Course Recap for January 23

Nel's "Postmodernism"
At the beginning of class you took a short quiz on Nel's article. I then gave you a handout and we discussed the definition of postmodernism. You can access that document HERE. I also gave a presentation on Sipe and Pantaleo's characteristics of postmodern picturebooks. You can access that presentation HERE. We talked a bit about the movement from modernism to postmodernism; you can access that presentation HERE. I passed around copies of David Wiesner's The Three Pigs and David Macaulay's Black and White, which are both examples of postmodern picturebooks. I also passed around Scieszka's The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, which I mentioned briefly last class.

Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
We continued our discussion of The Stinky Cheese Man. I asked you to break into six groups and assigned each group one of Sipe and Pantaleo's six characteristics of postmodern picturebooks. I asked you to locate a page or series of pages in Scieszka's picturebook that exemplifies your characteristic. Each group then presented their page(s) on the document camera and explained their specific postmodern characteristic. We then continued our discussion of fairy tales. I asked you to think about the purpose, meaning, and social function of fairy tales in their original form. I also asked you to think about the purpose and social function of postmodern picturebooks and revisionary fairy tales. How do these new versions of fairy tales change the way we see the original?


Studying for the Mini-Exam
You will take your first exam on Tuesday during class. DO NOT MISS CLASS! Please see the mini-exam study guide on the right hand side of the blog under course documents. Be sure to spend some time studying for the exam. You should memorize the spelling of authors and titles of everything we have read thus far this semester. I suggest you pay particular attention to the Red Riding Hood variants and the two picturebooks The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka and  Lon Po Po by Ed Young. I also suggest that you memorize the definitions of the following terms: volition, innocence, paratext, postmodernism, and didacticism. Review any activities we did during class, especially those for which I gave you a handout or chart. I suggest you practice writing short responses about significant passages from the primary texts. The best way to study for timed essay exams is to time yourself writing practice exams.

Homework

• Study for the Mini-Exam