What Does

Literature Do
for Us?
And what about childrens literature?

Richard C. Burke
Department of English

Why is it so important that

children learn how to read?
gateway to so very much learning
and to functioning in our world
perhaps the single most valuable
skill they will develop

What is Childrens Literature?

Childrens literature consists of books
that are read and enjoyed by children,
that were written specifically with an
audience of children in mind, and that
use forms common to imaginative
literature (e.g.: novels, poems,
stories, plays) or carefully crafted
non-fiction of lasting significance.

What is the importance of

Childrens Literature?
fun: it encourages reading
imaginative: gets them considering
possibilities of all sorts
relatable: connects them with
others who are similar and different
develops awareness of larger world
develops language sensitivity
fun: just plain fun
Lets sample a bit of
literature.

VERY first question to ask

What is this poem about at its most
basic?
on a walk in the woods, the speaker
considered two paths (roads) he
might take and made a choice
you want to have a literal understanding
to begin

And then we ask

Is this poem about anything
more than walking in the
woods?
How because
do we know?
by itself, a mere walk in the
woods is of no interest, and
because we know that literature
works this way, leading us from the
specific to the general

its about more than the

basic content
Literature is metaphorical:
literal: my love is tall and Irish
metaphorical: my love is a red, red rose
metaphor leads us from one thing to
something significantly differentand
significantly similar
metaphor: from the
Greek for transfer

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.
What might be the metaphorical
meaning of these lines?

an option presented
itself to me; I had to
make a choice

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
I chose the
less
difference.

common, less popular

option
my life has been affected or
changed in important ways
by that choice
Its really not this straightforward, but this is a good place to

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I-I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the
difference.
Is this a good thought to
help guide our choices
and behavior in life?

Take the road less traveled by

Good Advice

Bad Advice

be independent
dont be a brainless
sheep
dont ignore your own
personality and needs
in order to conform
with society

rejecting something
because its popular
makes little sense
dont turn your back
on that which is
proven to work
hostility to what is
widely accepted is not
automatically
commendable

So where are we now?

the advice that we might take away from
those last three lines might be good
under some circumstances
but not always

And waittheres more

No good work of
literature can be
reduced to a simple
statement of its
meaning.

Read through the poem

again and find
something that suggests
that those three lines
are not the main
message.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted
wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted
wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
tells us at least three times that there
is no meaningful difference between
the two paths

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

What can we make

of this statement?

What does with a sigh

imply or suggest?

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence
What do we make of
Somewhere? The
speaker made his
choice, but it appears
that he has no idea of
where it led him.

If this outcome
is ages and
ages from
here, from now,
then how can
the speaker
determine how
important the
choice was?

Weve got an idea of how

literature works and how we
have to work with it: its
metaphorical and we need to
read with careful attention to
what is being said.
How much does all this
matter to children in
elementary school?

Put simply, its all background

to what youll be doing. You
want to develop enthusiasm
and interest among your
students, and the better you
understand what literature is
and how it works, the better
you can do that.

Literature matters.

Literature matters
it presents us with
the ways people lived,
the values they held,
the way they understood
themselves and the world
from many times and many
places

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
shows us life as
humans live and
experience it

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
it recreates emotional
and intellectual
experiences so that we
can live through them
vicariously

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
it recreates emotional
and intellectual
experiences so that we
can live through them
vicariously
As a result, we better understand what
is possible in lifeexperiences and
responses to them

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
So how does all that
work?

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
So how does all that
work?
direct personal identification makes it
easy to see the relevance
see Catcher in the Rye, novels of John
Green, The Hunger Games, and much
more

Consider The Iliad

Consider The Iliad

resentment
sense that were not getting what we
deserve
desire to punish those who have wronged
us
fellowship that arises from a shared
enterprise
fear
family affections
desire to amount to something (glory)
certainty of death catching up with us
and more, more, more . . .

Usefulness of stories
fiction and drama
our lives are stories

Usefulness of poems
poems show us what matters to
someone
love
regret
natures beauty
fear of death
frustration with society
horrors of war / glory of battle
presence of divine in flight of a bird
delight in the beauty of someones
clothes

What matters?
a poem can indicate what we might
want to pay attention to in our lives?

Whenas in silks my Julia goes,

Then, then methinks how sweetly
flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free,
Oh, how that glittering taketh me!

Its not all good

I love my little bunny;
Hes such a sweety friend.
Hell always be my good guy
On that I can depend!

TELLING
as well as
SHOWING
Literature tells us about things
as well as showing us things.
Literature says something
about its subject.

One thing needful

We must be willing to spend
some time thinking about what
we read.

Literature invites
reflection.

Literature invites
reflection.
Give thyself time
to learn something
new and good . . .
Meditations, Book II, by Marcus Aurelius
(121-180), Roman Emperor from 161-180.

What about reading

for pleasure?

Literature helps us
make sense of life.
And it can give us
enormous pleasure.

What questions do
you have?