Yay for Children's Literature!
"We may not know Shylock, but we all know Sam I Am." (Foster 59)
It's the truth. We all know children's literature. And adding children's literature to a discussion always makes people pay attention more. As soon as Shakespeare is mentioned in a discussion, I bet most people's ears turn off and they feel no need to continue listening and taking part in the discussion. (We all least most people) But if someone says Sam I Am, then people are interested because it's something fun and that the are very familar with. So not only is children's literature an easy to use to create comparisons in other literary works for general audiences, but it also easy to hold people's interest.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL266/2009/09/foster_how_to_read_literature_2/
2 Comments
Leave a comment
Recent Comments
Jennifer Prex on Yay for Children's Literature!: I agree. It's something that e
I agree. It's something that everyone--or at least mostly everyone--can relate to. While Shakespeare is also very familiar, his works aren't as familiar to us as fairy tales--which we've grown up with--are.
How true. Even though we associate Dr. Seuss with children, we often forget how philosophical it really is. I do have to agree, when Shakespeare is mention, most of us get up to run away. It seems more complicated and too wordy; whereas Seuss is less dreadful, in my opinion.