ENGL 237/3.0: Children's Literature

This course is available to both Queen’s and non-Queen’s students. Non-Queen’s students (including interest students, visiting students, and new online degree students) must first apply for admission. The following course description is presented for informational purposes only and is subject to change.

Instructor

Dr. Heather Evans Learn more about the instructor...
E-mail: heather.evans@queensu.ca

Course Description

This online English course is a critical study of literature written for children or appropriated by adults for the nursery. The emphasis will be on distinguishing the characteristics and cultural significance of a variety of works from the medieval to the modern period.

• Students who lack the pre-requisite must contact the Chair of Undergraduate Studies, Dr Chris Fanning (ugrad.english@queensu.ca, tel 613-533-2153 or 613-533-6000 ext. 74402).
• If the course is full, students should check SOLUS frequently for space availability; the course instructor cannot add students to a fully-subscribed course, nor can she add students who lack a pre-requisite or other requirement. The last date to add a Winter course is January 18, 2013.

Course Introduction

This course takes as its focus the history of children's literature in Britain from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, with an emphasis on nineteenth-century works for children.

The first half of the course concentrates on texts included in the anthology From Instruction to Delight and on John Bunyan's seventeenth-century allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, and is designed to survey the development of a literature shaped specifically for children from its beginnings to the Golden Age of the nursery in the mid-nineteenth century.

The second half of the course will explore one dominant genre in children's literature of the twentieth century: fantasy. Central to our study will be an examination of the construction of childhood across the centuries, consideration of the intersections and relationships between literature, politics, philosophy, commerce, religion, economics, art, and other cultural sites, and an investigation of the dynamic between literature written for adult audiences and books read by children.

As we work through our course we will interrogate hackneyed clichés and popular assumptions such as that the primary function of books read by children (past or present) is to stimulate the imagination of the child, that children's literature is simplistic, conservative, or moral, and that children are naturally sweet, innocent little angels.

Course Objectives

This course is a critical study of literature written for children or appropriated by adults for the nursery. The emphasis will be on developing critical reading and writing skills, and on distinguishing the characteristics and cultural significance of a variety of works from the medieval to the post-modern period.

See the lesson schedule...

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More information:

• Computer Requirements and Internet Access
• Moodle, Our Online Learning Environment 
• Academic Integrity
• Evaluation
• Suggested Time Commitment
• Required Material