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Overview

This course introduces the student to children’s literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques. The required readings are not exhaustive but acquaint the student with some of the more important and representative forms, authors, and works of children’s literature.

Note: Since this is a senior course, we expect students to have good reading and writing skills as well as the basic critical tools and knowledge of literary forms and techniques that are acquired in an introductory university English literature course like Athabasca University’s English 211 and 212. Students who do not have the recommended credits in an introductory English literature course may experience significant difficulty with the essay assignments and examinations.

Outline

• Lesson 1: Historical Background
• Lesson 2: The Folk Tale
• Lesson 3: From Folk Tale to Literary Tale
• Lesson 4: The Evolution of Fantasy
• Lesson 5: Secondary-World Fantasy
• Lesson 6: Alternatives to Secondary-World Fantasy
• Lesson 7: The Realistic Novel
• Lesson 8: Period and Historical Fiction
• Lesson 9: Diversity and Decolonizing the Canon
• Lesson 10: Nonfiction
• Lesson 11: Nursery Rhyme, Poetry, and Nonsense Verse
• Lesson 12: The Picture Book and Illustration
• Lesson 13: Who Classifies the Classics?
• Lesson 14: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Learning outcomes

ENGL 305 is designed to introduce the student to children’s literature, its authors, works, forms, history, themes, and concerns. The following are the broader learning outcomes that students should achieve by the end of the course:

• understand the major literary works for children
• achieve a general overview of children’s literature
• acquire a historical perspective on the development of children’s literature
• develop an appreciation of the techniques of artistry in language
• develop an appreciation of each work as an individual work with its own formal integrity
• recognize some of the more common weaknesses of children’s books and the reasons for these weaknesses
• develop standards by which to evaluate children’s books and picture-book illustrations
• build critical judgement in selecting books of literary merit for children
• improve the critical tools and communication skills acquired in introductory (junior) literature courses
• increase their interest in, and ability to read, literature
• increase their knowledge and understanding of themselves and others through experience with children’s literature

Through careful study of the assigned texts and Study Guide, students will also be able to accomplish the following specific outcomes:

• identify specific literary techniques as they occur in the works
• identify works and authors by means of their form, style, content, and context
• summarize (paraphrase, outline) the plots and thematic concerns of works
• analyze works from the perspective of their literary elements, including narrative point of view, characterization, plot, theme, setting, atmosphere, style, structure, and organization
• analyze interrelationships among, and relative importance of, literary elements in a work
• evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques used in a work and analyze its strengths and weaknesses
• recognize recurring themes, literary devices, and elements in the works
• compare and contrast the works studied
• participate in informed and thoughtful discussion of children’s literature
• develop the skills necessary to write literary criticism in the form of essays with correct grammar, a lucid style, and a coherent and sustained argument that makes use of evidence from the primary text(s)

Evaluation

To obtain credit for ENGL 305, you must submit three essays of varying lengths and write two examinations, each of three hours duration. To receive credit for the course, you must obtain a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on each exam and a course composite (or final) grade of at least D (50 percent)

The weighting of the course assignments is as follows

Activity	Weight
First Essay	10%
Second Essay	15%
Third Essay	25%
Mid-Term Exam	25%
Final Exam	25%
Total	100%

The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Digital course materials

Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:

Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 11th ed., Cengage Learning, 2013.

Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin in the Dark

David, Alfred, and Mary Elizabeth Meek, eds. The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Other Fairy Tales

Jacobs, Joseph, ed. English Fairy Tales

Kipling, Rudyard. Just So Stories

MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin

Milne, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh

Montgomery, L. M. Anne of Green Gables

Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie, eds. The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes

Robertson, David. The Barren Grounds

Richler, Mordecai. Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang

Physical course materials

The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting

Campbell, Nicola I. Shi-shi-etko

Hautzig, Esther. The Endless Steppe

Kogawa, Joy. Naomi’s Road

Lee, Dennis. Alligator Pie

Le Guin, Ursula. The Tombs of Atuan

Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Munsch, Robert N. The Paper Bag Princess

Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet

Potter, Beatrix. The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Russell, David L. Literature for Children: A Short Introduction. 9th ed., Pearson Canada, 2019.

Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are

Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit

White, E. B. Charlotte's Web

Other Material

The course materials include a Course Information, a Study Guide, and additional online readings.

Challenge for credit

Overview

The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.

Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Evaluation

To receive credit for the ENGL 305 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) on each activity of the challenge.

Activity	Weight
Take-Home Essay	50%
Examination	50%
Total	100%

Challenge for credit course registration form

Important links

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