ENG 470 Course Description for Fall 2011

Now available for those scheduling their classes for next fall: the course description for English 470: Studies in Children’s Literature.  The topic will be Tween Literature & Culture.  For a complete course description with tentative book list, click here for a .pdf file.

This course will examine the often times confusing and contradictory world of middle school literature.   We from The Diary of the Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, a book we'll be reading next fallwill attempt to explore the growth of tween literature that has been produced in part with the development of middle schools in the United States since the 1960s, while looking at several influential examples from earlier time periods.  Many of these texts attempt to provide younger readers with a transition from childhood to adolescence as they progress from the sixth to eighth grade.  We will attempt to slip inside those overstuffed backpacks and lockers and try to understand some of the physical, social, and emotional concerns and issues that tweens face in contemporary culture by reading some of the books they are either assigned in school or that they are reading on their own outside of class.  Since this age group gains much of its information and entertainment from other sources, in addition to books we will also be examining other texts that tweens consume including magazines, television, films, music, and new media.

Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf, by Jennifer Holm, another book we'll be reading next fall in ENG 470Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, also on the ENG 470 reading list

Course descriptions for my summer & fall classes

Potential students at ISU for this summer's ENG 375: Young Adult Literature and next fall's ENG 272: Literature for Middle Grades can now read course descriptions and book lists for the sections that I will be teaching.

Course description for ENG 375: Young Adult Literature (in .pdf format). This is a four-week, intensive summer-session class that will meet Monday-Thursday 1--3:50 p.m from May 26 to June 9. Be prepared for a considerable amount of reading and writing during an interesting and challenging four-week course.  Attendance is crucial. Since you'll have the book lists, you might want to get a head start on reading now, if you're enrolled in this course.

Course description for ENG 272: Literature for Middle Grades (in .pdf format).  This course will be taught during the Fall 2011 semester and focuses on texts for children 9 - 13.  We will read fiction, including multicultural novels, non-fiction, including information books, and examine children's media and culture.  Be prepared for writing a research paper, a short paper, and several short writing assignments as well as pop quizzes and two exams.

As usual, I expect students to attend class regularly and to actively participate in class discussions. These courses have exams that you will be required to take.

For those of you interested in ENG 470: Topics in Children's Literature, the topic is going to be Tween Literature and Culture.  I am working on that course description.  Any graduate student who's interested might look at ENG 272 for some of the primary texts.  However, it will be different in scope and will have assignments and discussions geared toward the graduate-student level.  I think that there is a need to critically examine this popular and fast-growing segment of children's literature and culture, particularly for graduate students in children's literature.