The Development of British Children's Literature
| Module title | The Development of British Children's Literature |
|---|---|
| Module code | TRU3046 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Joanne Parker (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 15 |
|---|
Module description
The Development of British Children’s Literature will introduce you to the history of writing for children in Britain from the eighteenth century to the present. In addition to examining many books now considered ‘children’s classics’, you will also read texts that are now largely forgotten but which were once avidly read by children. Some seminars will take the form of workshops where students will have the chance to analyse a wide range of picture books or annuals. Among the issues you will investigate are: the relationship of children’s literature to evolving definitions of the child; the representation of gender, class, age, and nationality in children’s literature; and the twin roles of didacticism and entertainment in writing for children.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module will enable you to apply critical analysis to an often-overlooked and under-valued genre of literature. The twice-weekly seminars will encourage you to think about the inherent power-dynamics of a literature written by adults for children; to consider how children’s books are often produced for a dual audience of both adults and children; and to address the question of how we, as adult readers, can best evaluate the critical and literary value of children’s literature. Specifically the Directed Reading Plan will allow you to apply literary-critical skills to a practical project (previous students, for instance, have designed reading plans for hospitalized children, for children whose parents are divorcing, or for equality and diversity pre-school projects).
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate knowledge of the history of childrens literature in Britain
- 2. Demonstrate understanding of the interactions between childrens literature and changing definitions of the child
- 3. Demonstrate understanding of the relationships between childrens literature and the important historical, intellectual, and scientific developments of different historical periods
- 4. Demonstrate understanding of the relationships between adult literary genres and literature for children
- 5. Demonstrate an informed appreciation of specific works of childrens literature
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 6. Demonstrate an ability to analyse the literature of an earlier era and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context and to contemporary culture
- 7. Demonstrate an ability to interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history
- 8. Demonstrate an ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to literary texts
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 9. Through seminar work, demonstrate communication skills, and an ability to work both individually and in groups
- 10. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose
- 11. Through research for seminars and essays, demonstrate proficiency in information retrieval and analysis
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
There are two texts studied most weeks, but all are usually available in cheap paperback editions and all are quick and easy to read. Subjects covered may include:
- What is Children’s Literature? (J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan; Sarah Catherine Martin,‘The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and her Dog’; Robert Southey, ‘The Three Bears’).
- Eighteenth-Century Children’s Literature: Sarah Fielding, The Governess; or Little Female Academy; Sarah Trimmer, Fabulous Histories Designed for the Instruction of Children Respecting their Treatment of Animals [ELE]; Dorothy Kilner, Life and Perambulation of a Mouse [ELE].
- Victorian Children’s Literature I (Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Edward Lear, Complete Nonsense).
- Victorian Children’s Literature II (Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island; Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies).
- The British School Story: Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays; Enid Blyton, First Term at Malory Towers.
- Comics and Annuals (The Girl’s Own Paper; The Boy’s Own Paper; Eagle; Girl)
- Edwardian Children’s Literature (Kenneth Graham, The Wind in the Willows; E. Nesbit, The Railway Children)
- Twentieth-Century Children’s Literature I (A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner; T.H. White, The Once and Future King)
- Twentieth-Century Children’s Literature II (Richard Adams, Watership Down; Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories).
- Young Adult Fiction (Alan Garner, Red Shift; Tanya Landman, Buffalo Soldier).
- Picture Books (Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Plus a workshop looking at contemporary picturebooks)
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | 267 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 33 | Teaching is by two 1.5 hour seminars per week, which will incorporate short lectures, student-led presentations, structured debates, and workshops. Typically, student presentations will take 10 minutes each followed by structured class discussion. |
| Guided independent study | 267 | Private study |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | 10 minutes | 1-9, 11 | Oral |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 25 | 1500 words | 1-8, 10-11 | Coversheet (written) and oral |
| Essay | 50 | 3000 words | 1-8, 10-11 | Coversheet (written) and oral |
| Directed Reading Plan | 25 | 1500 words | 1-8, 10-11 | Coversheet (written) and oral |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Essay | 1-8, 10-11 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-8, 10-11 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Directed Reading Plan | Directed Reading Plan | 1-8, 10-11 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Primary reading:
- Richard Adams, Watership Down (Puffin, 2012)
- J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan (Wordsworth Children’s Classics, 1993)
- Enid Blyton, First Term at Malory Towers (Egmont, 2006)
- Malorie Blackman, Noughts and Crosses (Corgi, 2006)
- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Macmillan, 2015)
- Frederic W. Farrar, Eric: Or, Little by Little (Dodo, 2007)
- Sarah Fielding, The Governess: or Little Female Academy (CreateSpace, 2015)
- Alan Garner, Red Shift (Harper Collins, 2014)
- Kenneth Graham, The Wind in the Willows (Vintage, 2012)
- Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies (Wordsworth Children’s Classics, 1994)
- Edward Lear, Complete Nonsense (Wordsworth Classics, 1994)
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island (Bloomsbury, 2015)
- A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner (Egmont, 2009)
- E. Nesbit, The Railway Children (Oxford Children’s Classics, 2012)
- Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Warne, 2002)
- Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Puffin, 1993)
- T.H. White, The Once and Future King (Harper Voyager, 2015)
Recommended Secondary Reading:
- M.O. Grenby and Andrea Immel (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Children’s Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
- M.O. Grenby and Kimberley Reynolds (eds), Children’s Literature Studies: A Research Handbook (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011)
- Peter Hunt (ed.), Children’s Literature: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies (Routledge, 2006)
- Peter Hunt (ed.), Understanding Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2005)
- Julia L. Mickenberg and Lynne Vallone, The Oxford Handbook of Children’s Literature (Oxford University Press, 2012)
- Maria Nikolajeva, From Mythic to Linear: Time in Children’s Literature (Scarecrow, 2000)
- Perry Nodelman, ‘Pleasure and Genre: Speculations on the Characteristics of Children’s Fiction’, in
- Children’s Literature 28 (2000), 1-14
- Lucy Pearson, Children’s Literature (Longman, 2011)
- David Rudd, The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature (Routledge, 2010)
- Deborah Thacker and Jean Webb, Introducing Children’s Literature from Romanticism to Postmodernism (Routledge, 2002)
- Deborah Thacker, ‘Disdain or Ignorance? Literary Theory and the Absence of Children’s Literature’, in The Lion and the Unicorn, 24 (2000), 1-17
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/search.php?search=tru3046
- JSTOR
- Project Muse
- ECCO
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | 120 credits at level 2 |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 20/04/2016 |
| Last revision date | 11/01/2019 |
