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Undergraduate MAQ-ENGX209-2018

Children's Literature

Return to the stories of your childhood and re-examine them with a critical eye. Start with picture books and build up to young adult fiction. Look at recurring themes like adolescence and gender. Reveal how children's literature can address social issues.

Study method

100% online

Available loans

HECS-HELP
FEE-HELP

Assessments

100% online

Prior study

Required

This research-intensive university in north-western Sydney offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. With over 30,000 current students, Macquarie has a strong reputation for welcoming international students and embracing flexible and convenient study options, including its partnership with Open Universities Australia.

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Subject details

What you'll learn

On completing the subject, students should:

have gained a broad overview of kinds of children's literature, from children's first books to young adult literature
understand a range of concepts employed in discussing and analysing children's literature, such as ideology, notions of childhood and adolescence, gender, and concepts derived from schema theory and theories of visual representation
understand some aspects of literary theory currently used in discussions of children's literature, such as narrative theory, metafiction, intertextuality, and theoretical discussions of genre
have attained a conceptual language with which to discuss children's literature and a level of visual, verbal and critical literacy
be able to critically examine the uses of children's literature, with particular reference to social issues, subjectivity and the place of books in the socialisation and enculturation of children and adolescents.

Topics covered

- Introduction: The Idea of Children's Literature
- History of Children's Literature
- Picture Books I
- Picture Books II
- Juvenilia
- Writing by Children
- Graphic Novels
- Verse Novels
- Realism
- Contemporary Fantasy
- Adaptation and YA Film
- Subjectivity and Children's Young Adult Literature
- Genre and Gender in Children's Literature
- Conclusion

Entry requirements

You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:

MAQ-ENGX120-Approaches to English Literature, or MAQ-ENG110 ;

Special requirements

No special requirements

Description

ENGX209 offers an introduction to the range of literature, both past and current, written for children, including picture books, poetry, and a variety of realistic and fantastic fictions (novel and film) for younger readers and adolescents. Key concepts and a common conceptual language employed in discussing and analysing children's literature will be introduced. Issues addressed include: the idea of a literature for children, visual and verbal textualities; notions of genre; gender representation; and the place of books in the socialisation of children.

Assessments

Essay 1 (15%)
Essay 2 (25%)
Participation (20%)
Quiz (40%)

Textbooks