Literature for Young Minds, syllabus 兒童文學課程

Course:  Literature for Children and Teenagers


兒童與青少年文學 (2010.2.)


Instructor: Vinia
Schedule:  Monday 1:10~4:00pm. General Education Building 715

Office hours:
Monday: 10:00am~12:00 noon; 4:00~5:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00~10:00am; 2:00~3:00 pm
Friday: 9:00~10:00 pm


Website: 
http://intro-western-literature.blogspot.com



Literature for Young Minds



I. Objectives


本課程的主旨在訓練學生閱讀分析與思辨的能力，圖像解讀的能力與創意寫作之習慣，從三方面進行。


(1)針對兒童文學與青少年文學的，給予學生閱讀與分析上的訓練，並培養學生對不同文學主題和寫作風格的鑑賞能力。


(2)晚近又有奇幻文學經典改編成電影之熱潮，本課程藉由原著與改編之對照來強化學生的分析思辨能力。


(3)鼓勵學生發揮創意，嘗試中英雙語的繪本創作。並嘗試把經典作品改編成劇本，以供演出。






II. Syllabus


Week 1 (1) Introduction (2) The heroes in ”Transformers” (3) "Being young" in "17 Again"


Focus One: The Classical World


week 2 (1) Beowulf (2) King Arthur's legend


Week 3 (1) Anderson's Fairy Tales (2) Grimm's Fairy Tales


Focus Two: Fables and Picture Books


Week 4 (1) Peter Rabbits (2) Stuart Little


Week 5 (1) Charlotte's Web (2) The Little Prince


Focus Three: Novels and Motion Pictures


Week 6: Eragon 龍騎士


Week 7: Howl's Moving Castle


Week 8: The Kite Runner


Focus Four: The Theme of Adventures


Week 9: Charlie's Chocolate Factory


Week 10: The Adventures pf Baudelaire


Week 11: The Spiderwick Chronicles


Focus Five: The canon of Fantacy Literature


Week 12: The Hobbits and the Lord of the Rings


Week 13: Narnia


Week 14: Harry Potter


Focus Six: The Emerging New Works


Week 15: Inkheart 墨水心(by Cornelia Funke)


Week 16: Northern Lights: The Golden Compass 黃金羅盤 (by Philip Pullman)


Week 17:  Twilight I~IV 暮光之城

Week 18: Final Exam






III. Percentile of final grades


1. Weekly exam on designated reading (25%)


2. Creation of a story with pictures (25%)


3. Choice of an English novel and


a. writing a 5-page report in English analyzing the novel, or


b. adapting the novel into a play about 30-page long.


c. performing a play or story-telling (25%)


4. Class attendance and participation in classroom discussion (25%)






IV. Reference


(1)The 20th-Century Childen's Book Treasury. By Janet Schulman. New York: Alfred A. Knopf., 1998.


(2)The 20th-Century Childen's Poetry Treasury. Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Illustrated by Meilo SO. New York: Alfred A. Knopf., 1999.


(3)Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales. Authorized Edition by Frederick Warne. London: Penguin, 2002.