- English 583: The Heroic Tradition in Children's Literature
- Fall 2009 – Section #22087527
- Mondays & Wednesdays 2:00-3:15 p.m. - Anspach
150
This course considers the heroic tradition and its influences on Children’s Literature through the ages. In addition to reading a selection of works which have shaped this tradition, during this course we will also study a number of modern works of Children’s Literature which incorporate the heroic tradition. Through seminar discussions, directed research projects, presentations, and other means we will consider these texts in terms of their literary, aesthetic, cultural, psychological, and sociological perspectives and implications.
- Reading List - Specified Editions Required As Indicated
-
Beowulf: A
New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
(Bilingual edition) - Norton
Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess - Penguin classics - Diane Duane, High Wizardry - Magic Carpet Books
- Roger Lancelyn Green, The Adventures of Robin Hood - Puffin Classics
- Homer, The Odyssey (translation by Robert Fagles) - Penguin
- John Marsden, Tomorrow, When the War Began - Scholastic
-
Philip Pullman,
The Golden
Compass
- Laurel Leaf
Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market (posted to Blackboard - out of print)
Louis Sachar, Holes - Yearling -
Robert Louis Stevenson,
Treasure Island
- Oxford
J. R. R. Tolkien,
Patricia Wrede, Dealing with Dragons - Sandpiper (Houghton Mifflin)
The complete syllabus and schedule will be posted in
Blackboard when the semester begins [https://blackboard.cmich.edu/webapps/login/]
along with copies of all handouts distributed in class.
Children's Literature
Resources