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AML 2410 Fall 2006
Issues in American Literature and Culture:
American Children's Popular Culture in Literature, Film and Media

Reading Questions

MacLeod, Anne Scott. "Children's Literature in America from the Puritan Beginnings to
1870." Children's Literature: An Illustrated History. Ed. Peter Hunt. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995.

In general, think about the transitions that happened in children's literature and the changing view of children while reading MacLeod. More specifically, address the following questions:

-What was the purpose of Puritan literature for children? What form did this literature take? Where do you see the Puritan influence in children's literature today?

-Explain the statement "fiction for children should be 'the history of realities written in an entertaining manner'" (106).

-When Americans began writing for children, how were their books different from English texts?

-What is literacy? What is education? Are they different in your mind? How so?

-What children's periodicals did you read growing up? What do you remember about them?

-What was children's literature like before the middle of the nineteenth century (1850)? How did it change?

-How were series books for juveniles different than previous literature for children?

-What sort of texts expanded the definition of children's literature? How would you define children's literature?

-Why did parents object to dime novels? What can you compare that to today?