Sometimes, in order to understand and truly appreciate a book, you need to know how it is going to end. The Great Gilly Hopkins ended in the way it should, but not the way I had hoped. Endings should fulfill the anticipation of two people who love one another, or at least care for one another, unit before the last words are written. This does not happen to Gilly, instead, she goes home with her grandmother and biological mom. This is life. Life is not always what we think it should be, and that is what makes this book something everyone should read. The Great Gilly Hopkins is classified as contemporary realistic fiction. I grew up in a stable family where I had a mom, dad, and siblings. This book opened my eyes to the world where there …show more content…
I would ask the children to include their feelings of love towards someone who was abandoned by their parents. I would then ask the children to explore and express additional feelings they may have felt while reading the story. Maybe how they could be friends if Gilly attended their classroom in a school. My point in this activity is to help the children understand the main character better. This way they can enjoy the story and how Gilly changes and softens by the end of the book. It is through kinds words and deeds that people, even characters in a book, can find …show more content…
I knew this from the first few chapters. I did not like the way Gilly was written, because of her rough edges and proud attitude. However, it was how much I did not like the character that I realized just how well she was written. I could feel the foster child within her and I knew it was not a pleasant life. I was grateful to have the family life I grew up with and I started to hope that Gilly could find the same stability I have always known. I too wished for her mother to come rescue her, but I, in the end, I really wanted Gilly and Trotter to be together. I hope that other who read this book feel the same dislike I felt, but then I also desire their eyes to open and see Gilly for who she represents; children who are looking for unconditional love and a stable home
They need to see how characters in books handle the same fears, interests, and concerns that they experience” in the book of Corduroy children may reflect how sometimes they want something but their parents cannot afford it, how will they obtain what they want? (para.11). through the storytelling the teacher may ask the children what they will do in this case. Children may interact in the storytelling. This book has discussion points in which the children may ask questions and use their problem solving skills. Susan Sherwood shares in the article Good Books for Dramatic Storytelling for Young Children that “the best ones appeal to children's lives and interests, such as families, animals, communities and humor”, Corduroy fits this criteria children love stuffed animals, and they will be interested in knowing how the little girl gets to take Corduroy home
The thing about this book that have fascinated me is the character Smitty. From the very moment Ginny meets Smitty in class, you can tell that he is going to be an interesting person himself. Ginny even describes Smitty in a fascinating way, taking note of every one of his features. It even turns out that Smitty has a very complex history to him which leads to why he acts like he does to one another. Throughout the book, you learn about all the things that Smitty has gone through as Ginny and Caulder dig deeper into his past. One of the things that peaked my interest was the relationship between Smitty and his brother. You would think Smitty wouldn't fear about telling someone about what his brother did to him because he was so far away, but it shows just how terrified Smitty is of his brother and his actions.
Instead, Janie becomes the center of attention and her hopes become the main focus. By doing this, the focus of the story changes making Janie the only focus and the inclusion of the other characters never reaches closure, making their expectati... ... middle of paper ... ... an Diego, 1 Apr. 2005. Web.
Studies in American Fiction 17 (1989): 33-50.
On page 4, we read “Deep-sea Treasure Hunters” by Ramona Rivera. Students once again participated in reading, except one = student (Kristina) who claimed she did not like to read aloud. However, she did answer a few questions. I had students underline what they thought the central idea and supporting details of the story were. Afterwards, they shared their answers and explained why they choose certain sentences/phrases to underline as each. We also filled out the chart on the page
The book is mostly about death, loss and depression, which is not the sort of book some people would want to read. Even though the depressive atmosphere is well described in the book, it also makes you feel bad for the different characters and depresses yourself. Also, the notes and poems Lennie writes throughout the book are quite confusing. They are challenging for the readers at first, because there is no reference to the notes and poems in the story until the end. You have to read the book again if you want to understand the notes from the beginning and how they connect to the story. It will be a pleasurable experience for those people, who enjoyed reading it the first time and like connecting hidden hints from the beginning of the story to the outcome of
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Sipe highlights five different expressive engagements—dramatizing, talking back, inserting, and taking over—that children portray during story book read- alouds. He believes that teachers must encourage these behaviors in children because it shows participation and it inspires children to take over the story. Some of these expressive engagements are reasonable while some serve as a disfavor to children’s learning. On page 482, he gives instruction on how teachers can implement the expressive engagements in their classroom. Sipe claims, “the first type of expressive engagement, dramatizing, can be encouraged through dramatic reenactment” (481). This can be problematic for fairy tales such as “The Juniper Tree”. This story about a stepmother killing her stepson by beheading him then cooking him in a stew, and a little boy turned into a singing bird who then later kills his murderer by “…dropping a millstone on her head and crush[ing] her to death” (252) can be gruesome for children to dramatize. Another expressive engagement that Sipe mentions is “inserting”. Sipe claims that if children are encouraged to insert themselves or other people around them into the story that they are reading, they can exercise their power over the tales. Through this process, Sipe claims “children in process of becoming one with the story, to the extent of assuming their stance as fellow characters with equal agency and presence in the story” (478). The story of the little boy in “The Juniper Tree” suggest a different view about mechanically inserting characters in a story. The little boy must learn about what each of his family members did to contribute to his death. When the little boy died, he did not know anything about the causes of his death and the things that happened after. He had to learn that his “mother, she slew [him]”, his father
For centuries, children stories have been a valuable tool in teaching lessons and morals. Like most stories that one was read as a child, there lies a life lesson that the author is trying to portray. Whether it was told orally like the story Beowulf or written by an author like Chaucer who wrote The Canterbury Tales, there are life lessons that are being taught through the characters and their challenges that they endure.
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
"Genre: Contemporary literature | Illiterarty.com." Illiterarty.com | Book reviews and blogs by Bridget. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. .
Evans, Robert C., Anne C. Little, and Barbara Wiedemann. Short Fiction: A Critical Companion. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill, 1997. 265-270.
I am writing this paper because I was assigned to write it as a class project. Along the way I realized the importance of sharing the real meanings of all these stories. Stories are important because in the society we live in things are constantly changing. Fairytales change but the base of the story always remain the same no matter how many times it has been retold. It’s important to reveal the true meanings of these stories, even with its dark characteristics, because the world is dark .Children need to know that there are people that have told stories relatable to what they are going through. Fairytales help the development of children; it helps their maturity as they confront someone else’s tough situations, instilling hope of a more positive ou...
Undoubtedly, losing one of the parents or both of them could be nothing but a devastating chock for a child. Perhaps this is why many writers, during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, deployed orphan characters as a didactic medium to convince the young readers to leave their mothers' lap and to journey in this wide world alone. However, though this goal may sound promising, the messages, the values and the social roles included in this category of literature may burry any possible didactic discourse and foreground just stereotypes.
Both books are good for parents and children to share a new adventure in life changing experiences, whether the baby is not the baby anymore, but a big brother or sister or if the young child is not happy about who they are until they see that who they want to be is not what they expect. Literature can provide young children adventures they may never experience in their life time. For those young children, who do experience adventures in their life, they need good age appropriate literature in their lives to show them different ways on how to deal, cope, or function in their life. A child’s personality can be supported and nurtured if they are given opportunities to explore and learn from their environment, whether the learning is exploring or reading a good book.