Brief project Overview

I wanted to make this post to reassess the basis and direction of my essay. I feel like I have a clearer understanding now but would benefit from writing it down both to clarify it in my own mind and to be able to refer back to this post further into the project.

The basis of my project is children's fiction's influence on emotional and moral development.

This will include

- Looking at studies that investigate how children are influenced by fictional narratives
- What impact these narratives have on their real lives
- What the role of stories is in education ( development)
- How the role could change given recent studies findings
- How practitioners can make use of these findings
- Case studies of books match the findings of the studies
- Reactions to these books
- Conflicting theories, studies or opinions

Modern Children's Fiction

Narratives of Love and Loss: Studies in Modern Children's Fiction

The second paragraph of this book looks at the titled 'Narnia: An Imaginary Land as Container of Moral and Emotional Adventure' talks about how the 'Chronicles of Narnia' uses an imaginary land and mythical creatures to reflect and embody the real emotions from the human characters and the moral choices from real life. Fiction is often used as escapism where the reader is transported to an new world, in this book the central characters escape the war by moving to the country then escape from their normal lives as they are transported to a new magical world. The reader is invited to accompany the characters on their journey of escapism, this method could help the reader to relate to the characters, feeling empathy with their situation. 

The similarities between Lucy's emotions and the character of Mr Tumnus as well as his relationship with the queen explore Lucy's real life and how she feels at this point in time. The mythical characters are act as physical embodiments of human character traits, emotions and beliefs.

the book combines fictional mythical creatures and strange new worlds with dark realistic subject matter such as war and the loss/ separation from a loved one. the mythical creatures and scenarios act as a way fro the children to navigate complex emotions brought up by their circumstances. The character demonstrate complexity, for the most part they are not presented as essentially good or bad. They are battling emotions and make decisions based on these feelings. They make mistakes but are results of how they feel and what has happened to them. The interaction between the fantastical and realistic is interesting an poses some questions

Does using mythical creatures to embody emotions and moral lessons influence children's attitudes. Some of my research suggests that children do not learn moral lessons from creatures, only from characters that they see as human

If this is the case then does the inclusion of the children (who have similarities to the readers) make assimilation of the moral and emotional lessons more effective. If they actually see a character they relate to learning the lesson are the resulting attitude changes easier to predict. 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9-6XnN4Df_8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=ambiguity+in+children%27s+fiction&ots=2AF9FefB8P&sig=COY8JNR0wfYDCJ_D1M2vUEy95tU#v=onepage&q=ambiguity%20in%20children's%20fiction&f=false

Interim Evaluation

Looking back at my research I feel that I have made the wrong selection of studies to inform my work. The studies into children preferring fact based stories and the study that found children's imaginative play is a form of experimentation are clearly linked whereas the study about animals used in children's books seems to separate. I think it makes some interesting points about how our understanding of children's learning through fiction works and may be useful to refer to, however I don't think it fits as a focal point of my essay. In my research I found a study that looks into how our brains react when being told stories and why stories are a useful means to communicate information. I feel that this study I closely linked to the rest of my research and will help me to explore my essay question in more depth.

reaction to tutorial feedback

I have got started with more practical development. The discussion raised some interesting ideas and I have decided to focus on one of the book ideas I have been working on. The story is a reworking of the 'Trials of Hercules' contrasting mythical and realistic narratives.

Things I want to concentrate on-
- Fiction acting as a starting point, leading to learning through imaginative play
- Using animals as animals in books rather than anthropomorphised characters
- Nuance and ambiguity
- The real world (not a perfect world)
- Learning through imagination ( child could think of ways to fantastic ways to complete the chores that lead to real world solutions)

Practical ideas

Cop practical ideas

monsters, metaphor, being shown for what they are
Realism, ambiguity
Sad stories
Stories to help deal with grief
Anthropomorphic animals still seen as animals
Open endings/ open to interpretation
Thought provoking
Narratives children can relate to/ ideas they can explore through play and conversation

Ideas

Animals refusing to be made anthropomorphised, acting like animals when given human traits or clothing.
Trying to do act with the best intentions and being bad by accident.
Finding positives in bad situations.
Using humans as animal characters from classic children’s fiction
Children trying to intersect with real animals like anthropomorphised animals from fiction ( funny failed encounters)
Real life problems depicted in an educational and appropriate way in response to my research both last year and so far this year
Stories with no ending, even just a starting point to spark imagination then blank pages/ missing pages throughout the book,connect the dots.

Interactions between flawed characters ( discovering their flaws, helping each other overcome them etc).

Depict real situations, not 'perfect' ones. Not judging the situation either way but leaving it open to interpretation.

* Update
I started out planning to write a book about animals refusing to be anthropomorphised, being dressed as human but acting like their true animal nature. This narrative was aimed to represent the way children's fiction attempts to use animals to teach moral lessens even through research suggests children do not learn moral lessons from them. Essentially in these books we are trying to force the animal characters to be something they are not and to do something they cannot achieve. I planned to depict animals in human situations but refusing to live up to their anthropomorphised nature, the narrative would have included humour but also realism and consequences. I ended up removing the study about animals in children's fiction as it was too specifically based on the animals ability to aid moral development and not the question of whether children's fiction itself was capable of achieving this. When included in the essay it looked as if I had made the assumption that fiction could and moved on from my essay question. At this point I had to find a new way to explore the theories and research through practical work.

Essay Planning

Complexity and ambiguity in children’s books

storytelling theory, problems, indoctrination

https://narrativefirst.com/articles/the-science-of-storytelling

http://dramatica.com/theory/book/the-art-of-storytelling


http://www.uta.fi/yky/yhteystiedot/henkilokunta/mattikhyvarinen/index/Chapter%2026.pdf
Interesting theories about the structure of storytelling and how sections of the story can be simplified down into functional elements.

https://news.avclub.com/dan-harmon-s-universal-theory-of-storytelling-gets-an-a-1798254870
Mono-myth- simplified theory that works as a structure ‘for all stories’

https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/starter-tools/learning-through-storytelling
Article talking about how storytelling is becoming more respected and implemented as a tool in education. Contains references to some studies in to storytelling that could be useful

https://www.forbes.com/sites/giovannirodriguez/2017/07/30/eleven-things-you-should-know-about-storytelling-humanitys-greatest-but-most-dangerous-tool/#1950b4a73e14
An article from Forbes highlighting dangers involved with storytelling, most useful for my project Are the sections on stories being truth neutral (we tend to ignore information that goes against our beliefs and stories can be intentionally used to obscure facts) and the section titled ‘The Big Return’ which talks about tribal storytelling being interactive.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XIaloNelSRYC&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=storytelling+indoctrination&source=bl&ots=92-5M_os9q&sig=Sy9fbkHafRe8LfiQPZoYZoZ2f8A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXpKWw8OrWAhVKKsAKHZwoCGYQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=storytelling%20indoctrination&f=false
I found a chapter in this book that explores how stories were used in China to indoctrinate people, I want to look at what kind of stories were used to compare them with open and ambiguous stories.

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/storytelling_and_the_dangers_of_disbelief
This article talks about the dangers of the ‘hero’s journey’ being used in stories and the use of simplified, sensationalised tails.

The author calls for “Authentic stories about our lives and lives similar to ours help us assess and understand what has worked, what has continued to work, and what we can improve.”

The author also talks about the danger of us becoming more and more sceptical about stories that aren’t presented as epic hero victories, not taking into account the nuance and imperfections of the people and the situation involved.

“Perversely, battling that complexity can leave us too tired to effectively communicate. As a shortcut, people often say things that they think others want to hear. We eagerly and easily consume stories that fit well-known patterns, with familiar villains and heroes. But making assumptions in comprehension can shortchange real understanding.”

Individual tutorial feedback

Cop3 – progress. Date 10/10/17

Joe Wharton

Tutor Action

Promoting morality through children’s fiction How do children’s books promote morality and what implications does it have for illustrators and author’s? Research – children tend to prefer reality presented through a story –  Adults tend to prefer fantasy Paul Bloom Presenting the raw data – understanding the relationship between imagery

Student Action

Thinking about a context for the question?  Ambiguity – as a way present ideas to children – stimulate thought and play The Giving Tree Questionnaire about the giving tree  Zen – maxim – allegory – fable  Presenting children with abstract ideas – story telling Practical thoughts? Children’s books – monster as metaphor What do children relate to as a starting point – making sense of the world – starting point in reality Ambiguity prevents an indoctrination – through promotion of independent thought. Political dimension education – children’s minds.  Some of the books are time specific time specific 1960s – new values

To do:

Research on story telling – structure and nature  Goodnight Moon The phantom Tollbooth Magic realism  Defining the terms you are dealing with – morality? Putting morality stories into context with the study – examples? Choosing some that fit your needs for the case study? Does the research support of discount educational theories.

Rough Essay Plan

Introduction

Essay Question

Outline methodology

Possibly communicate own position and relate to research 

Main body 1 (context and themes)

Demonstrate research 

Studies ( factual reading, animals in fiction, stories used in healthcare, how our brains react to stories, Fiction as a starting point, encouraging play and conversation )

Practitioner and theorist interviews ( negative emotions, Anne Fine, Michael Rosen, soviet era factual)

Triangulate between the relevant theories and explain relevance to the research question

"Try to use a mixture of paraphrasing, author/date citations, and short and long quotes."

end with a small conclusion/link to the next chapter

Main body 2 (case studies)

 Examples of realistic children's books ( the sad book, the giving tree, contrast between contemporary and classical examples) (around 3 examples)

Link the books to theories outlined in the previous section

Find examples that cover as wider range of the subject as possible ( positive and negative)

Could include book reviews in this section

Demonstrate ability to select, describe and analyse

End with small conclusion/link 

Main body 3 (reflective practice)

Analysis of practical work and links to theory and research 

Methodology, planning, materials, context.

Demonstrate reflective skills

Explain the relationship between the two ( is the practical work a reaction to the theories or an example of them.)

Does the practical work explain the question

Does it attempt to make use of the outcome of the research 

What does it agree/disagree with

How has the practical work furthered knowledge/understanding of the subject 

Conclusion

Should not contain any new information

Demonstrate how far you have been able to answer the research question

Explain the relevance and impact of the findings 

Findings impact on- 

children's fiction

education

Reading in the family unit

storytelling

communication of moral values 

Practical work

I have a bit over 3 moths to complete this project so would like to layout a simple plan at this point. I would like to split my practical work into 3 sections which will give me a month to work on each with around 2 weeks left over if I encounter any problems. 

Month 1 

Research an idea generation

Look at books with similar subjects 

Look at more studies about how we are influenced by children's fiction

Research materials and processes involved in boom publishing

* Make sure to keep open minded allowing research to inform practical work and vice versa

Month 2

Roughing

Storyboarding

Problem solving

Month 3

Work on final designs

Book layout

I need to decide if I will be able to produce an entire book in the time I have for this project, I may have to limit the outcome to a set of pages that form an overview of the book that could be used to pitch the book to a publisher or a storyboard of the entire book to communicate the findings of my research. 

Small Group Presentations

This was the feedback from my presentation, the things that stand out as important for me are:

- Find Contrasting views/perspectives.

- The culture of reading in family units.

- Look at contemporary and classical examples e.g. Aesop's Fables

- Portrayals of morality in children's books

- Applications.. education and healthcare.

- Methodology, how I will create work based on the subject.. materials, processes etc

possible questions

Morality in children's fiction and how it influences our moral views

How can we promote morality through children's fiction?

How do children's stories influence our moral values and beliefs?

How do children's books communicate moral values and what are the implications for authors/illustrators?

What light does recent research throw on how children's books communicate moral values and what implications does this have for authors/illustrators?

Research Proposal