The Hunger Games

My first impression:

I heard that this would be a great book to read, so I bought the trilogy of The Hunger games. I'm not much of a reader so I didn't know if I would ever finish these books, but I did. I thought it was easy to read, even for a non-reader. When I started I couldn't stop because it was so exiting. When I was half way trough I thought; 'Why would somebody make up such a story?'. So I read the part where the author explains where the story came from. I thought that was quite interesting. Susan Collins says she was switching channels and saw a reality show on television and the invasion of Iraq. She mixed them together and the idea of writing The Hunger games was born. I Like it that she mixed those contradictions in to one story. I think she wrote this to show us that we are living in an imperfect world where people suffer and other people make a fuss about a reality show. You don't always realize that this is going on right now. And I think you don't have to be aware of it all the time, but it is true and that is quite shocking if you think about it. 

In Class/theory:

We first talked about what we did last week and then started off with, how to offer books in your classes. We summed up the dos and don'ts of offering books. Offer a selection of books but not too many, the pupils need freedom of choice but limited and by choosing a book they don't have to do too much research. Besides that it's a good thing to use the 'drop everything and read' method in your class and reflect on the reading afterwards. I think this is a great idea, because the classes I teach, think English is quite difficult and they can read, but don't always know what they are reading. So if I use this in class, it will improve their reading skills even more. And maybe they will like it more after a while. But back to the in class discussion...We also talked about the stages Erikson uses to know in which state of mind a person is. This is something you could use to decide at what age a child can read certain books or see certain movies, but I will point this out in "age suitability/theory".

After that we talked about the books that we had to read and which similarities the books have. The stories all have a quest as their plot. The main point of every book is adventure, well except for Tracy Beaker I think. I didn't know that story, but from what I've heard I didn't think this book suited the other books very well. 

The stories are all pretty complex, there's a lot going on. In all of them are repetitive elements, like the Mockingjay in the Hunger games and the sign of respect. And at the end of the Hunger games, even in the third book, it hasn't got a very happy ending. But the other books haven't got a happy ending either. The reason for the open endings is that the writers want to end realistically, so you get doubts. That's what becoming an adult is all about...doubts.  After talking about this we had to create a mind map of the books. We chose to use the theory as a guide to create the mind map. We talked about the similarities these books have and we came to the conclusion that in all the books parents are absent, the characters are growing up and have to make their own decisions. The books are all adventurous and are, of course, all about the imperfect world. 

Age suitability/theory:

After we made the mind maps we had to decide what age the books are suitable for. If we use Erikson's theory on this I think The Hunger games is suitable for thirteen year old children. At the age of thirteen most of the children are in stage five, which means; Identity versus role confusion. Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. During adolescence, children are exploring their independence and developing a sense of self. In this stage, children can feel confused about themselves and their identity. They will experiment with different roles, activities and behaviors.(Cherry, 2013)

This is what the whole Hunger games is about; exploring independence, developing a sense of self, confusion, experimenting different roles activities and behaviors. So Children will feel related to the characters in the book, therefor this is a good book for kids at the age of thirteen. 

I think we can say that the Hunger games is a young adult book. The Young Adult Service Division of the American Library Association defines the age of a young adult as twelve till eighteen years old. Young adult literature is the movie version of a great story. Gripping from the first line, never slows down, with all the slow parts edited out. It is crisp, lively and hip. (Morrissette, 2009) 

And I think The Hunger games is all of that! I loved it. 

Cherry, K. (2013, - -). About.com Psychology. Opgeroepen op September 22, 2013, van About.com: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/identity-versus-confusion.htm

morrissette, F. (2009, August 1). suite 101. Opgeroepen op September 22, 2013, van suite 101: http://suite101.com/a/what-is-young-adult-fiction-a135786

 

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

My first opinion:

I really like fairy tales and musicals. I’ve seen the TV show and the musical of this story. So I already knew that I would like the story in the book. I think it is a great book for kids, because it improves their sense of imagination. I will explain in my theory why imagination is important.

In class:

In class we talked about what we really liked and didn’t like, what patterns we saw and which questions we had. What I really liked about the story is the fact that Dorothy travels to a more colourful world than she came from. And the other thing I liked was the fact that they (Dorothy, the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion) just had to believe in themselves to get what they all were looking for (the brains, the heart and the courage). What they all didn’t know was that it had always been there already.

What I didn’t like in the story was that the wizard of Oz seemed to be a fake. If I had read this as a kid, I really think that would have been a big bummer.

The pattern I see in this story is that Dorothy, the scarecrow, the lion and the tin man are all searching for something they already posses.
Besides that we talked about why we write stories, when the first children books were written and what these stories were about. We write stories because we talk about the world as it is, but also about the world as we would like it to be or as a warning. The first children's books were written around 1800 and it was a watered down adult version of the bible. We also compared the books we had to read (Peter Pan, Alice, secret garden and the Wizard) with each other. We came to the conclusion that these books could be compared with Disney films where parents are absent most of the time and in all of the books the characters grow up.

Theory:

In the reader Maass’ theory says; “ The story has at least one unforgettable character. Most likely that character grows, or matures and emerges from the story as a changed person”. In the Wizard of Oz Dorothy is the one who’s growing up. In the story she learns to just believe in her own abilities and help others to find theirs. She does that by searching for the Wizard of Oz and overcoming obstacles during her journey.  Maass also says that what happens to the characters is unusual, dramatic or meaningful. This is also true for Dorothy because it isn’t very usual, that a tornado will take you to Oz and besides that all the other things that happen to her in Oz. The setting is described in so many details, that it makes you feel as if you are there at that moment. This is what Maass calls a “captivating setting”.(reader: Youth Literature, P. 21, 22 and 23)

The importance of this book is the fact that it helps children to improve their sense of imagination. This is important because it will expand a child’s mind. There are five benefits of encouraging a child’s imagination. These are; developing social skills, build self confidence, boost intellectual growth, practice language skills and work out fears. As children play pretend, they learn more about how people interact. Imagining themselves as a hero will develop their confidence about their abilities and potentials. Using imagination is the beginning of abstract thought. It can help children to work out their fears and worries. When children role-play about the big bad monster under their bed they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn't seem quite so big or so bad. (Digest, 2013)

The writer of the Wizard of Oz, Frank Baum, says that he had written the story just to please children. Some say there’s a deeper meaning behind this story. They say it has something to do with the economics and politics. The story seems to be a popular tool for teaching university and high school students about the depression of the late 19^th century. A man called Henry Littlefield believed that the characters could represent the personalities and themes of the late 1800, with Dorothy embodying the everyman American spirit (Jahangir, 2009).

I think it’s quite interesting to know that these stories are interpreted differently. That there are people who see a deeper meaning in a story which the writer didn’t intend to give. People actually see the story differently to feel supported in their own theories of life.  

Age:

I think, and we talked about this in class, the age belonging to this book is 8 years old. It is not a very difficult book to read and there aren't happening very shocking things. So I think for an English speaking child, 8 years will be fine. When I look at Dutch speaking children, I think they have to be 11 or 12 years old to be capable of reading this book, because that's for most children, the first time they have English at school. 

Sources:

Digest, R. (2013, September 17). Parenting. September 17, 2013, van www.rd.com: http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/encourage-your-childs-imagination/

Jahangir, R. (2009, March 17). BBC News Magazine. September 15, 2013, van BBC News Magazine: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7933175.stm