ESSAY #1

Topic and instructions:

Write a short essay (500 words minimum, 750 words maximum) that analyzes Where The Wild
Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Discuss how the book’s illustrations work to contribute to its
theme(s).

Ø For this short first assignment, please avoid using secondary sources or searching the internet
for information about your chosen text. I’m interested in reading strictly your own analysis.

Ø Format the essay in correct MLA style, including the first page and the Works Cited page
(you should have just one work to cite). Use the resources posted on eclass to help with
formatting.

Ø Submit polished work. Use the resources posted on eclass to help you edit and/or the OWL
website (linked on eclass).

Ø Double space your work. Ø Refer to the document called ‘Expectations for Essays,’ posted to
eclass under the ‘assignments’ tab, for detailed information on what I’m looking for when I
grade an essay.
ESSAY #2
Topic and instructions:

Write an essay (750 words minimum, 1000 words maximum) on one of the following topics
from these novels:
Alices Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll Lewis)
Winnie the Pooh (Milne)
Charlottes Web (White)
Peter and Wendy (Barrie)

1. Discuss the significance of humour and/or word play in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

2. How and why does Charlotte’s Web present death?

3. Most children’s books have underlying ideologies—where ideology means the values and
beliefs, conscious and unconscious, of a culture. Examine one of the novels on our syllabus in
terms of a particular element of ideology that you believe is at work in the text. (You might look,
for instance, at gender roles.) Does the book oppose a culturally entrenched facet of western
ideology, or perhaps conform to it? How?

4. Some critics have claimed that Winnie the Pooh takes a condescending attitude toward
childhood and child readers. Roger Sale has argued that Milne “openly and self-consciously tries
to make an alliance between child and man,” arranging his text so that “the child reader will
agree to pursue those goals of good manners, good spelling, and obedience Milne is nudging him
towards” (167). Would you agree that the novel condescends to children and/or asserts a
hierarchy of adult over child? (Note that I’ve used Sale’s argument only as a possible jumping
off point; you don’t have to engage with his work directly, but you can if you so choose.)

5. Adult characters in Peter and Wendy often behave like children. Explore such instances in the
novel. Why do you think Barrie blurs the line between childhood and adulthood?

Please note that these topics are intentionally broad. It is your job to narrow the focus and
articulate a specific argument.

instructions . . .

- For this assignment, secondary sources are optional. If you decide to use any secondary
sources, remember to select mostly scholarly sources (articles, books, book chapters; use
 the library catalogue and databases, linked on eclass). If you use a non-scholarly source,
you must ensure it is reliable (use the CRAAP test, posted to eclass).

- Format the essay in correct MLA style, including the first page and the Works Cited page
(ensure you cite the primary source and any secondary sources you’ve used). Use the
resources posted on eclass to help with formatting.

- Submit polished work. Use the resources posted on eclass and/or the OWL website
(linked on eclass) to help you edit.

- Double space your work.

- Refer to the document called ‘Expectations for Essays,’ posted to eclass under the
‘assignments’ tab, for detailed information on what I’m looking for when I grade an
essay.
ESSAY #3
Instructions:
Write an essay (1200 words minimum, 1500 words maximum) on a topic of your choice,
following these instructions:

- Your topic must address a text or texts found in our syllabus.

- You can revise and expand your first or second essay, or you can write on a new topic
and/or a new text.

- At least 2 secondary sources are required. Scholarly sources are always preferable
(articles, books, book chapters; use the library catalogue and databases, linked on eclass).
If you use a non-scholarly source, you must ensure it is reliable (use the CRAAP test,
posted to eclass).

- If you are expanding an earlier essay in which you used secondary sources, ensure you
use at least one source you did not use before.

- Format the essay in correct MLA style, including the first page and the Works Cited page
(ensure you cite the primary source and any secondary sources you’ve used). Use the
resources posted on eclass to help with formatting.

- Submit polished work. Use the resources posted on eclass and/or the OWL website
(linked on eclass) to help you edit.

- Double space your work.

- Refer to the document called ‘Expectations for Essays,’ posted to eclass under the
‘assignment’

Book List to choose from for essay:

Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Ed. Peter Hunt. OUP, 2009. (*note: this
edition is packaged with Through the Looking Glass, but you’re not required to read it for this
class—we will discuss Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland only)

Barrie, J.M. Peter and Wendy. Ed. Peter Hollindale. OUP, 2008. (*note: this edition is
packaged with Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, but you’re not required to read it for this class
—we will discuss Peter and Wendy only)
Fox, Mem. Possum Magic. HMH Books for Young Readers, 1991.
Milne, A.A. Winnie the Pooh. Penguin Young Readers, 1992.

Norton, Mary. The Borrowers. HMH Books for Young Readers, 2003.

Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. HarperCollins, 2012. ---. In the Night Kitchen.
HarperCollins, 1996. White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web. HarperCollins, 2012.