Emerging scholars

I would choose the book Black and White as the best book for your emerging scholars because it deals with issues that they have probably dealt with. In my opinion, this is the most relateable book for kids around this area because most of the other books deal with a new culture or lifestyle. This book, on the other hand, is one that could have been written about any one of us or our friends, making it the best and most relateable book for the incoming class of emerging scholars. Also, this book was the most enjoyable book, which would probably mean it would be th easiest and most enjoyable to read for them.

Mulan

I actually don't think Mulan was over-Westernized in the Disney take on her story. Although some aspects of Chinese culture were taken out of the cartoon, they had to do so to make it likeable for the American audiences. Since the audiences they were aiming for with this film are young children who are not educated on cultures from around the world, Westernizing Mulan and the story were the best ways to make it relatable to the audiences. However, in no way do i think Mulan was over-westernized because there are still very Chinese aspects within the movie. For example, her father still grows upset when she embarasses him in front of a Chinese government official by requesting to let him stay home from war. Self-pride is an important tradition for Chinese men. Also, in the beginning when Mulan is being made into a geisha it certainly captures most traditional requirements for one. Finally, chinese training in the army is very accurate. Mulan has been westernized to make it more relatable and understandable for the young audiences Disney is aiming for, but it is definitely not Over-westernized by any means.

Black and White

I believe that Black and White definitely pays tribute to real-life experiences. Loyalty to your friends, whether or not to tell on your friends or not if they do something wrong, racism are all problems that are still faced by people, including adolescents today. In my opinion, this is a real-life experience that anyone could face. Whether or not to tell on your best friend or let him walk away free while you take the punishment is a legitimate problem that most teens face at some point in their lifetime. Although it may not be in such a serious situation, it is definitely realistic. Also, racism is absolutely still prevalent. In Black and White, it is the main reason that most of the kids believe Marcus is being charged. Racism is still all around us and children deal with it all the time depending on what area they go to school in. I think the problems faced by the characters in thie book are accurately portrayed, no matter that they are exaggerated a small amount due to the boys' situation. Tey are legitimate problems and this book pays tribute to them by sharing how the characters deal with them

Thompson article - Fiction

This article was very confusing but in a nutshell it basically looked at differences between fiction made primarilly for children and fiction made for adults. It looked at the volume of certain words and phrases within either type of fiction and compared the two findings. In adult fiction, there were often words which were used more often due to he fact that children have a smaller vocab and often cannot understand some words or the literal meanings behind some words or phrases. Adults, on the other hand, are able to depict different meanings for words and can understand certain words or phrases better than children. This study just looked at the number of words and phrases within childrens and adult fiction and the reasons for these differences, which was ability to understand and differentiate literal versus figurative meanings and various definitions of the same words

Fairy Tales

When I was younger, fairy tales were mostly told to my sister, since she was usually the one who liked magic, fairies, princes and princesses and happily ever after endings. However, I do remember the impact that Robin Hood and Peter Pan had on me.

For my 4th birthday, my parents got me a custom made Robin Hood book in which i was included as a character in the book, along with my sister and two neighbors. I made my mom read that book to me almost every night because I loved being Robin Hood's sidekick as he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Robin Hood became my hero and I pretended to be him all the time, running around my house with a stick which was supposed to be my bow and arrow. I would pretend to steal candy and give it to other children who did not have any candy. I think that the story was very important in teaching me how to share and to help those less fortunate than me.

Peter Pan was also a favorite of mine since he could fly. I loved the cartoon movie by Disney as well as the later-released Hook starring Robin Williams. I just oved how he refused to grow up and could fly just based on happy thoughts. I think that the notion of never growing up and having to deal with the problems and responsibilities of being an adult was one of the main reasons why Peter Pan stuck with me and was such a favorite of mine.

Celebrities Writing Children's Books

I really enjoyed this article. I also have no problem with Celebrities releasing children's books. Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, and even Madonna have done it. Who knows, maybe some of these celebrities' true calling was writing children's literature. However, there are definitely some who do not have the gift.

In my opinion, being a celebrity shouldn't mean they should not be allowed to write successful childrens books. However, like Park mentions in her aticle, I think that since their status makes their books more popular are more read by children, their books should all carry strong messages and be written well. Otherwise, hildren will be exposed to badly written literature in lieu of well-written literature, but take no notice of the difference and grow up lacking this knowledge of the difference.

None of the books we have read have been written by celebrity authors but I know that not judging a book based on who wrote it is an important idea to think about when choosing a book for a child to read. Unless, however, it is written by an author who has become a celebrity for his/her writing excellence.

Beach Article

In the article that dealt with how adolescents respond to multicultural literature with alternative values, I found it similar to my experience with Esperanza Rising. I am generally very unfamiliar with Mexican values and customs since not only am I a white male, but I was born in England and have been nrought up with British values and customs. However, similar to what the article explained, after reading novels such as Esperanze Rising and Copper Sun, I was able to better understand the different customs and values in the different culture, both African and Mexican. Reading about the different traditions in the novels allows the reader, in this case, me, to get a glimpse of how important these values and customs are to the characters in the book who practice them. Reading about the different values and customs allows the reader to put themselves into the shoes of the characters and view the customs throught the words int he ook which are describing them. All in all after reading Esperanza Rising and Copper Sun, I got a better understanding of the traditions practiced in both cultures and I was more accepting of them because they were no longer so "new" to me. Also, I could understand them to a better extent and see how important they are to the particular people who did them.

Research Proposal

For my end of year Research paper, I want to explore the different ways that adolescents behave in novels in which they must struggle to survive after some sort of a disaster. There are many books out there which focus on the survival strategies of adolescents after they are stranded somewhere that is unfamiliar to them. One of the books which focus on this are Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, where Brian must adapt to survive in the Canadian wilderness with no tools but a hatchet. Brian, however, evolves into a new person who becomes very intelligent in his efforts to survive using only what nature gives him. Another book I plan to use is Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, where a group of young boys are stranded on an island and at first are civilized, but then most of them grow into untamed savages when required to survive on their own. Another book is My side of the mountain, by Jean Craighead George, where a young boy named Sam escapes to the mountains in New Yor where he gets help from a man named Bill to survive. Although he begins being very poor at survival and eventually grows into a success, Sam ends up realizing that once he starts to gain experience in the outdoors, he finds himself building a guest house in a tree, showing his secret desire to be back in civilization.

One final book I may or may not use is Life of Pi which is about a boy named Pi who is stranded at sea on a lfieboat with only a Tiger. Although he has supplies and knowledge to survive, he is faced with a unique and dangerous addition, a Tiger in his presence who he tames and takes care of.

Dong Article

In the Dong Article, the main idea is that teachers should include more Multicultural Literature in their teaching repertoire in order to expand their own knowledge of cultural differences and in turn teach them in the classroom. I think this is an extremely important because of all the different cultural differences in the world. We must understand these differences in order to accept them. No other way is as accurate and effective in getting across these multicultural differences than literature. Using this multicultural literature in the classroom will help children understand these differences from different cultures at an early age and will set the groundworkfor them to be able to realize and accept these differences throughout the rest of their lives. Basically, if teachers use more multicultural literature in their teaching routine, there will be a greater amount of understanding among students when it comes to the differences and similarities among various cultures. In Esperanza Rising and Copper Sun we learn of Mexican Culture and African Culture. These two works introduce to us different traditions, foods, ceremonies, celebrations and other aspects of the two heritages of the main characters. By reading about all of these differences from our own culture, we learn to understand and accept them, successfully broadening our understanding of different heritages and their traditions.

Is it good enough to teach?

In my opinion, these three books are definitely worth teaching. Copper Sun introduces students to an in-depth and very accurate description of the horrors surrounding the slave era. This time period was a very important era in histry and without learning about the horrors, we will not be able to understand them and learn from them. Copper Sun helps adolescents understand just how awful the slave trade was and by doing so, not only educates them on the history of the trade, but also will help keep it from happening again by doing so.

Harry Potter and Twilight are also very important because of their large impact they have had on pop culture during their time as well as the values and lessons taught in both novels. Both of these books had a massive impact on the world with their vivid descritions of magic and fantasy. They both took the world by storm and made "Harry Potter" and "Edward Cullen" household names. However, their great role in pop culture is not the only reason they should be taught, they also teach strong values.

Harry Potter teaches adolescents about the importance of friendship and trust. Harry's friends are the most important people in the world to him, since he is after all, an orphan. In Twilight, the value is love and to not judge people for simply being different. All of these values are important to the growth of an individual and they legitimize these books to be worth teaching.

Based on the article, we have to want to or need to teach it, in order to make it worth teaching. These three books must be taught because of their impacts they have on the teaching of values, education of slavery and history, and the effect they had on pop culture, growing into some of the biggest phenomenas in history. Thus, making them good enough to teach

Copper Sun

Copper Sun was a real eye-opener to the slave trade of the early years of the United States. Being a Pan-African Studies minor, I have taken many classes, read many books, and written many papers on the treatment of African-Americans during this time period. However, even though this book is a fictional work, it is the only book I have read that has been so personal with the treatment of slaves, describing Amari's feelings along with smells, sights and sounds of the slave trade. Most books I have read deal with the slave trade as a whole, describing the poor conditions in general, rather than going in depth and explaining them individually.

While the conditions of the slave trade along with simply the idea of slavery in general has always made me feel sick just thinking about it, this book really hit my emotions hard because it put an imaginary face on the treatment through Amari. I remember watching the mini-series Roots when i was in High School, and the way slavery was shown in the series seems very similar to how slavery and the slave trade was depicted in Shannon Drapers book.

As a whole, being very educated on the history of the slave trade, and even Fort Mose, i thought this book was very accurate in the description of the conditions and treatment of slaves. I do, however, wish that the ending of the book, when every person they encounter on their way to Fort Mose (Irish woman, doctor, Spanish soldier and the red-headed boy) was willing to help them, was more accurate. Given the time period and the setting, most people probably would not have helped them given the possible consequences of doing so, making this one of the most unbelieveable parts of the book.