English 2F - Children's Lit
Response 11 - Fantasy and the Ideally Human Life

Purpose: To analyze the elements of fantasy, to identify the potential responses of children to the book, to explore the question of how fantasy affects children psychologically, emotionally and soacially.

Directions: 

Note: The responses are intended to be a way for you to explore ideas that you might later wish to refine in a paper or a discussion.  I will not censor these responses in any way, nor will I grade them on content or grammar (though, like the seminars, they must be coherent and display some measure of critical thinking about the question at hand). You do not have to answer all the questions, nor do you have to confine yourself to these questions.  You can write as much as you want, as long as you meet the minimum length requirements for the assignment

1. Read Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Collins's The Hunger Games .

2.  Review the material on fantasy and fairy tales from Module 6. Choose one or more ideas from at least one of the web resources or the Hillman book to use in your response.

3. Write a page analyzing some aspect of the book/s. You can choose one book to write about, or you can write about both if you are feeling ambitious. Questions to consider: What does this book teach children about what it means to be human, and to live an "ideally" human life? What are some of the symbols in the book/s, and what might they represent? Do your recognize any elements from other texts? What are some of the universal messages of the book/s? What elements of the book/s transcend the time and place in which they were written?  How might children of today benefit from reading the book/s?

3. Include at least two quotes from the web resource/s or the Hillman book to back up your interpretation of the book.

4. Submit your response to the assignments chamber..

5. Extra Credit Option: Post your response to the extra credit forums, "Response 11 - Fantasy and the Ideally Human Life ".  You will receive extra credit if you post your response and/or respond to at least one other student's posting.