language and her ability to communicate with people and creatures becomes one of her greatest strengths. When held captive by the ogres, she not only can speak to them but figures out how to talk using their won tricks. By mimicking and using their persuasive power she’s not only able to save her own life but the lives of Char and his knights. For Ella and Char, words play an important role in learning about each other and gluing their relationship. When Char goes to Ayortha for a year, to do his duties as prince, they write letters back and forth with words that are rich and full of detail until love for one another takes over. Words help to finally break Ella’s curse when Char accidentally orders her to marry him, and Ella, wishing to protect Char and the kingdom from her curse, fights these words by defying the order, screaming “No! I won’t marry you! I won’t do it. no one can force me (226)!” Once she is free to speak her own words, she knows she is free from the curse and can speak from her own heart and mind.
Love is another important factor on the road to recovering her freedom. Her mother’s love helps Ella to grow up strong and confident, even though she’s under Lucinda’s curse. Mandy may be her fairy godmother and able to do magic, but it’s her love she gives Ella that gives her strength and helps her through the difficult situations she endures. However, Ella’s love for her mother and many are never in a position for which Ella must do something so important as to break the bonds of Lucinda’s curse. Her love for Char is what enables her to take that final step to happiness and freedom. She is able to break it because she finally has sufficient reason, as she proclaims “I’d had to have reason enough, love enough to do it, to find the will and strength (228).” When she chooses to rescue Char by refusing his command to marry him, she also rescues herself and realizing she is finally free. Ella acts on her tremendous love for Char by turning around and proposing to him.
Ella’s battle between obedience and independence is a struggle everyone faces at some point in life. The need to fulfill other people’s expectations and the need to be who we want to be is a constant fight that one must face and overcome. Through humor, words and love, Ella finds that driving force that enables her to free herself from the spell of obedience to become her own person. Through humor, she turns obedience into a game and a way to cope. Through words and the power of love she finds the courage and determination to give herself the gift of independence so that she, like Cinderella, can live happily ever after.
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