English Children's Literature week 17

ÀHans Christian Andersen

    Hans Christian Andersen often referred to in Scandinavia as H. C. Andersen; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called eventyr in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.

    ´ the climax of “The Princess and the Pea”

        The queen put's the Pea under the 20 materesess and 20 feather quilts.

           the climax is when they find out she really is a princess

           the rising action is when they plan to put the pea under the mattresses

           the resolution is when they say she really is a princess

ÀTHE SECRET GARDEN

   The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was initially published in serial form beginning in 1910, and first published in its entirety in 1911. It is now one of Burnett's most popular novels, and considered a classic of English children's literature. Several stage and film adaptations have been made.

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    ö Frances Hodgson Burnett

           Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was an English-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (published in 1885–1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).

Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, England. After her father died in 1852, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 immigrated to the United States, settling near Knoxville, Tennessee. There Frances began writing to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines from the age of 19. In 1870, her mother died, and in 1872 Frances married Swan Burnett, who became a medical doctor. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their two sons were born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C., Burnett then began to write novels, the first of which (That Lass o' Lowrie's), was published to good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of children's fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped to produce stage versions of Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.

   ö Plot summary

      The growth in the garden and Mary is the book's central symbol, inspired in part by Burnett's interest in Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science theories.The secret garden at Misselthwaite Manor is the site of both the near-destruction and the subsequent regeneration of a family.Using the garden motif, Burnett explores the healing power inherent in living things. (H. G. Wells's short story "The Door in the Wall" described a similarly transforming secret garden.) In a very literal sense, Mary Lennox "comes alive" as her garden does. The same goes for Colin and Mr Craven. As they tend to something outside their own sorrow, they find joy and new life. There are several direct parallels that can be drawn for the theme of rejuvenation. Mary arrives in winter, when the garden is in hibernation, and she is not sure if it is dead. In the same way, Mary as a child in India has no developed personality because no one ever took an interest in her, only her status and her parents. Mary as a girl is in hibernation, and needs tending to the way a garden does. Mary tends the garden, and Dickon – a tamer of wild animals – tends to "Mistress Mary". Before his help, she had no idea how to interact with people her age, be gentle towards animals, play, or use her imagination. Dickon helped draw out her personality and gently corrected her when she was wrong, and showed her the first kindness, except from his sister Martha, that Mary had ever known. In many ways Dickon acts as the Spirit of Youth, much like Peter Pan. He is wild and wonderful, and like a "common moor angel", with only his appearance to mar his puckish nature.

The chain of rejuvenation continues, however, because while Dickon pours thought and interest and kindness into Mary, Mary is busy pouring those ideals and principles into Colin, who is lonelier than Mary previously was. Colin's disability and his conviction of his own death takes the garden metaphor one step further. Colin is shut in like a plant that gets no sunlight. He is withered (his muscles have atrophied), and he is deeply unhappy. When Mary begins to talk to him every day, to bring interest and sunshine (literally) into his life, Colin awakens to his own self as well. The three play in the garden to grow into themselves, and the "magic" of caring for another thing is one of the main themes centring on their intertwined relationships.

    rinitiation:

      Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense it can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Hindu diksha, Christian baptism or confirmation, Jewish bar or bat mitzvah, acceptance into a fraternal organization, secret society or religious order, or graduation from school or recruit training. A person taking the initiation ceremony in traditional rites, such as those depicted in these pictures, is called an initiate.

   rconfirmation:

     In Christianity, Confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in Holy Baptism. In some denominations, Confirmation also bestows full membership in a local congregation upon the recipient. In others, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Confirmation "renders the bond with the Church more perfect",because, while a baptized person is already a member, "reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace".

   r epidemic:

      An epidemic is the rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less. For example, in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic.

   r Adolescence:

      Adolescence (from Latin adolescere, meaning "to grow up") is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood (age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the teenage years, but its physical, psychological or cultural expressions may begin earlier and end later. For example, puberty now typically begins during preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth (particularly in males), and cognitive development can extend into the early twenties.

      ´doubting Thomas

        

ÀAdventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived.

ÀDon Quixote

Don Quixote, formerly, fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is considered the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon. As a founding work of modern Western literature and one of the earliest canonical novels, it regularly appears high on lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published, such as the Bokklubben World Library collection that cites Don Quixote as authors' choice for the "best literary work ever written".

Quiz of the secret garden

1. How did Archibald Craven's wife die?

• Starvation
• After a bad fall from a tree
• In a house fire
• Pecked to death by ducks

2. Who helps Mary find the key to the secret garden?

• Ben Weatherstaff
• Mrs. Medlock
• The robin redbreast
• A mysterious stranger

3. Mary thinks that Colin Craven is like:

• An Indian Rajah
• Dickon
• His father
• A small rabbit

4. Misselthwaite Manor is located:

• Near the ocean
• In the desert
• On the shores of a lake
• In the middle of a moor

5. Archibald Craven sends Mary a number of gifts. These DO NOT include:

• A picture-book
• A painted doll
• A golden pen
• A children's game

6. Mary thinks of her mother's dresses as being:

• As red as blood
• As white as snow
• Full of lace
• Made of steel

7. Mary's mother does not leave India in time to escape the cholera because:

• She wanted to go to a dinner party
• She was afraid of the journey through the mountains
• She couldn't afford a horse on which to make the trip
• She was tied to a chair

8. Martha and her family give Mary:

• A spotted puppy
• A silk scarf
• A jar of mustard
• A jump rope

9. Dickon, Mary, and Colin learn their daily exercises from:

• Bob Haworth
• Mr. Pitcher
• Ben Weatherstaff
• The radio

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10. Archibald Craven's wife was named:

• Rose
• The Lady Spenser
• Lilias
• Olivia

11. In one of Misselthwaite's many rooms, Mary finds a portrait of a girl who resembles herself. This girl is holding:

• A single rose
• A white kitten
• A green parrot
• A leather-bound book

12. Dickon's crow is named:

• Wally
• Soot
• Cinder
• Nut

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13. Dickon's crow is named:

• Wally
• Soot
• Cinder
• Nut

14. When Mary first goes wandering through Misselthwaite Manor, she finds:

• An ancient Greek statue
• A pair of silver candlesticks
• A highly-polished grand piano
• A collection of ivory elephants

15. Dickon is constantly accompanied by a menagerie of animals. These DO NOT include:

• A fighting hawk
• A newborn lamb
• A red fox cub
• A moor pony

16. The door to the secret garden has been locked for:

• Seven years
• Ten years
• Fifteen years
• Hundreds of years

17. The writing of The Secret Garden was partially motivated by Frances Hodgson Burnett's interest in:

• German idealism
• French existentialism
• Christian science
• Catholicism

18. The Secret Garden was first published in:

• 1921
• 1847
• 1909
• 1983

19. The boy who first calls Mary "Quite Contrary" is named:

• William
• Harold
• Colin
• Basil

20. The first gardens which Mary explores at Misselthwaite are filled with:

• Vegetables and fruit trees
• Blooming marigolds
• Weeds and dust
• Hollyhocks

21. In the secret garden, Mary, Dickon, Colin, and Ben Weatherstaff sing a song together. It is called:

• Sweet Home Alabama
• The Doxology
• Come All Ye Faithful
• God Bless the Child

22. Dickon is compared to:

• An Indian rajah
• A toreador
• A snake charmer
• A famous English scholar

23. In the Yorkshire dialect that Dickon speaks, this word is used to mean "alive":

• Lorry
• Mun
• Wick
• Bonny

24. When Colin grows up, he hopes to:

• Make scientific discoveries
• Become a boxer
• Appear on television
• Tend gardens

25. Susan Sowerby compares the world to:

• A basketball
• An orange
• A bowl of cherries
• A box of chocolates