Charles Sander Peirce's If You Give A Cookie

Literature is vast and complex, even in seemingly simple texts such as the popular children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, uses theories and criticisms to aid the reader’s in understanding the consequences of giving a mouse a cookie. Literature is made up by several components that may not be seen by simple words on the page. Originally developed in linguistics, structuralism is a criticism that can be used as a tool for understanding the hidden aspects of literature. A few of these attributes can be found in the structure of the text, the language used, and the similarities between the text and others from the same time period, genre, and composition. A major component of structuralism is semiotics, a method created by John Locke and expanded by Charles Sander Peirce used to categorize the three main categories of signs: True signs, iconic signs, and indexes. True signs are arbitrary meaning given to something that has none, such as currency and words themselves. Iconic signs are most commonly exemplified by men and women bathroom signs, and are signs we have been

Education is a universal element in children’s media and pictures are a key factor in comprehension. For example, the text alone could be understood by adults, but for a young child who doesn’t fully understand what a mouse is, pictures are used. This highlights the absurdity in language. Children and their limited knowledge know what they can see, touch, and feel. Words have no inherent meaning, therefore pictures are better representation for children. Language was created by humans for communication that we have passed down to children and books are ways to help children grasp the language with pictures and stories. Language is a tool used for communication that differs in each culture, location, and person. Pictures, however, are