L390 4339 CARIELLO
Children’s Literature

10:30a-11:20a D (30) 3 cr.

This course is designed for anyone interested in children's literature, but will have a special appeal for future teachers. Our main goal will be to look at the cultural scripts that are enforced or challenged by children's stories, particularly with regard to the ways in which families are constructed. The course will be broken into several units, each of which will examine a particular type of narrative. For instance, one unit will look at adoption narratives--those books that explain the circumstances of adoptions to children and therefore give them a way of imagining alternative forms of the familial configurations. Course work will include a series of critical responses to the stories; a longer (5-6 page) analytic essay; and some creative explorations of the problems of writing fiction (e.g., write your own children's story).

Please contact Matthew Cariello in May for a complete reading list: mcariell@indiana.edu