Essay 02-Analyzing a Children's Book
The Assignment: In class, we discussed the different levels of comprehension, and we saw how there are multiple ways of reading any text. For our second essay, we will explore and analyze the different ways one could read something as simple as a children's book,
For this assignment, you will select a short, illustrated children's book of your choice. Then, you will analyze this book for the different ways of comprehending the story and images. Your literal comprehension of this story should be fairly simple, but what could one infer about the story and images? What might be some other (maybe unintended) messages an audience could take from this book? As you begin analyzing, some questions that you could ask about your book are:
• Are there gender or racial stereotypes portrayed here?
• What does the book suggest about family units, or communities? Are there stereotypes presented here? Is the family a traditional nuclear family?
• Does the book make a distinction between good and evil? And how does the book make the distinction between the two? What does it tell us about how we know when someone or something is evil?
• Is there a lesson being taught to children in this story? If so, what is the value of this lesson, and why do
you think it is being taught? Are important values being portrayed here, and if so, why?
Remember that often times there may be the intended, obvious lesson of the story, but you may (and probably will) find evidence of some not-so-positive messages in the story that can tell us a lot about our own society and values.
Once you have interpreted and analyzed the story and images, your essay should explain and support your analysis of the book. This will be your way of making an argument about the value or appropriateness of this book. In order to make an argument about your analysis, your essay will need a clear and argumentative thesis statement, and several paragraphs that provide specific examples and commentary.
You will have the opportunity to discuss your topic and analysis individually with me and your class Instructional Student Assistant during week 6, and as always, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask me, our class ISA, or a writing center tutor.