Welcome

2012-01-23T00:09:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Children's Literature. On this site you will find various resources and links pertaining to EDU319 and EDU619.

I look forward to working with you this semester!

Vivian

The Rough Face Girl

2011-08-27T01:56:00.009-04:00

A Critical Analysis by Crystal Curley

Click here for a review of the Rough Face Girl

Supporting Texts

Using QR Code Generator Text Function at
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Link to Pdf stored on Libsyn (online storage service)

Using Google Sites and Wordle (Tagxedo is also an option here)

Children's Literature Podcasts

2011-03-29T15:43:00.017-04:00

Douglas
Elyssa
Ariel
Meredith
Emily
Jillian
Kelli
Becky
Tabatha
Megan
Alexis
Jessica
Jane
Brenna

Children's Literature Podcasts

2011-03-29T01:22:00.008-04:00

Crystal
Miranda
Briana
Allie
Rachel
Meg
Jamie
Avery
Danielle
Ciara
Laura
Julia
Tyler
Carmen

Critical Analysis of Books Podcasts EDU619

2009-11-18T18:52:00.004-05:00

Click on each name below to listen...enjoy!
Anna
Kevin
Laura
Megan
Melissa
Michelle
Neda
Stephanie
Susan
Wendy

Critical Analysis of Books Podcasts EDU319

2009-11-13T11:07:00.003-05:00

Click on each name below to listen...enjoy!

Arisa
Brittany
CarolynHirona
Lauren C
Lauren McD
Maddie
Michele
Mike
Sarah
Schlomit
Sharie
Tia

Recording Your Own Podcast

2008-03-20T21:06:00.002-04:00

Hello Everyone,
Following are some directions for those of you interested in recording your audio on your own.
If you are a mac user you could use GarageBand. Following are some tutorial sites to help you do this.

Apple GarageBand Support
http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/

Introducing GarageBand
http://comtechlab.iupui.edu/tutorialsfolder/garageband.html

GarageBand
http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/resources/gb/index.html

Learning GarageBand
http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=106

You could also use Audacity and any other recording software for which you may have familiarity.

If you record using one of these tools you can send me your audio file via mp3 format.

Your other option , which would allow you to only do straight voice recording, is to call the following number. Use a land-line for a clearer sound. You can only record 4 minutes at a time so if your audio runs more than 4 minutes you will need to call more than one time. If you choose the phone option your audio will be sent to me via e-mail. Please make sure you include your name in the audio.

The number to call is: (703) 651-CLIP(2547)
Happy Recording.
Vivian Vasquez
www.clippodcast.com
www.vivianvasquez.com

10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children’s Books for Racism and Sexism

2007-08-20T07:54:00.000-04:00

10 Quick Ways to Analyze
Children's Books
for Racism and Sexism
By the Council on Interracial Books for Children

Both in school and out children are exposed to racist and sexist attitudes. These attitudes - expressed over and over in books and other media - gradually distort their perceptions until stereotypes and myths about minorities and women are accepted as reality. It is difficult for a librarian or teacher to convince children to question society's attitudes. But if a child can be shown how to detect racism and sexism in a book, the child can proceed to transfer the perception to wider areas. The following ten guidelines are offered as a starting point in evaluating children's books from this perspective.

1. Check the Illustrations
Look for Stereotypes. A stereotype is an over-simplified generalization about a particular group, race or sex, which usually carries derogatory implications. Some infamous (overt) stereotypes of blacks are the happy-go-lucky, watermelon-eating Sambo and the fat, eye-rolling "mammy"; of Chicanos, the sombrero-wearing peon or fiesta-loving, macho bandito; of Asian Americans, the inscrutable, slant-eyed "Oriental"; of Native Americans, the naked savage or "primitive brave" and his "squaw"; of Puerto Ricans, the switchblade-toting teenage gang member; of women, the completely domesticated mother, the demure, doll-loving little girl or the wicked stepmother. While you may not always find stereotypes in the blatant forms described, look for variations which in any way demean or ridicule characters because of their race or sex.

Look for Tokenism. If there are non-white characters in the illustrations, do they look just like whites except for being tinted or colored in? Do all minority faces look stereotypically alike, or are they depicted as genuine individuals with distinctive features?

Who's Doing What? Do the illustrations depict minorities in subservient and passive roles or in leadership and action roles? Are males the active "doers" and females the inactive observers?

2. Check the Story Line
Liberation movements have led publishers to weed out many insulting passages, particularly from stories with Black themes and from books depicting female characters; however, racist and sexist attitudes still find expression in less obvious ways. The following checklist suggests some of the subtle (covert) forms of bias to watch for.

Standard for Success. Does it take "white" behavior standards for a person of color to "get ahead"? Is "making it" in the dominant white society projected as the only ideal? To gain acceptance and approval, do people of color have to exhibit extraordinary qualities - excel in sports, get As, etc.? In friendships between white and non-white children, is it the child of color who does most of the understanding and forgiving?

Resolution of Problems. How are problems presented, conceived and resolved in the story? Are people of color considered to be "the problem"? Are the oppressions faced by people of color and women represented as related to social injustice? Are the reasons for poverty and oppression explained, or are they accepted as inevitable? Does the story line encourage passive acceptance or active resistance? Is a particular problem that is faced by a person of color or female resolved through the benevolent intervention of a white person or male?

Role of Women. Are the achievements of girls and women based on their own initiative and intelligence, or are they due to their good looks or to their relationship with boys? Are sex roles incidental or critical to characterization and plot? Could the same story be told if the sex roles were reversed?

3. Look at the Lifestyles
Are people of color and their setting depicted in such a way that they contrast unfavorably with the unstated norm of white middle-class suburbia? If the non-white group is depicted as "different," are negative value judgments implied? Are people of color depicted exclusively in ghettos, barrios, or migrant camps? If the illustrations and text attempt to depict another culture, do they go beyond over-simplifications and offer genuine insight into another lifestyle? Look for inaccuracy and inappropriateness in the depiction of other cultures. Watch for instances of the "quaint-natives-in-costume" syndrome (most noticeable in areas like clothing and custom, but extending to behavior and personality traits as well).

4. Weigh the Relationships Between People
Do the whites in the story possess the power, take the leadership, and make the important decisions? Do people of color and females of all races function in essentially supporting roles?

How are family relationships depicted? In African-American families, is the mother always dominant? In Latino families, are there always lots of children? If the family is separated, are societal conditions - unemployment, poverty, for example - cited among the reasons for the separation?

5. Note the Heroes
For many years, books showed only "safe" non-white heroes - those who avoided serious conflict with the white establishment of their time. People of color are insisting on the right to define their own heroes (of both sexes) based on their own concepts and struggles for justice.

When minority heroes do appear, are they admired for the same qualities that have made white heroes famous or because what they have done has benefited white people? Ask this question: "Whose interest is a particular figure really serving?"

6. Consider the Effects on a Child's Self-Image
Are norms established which limit the child's aspirations and self-concept? What effect can it have on African-American children to be continuously bombarded with images of the color white as the ultimate in beauty, cleanliness, virtue, etc., and the color black as evil, dirty, menacing, etc.? Does the book counteract or reinforce this positive association with the color white and negative association with black?

What happens to a girl's self-image when she reads that boys perform all of the brave and important deeds? What about a girl's self-esteem if she is not "fair" of skin and slim of body?

In a particular story, is there one or more persons with whom a child of color can readily identify to a positive and constructive end?

7. Consider the Author's or Illustrator's Background
Analyze the biographical material on the jacket flap or the back of the book. If a story deals with a multicultural theme, what qualifies the author or illustrator to deal with the subject? If the author and illustrator are not members of the group being written about, is there anything in their background that would specifically recommend them as the creators of this book? The same criteria apply to a book that deals with the feelings and insights of women or girls.

8. Check Out the Author's Perspective
No author can be wholly objective. All authors write out of a cultural as well as personal context. Children's books in the past have traditionally come from white, middle-class authors, with one result being that a single ethnocentric perspective has dominated children's literature in the United States. With the book in question, look carefully to determine whether the direction of the author's perspective substantially weakens or strengthens the value of his/her written work. Is the perspective patriarchal or feminist? Is it solely eurocentric, or do minority cultural perspectives also appear? Are omissions and distortions central to the overall character or "message" of the book?

9. Watch for Loaded Words
A word is loaded when it has insulting overtones. Examples of loaded adjectives (usually racist) are savage ,primitive ,conniving ,lazy ,superstitious ,treacherous ,wily ,crafty ,inscrutable ,docile , and backward .

Look for sexist language and adjectives that exclude or ridicule women. Look for use of the male pronoun to refer to both males and females. While the generic use of the word "man" was accepted in the past, its use today is outmoded. The following examples show how sexist language can be avoided: ancestors instead of forefathers ;community instead of brotherhood ;firefighters instead of firemen ;manufactured instead of manmade ; the human family instead of the family of man .

10. Look at the Copyright Date
Books on "minority" themes - usually hastily conceived - suddenly began appearing in the mid-1960s. There followed a growing number of "minority experience" books to meet the new market demand, but most of these were still written by white authors, edited by white editors and published by white publishers. They therefore reflected a white point of view. Not until the early 1970s has the children's book world begun to even remotely reflect the realities of a multiracial society or the concerns of feminists.

The copyright dates, therefore, can be a clue as to how likely the book is to be overtly racist or sexist, although a recent copyright date is no guarantee of a book's relevance or sensitivity. The copyright date only means the year the book was published. It usually takes about two years from the time a manuscript is submitted to the publisher to the time it is actually printed and put on the market. This time lag meant very little in the past, but in a time of rapid change and changing consciousness, when children's book publishing is attempting to be "relevant," it is becoming increasingly significant.

Children's Literature and Critical Literacy

Welcome

The Rough Face Girl

Children's Literature Podcasts

Children's Literature Podcasts

Recording Your Podcast

Critical Analysis of Books Podcasts EDU619

Critical Analysis of Books Podcasts EDU319

Recording Your Own Podcast

10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children’s Books for Racism and Sexism