Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, March 10 at midnight.Discussion Leaders: Alyssa, Amanda L., Rainy, Kaitlyn, Allison, Travis, Derek, Molly, Shaina
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
ReplyDeleteThis book is a classic. I am glad I was able to enjoy it as a child. My first memory of Where the Wild Things Are is from childcare before I was in elementary school. I can remember the small group of kids and I, sitting on the blue and green carpet squares, waiting patiently for the childcare provider to start reading. For some reason, I can remember small details like how the teacher had a CD version of the book and it seemed spooky. This experience was memorable because the childcare provider’s husband played the acoustic guitar.
Max, however, was a character I did not remember, no matter his importance in the text. The wild things were the only characters that stood out to me from my childhood.
After reading through the book again, I am astonished that I did not remember Max! He appeared on every page and plot revolved around him. Speaking of the plot, this book contains a lesson to be learned: do not talk back to your parents. When Max had told his mother ‘”I’LL EAT YOU UP!” he was then sent to his bedroom where his imagination ran wild. He dreamt up monstrous creatures to distract himself from his real life punishment.
When I flipped through the book again, I realized that the some of the pictures were set in panels. I believe Sendak chose to illustrate the book in this way to show that a particular picture was a snapshot in time. A good example of this is on page four, where Max is chasing his dog with a fork. He is mid-jump and the whitespace around the panel hints that there is other things going on in the house, like his mom cooking in the kitchen. On this page, there is also a drawing that has “By Max” scribbled on the bottom. The importance of this drawing is to foreshadow what characters will later come in the book.
On page 10, Max began imagining the forest where the Wild Things lived. What I found interesting was that the leaves on the trees bled into the whitespace surrounding the panel. This gave the effect that his imagination was growing, growing so much that it could break the rules and burst from the page.
On pages 23 through 28, Sendak chose to display images that filled all of the margins. Another strategic choice was to have only pictures on these few pages. This forces the meaning of the pictures to be at the reader’s discretion. These pages are also at the climax of the story, and children love when the text has dramatized pictures. From my childhood, I remember the Wild Things dancing in the trees. It was my favorite part, although I was simultaneously afraid of the monsters.
My favorite part of the book now is the very last page, where the only lines on the page are “it was still hot.” This gives the text the excitement of adventure and that it is okay to let your imagination run wild. Max completely lost track of time while daydreaming about the Wild Things.
Questions:
What other features in the text added to the imaginative nature of the Wild Things?
What would children think of this text? Would they understand the lesson, or just think Max was having fun?
How did Max progress as a character throughout the book?
Kaitlyn Kent
Word Count: 578
The book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a perfect example of the endless capacity of a child’s imagination. This story has had a large impact on society’s view of children as well. Recently, the film industry has adapted the story into a movie. This demonstrates the positive response from the public in regards to the story’s message. It tells a child that it’s okay to have an imagination, but there are also certain responsibilities that are important to life. Max fits the profile of a child who just wants to live in his imagination. He wishes to leave home in search of a more care-free life where he can play all day long. However, he soon realizes that he misses his home and mother who sent him to bed without supper. This allows children to recognize how much they truly rely on their parents. As much as some children wish they could live on their own, the fact of the matter is that many are not ready. Max has a fun time with the wild things, but he would not be able to survive with them. I believe that Max is a very relatable character, so the story is able to reach a wide variety of audiences, adults included. Although the mother plays a small role, she is the central figure in Max’s life. She is the reason for his return because he knows she provides security and his home is, “where someone loved him best of all.”
ReplyDeleteThe imagery of this story has become culturally iconic. As stated earlier, the wild things are an example of one’s imagination and can be used as a reminder of one’s childhood. Many people reference this story as one that stands out in their memory of children’s literature. I believe the reason for this is how Sendak depicts the wild things as a mixture of scary and lovable. Their physical qualities could seem frightening at first with their sharp teeth and claws, and yellow eyes. But there is also a bit of innocence connected to their character. Max is able to tame them as soon as he arrives and they become obedient to his wishes. I wouldn’t necessarily consider them pets, but they have formed a relationship with Max now, and their existence is for his own pleasure. It is a fantasy world for both Max and the reader, the wild things are your friends and there are no responsibilities. This book acts as an outlet for wishful thinking.
Another important tool that Sendak utilizes is the passage of time. The story claims that Max travels, “through night and day, and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.” These measurements of time represent the over exaggerated nature of imagination. On his trip back the same amount of time passes, but the story contradicts itself by saying his dinner was still hot upon his return. This raises the question, for how long was he gone, and did he actually leave? It could be argued that regardless of where he is physically, he was mentally in another world that made him happy. It shows the reader that their imagination can transport them to different places and create worlds that only exist in their mind.
Word Count: 552
Amanda Lentz
Discussion Questions:
1. Is the story’s purpose to teach a lesson, or to simply provide pleasure to the reader? If there is a lesson, what is it?
2. What techniques does Sendak use in the story’s imagery to make it so memorable? How does this imagery affect the reader’s attitude toward certain characters?
3. What is the purpose of openly contradicting the passage of time within the story?
Believe it or not, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a book that I never really came into contact with as a child. I’ve heard about it, and have even seen the movie adaption that came out not too long ago. But reading the actual picture book was a first for me, and I'll say it was an amusing experience.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I’d like to say that this book is one of the more fantastical and imaginative ones we've read in class so far, next to Shaun Tan's The Arrival. There's a lot to be said about the designs in the book. Some of the illustrations feature many colors, like the jungle that grew in the protagonist Max's room, or even on the wild things themselves, who were designed with stripes and patches and scales. But the colors in the book also have a very washed out and faded look to them, which I think really gives the images a kind of “dream-like” look to them.
I also drew a small parallel between Max and the Boy from Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. Particularly, it was the part on page 21 where Max was made the “king of all wild things” that reminded me of a similar scene from Silverstein's book, where the Boy would play “king of the forest” after collecting the tree's leaves. I saw similar qualities in both of these characters: boys who are very demanding and shows some sort of “power” over others. After gaining his throne, Max then pushed off “demands” that he'd heard from his mother previously on the wild things (telling them to stop and sending them “off to bed without their supper”) while the Boy demanded the tree to give him things, like she had done before.
Even after being reminded of The Giving Tree, I still found this book to have a very imaginative appeal of its own. There's definitely elements here that would appeal to kids; the way Max was stifled by his mother (its always a MOTHER in these books) and then used his imagination to go off on amazing adventures. What would also appeal to a child audience, just as it appealed to Max, is the idea that a kid could go off and find a place where they can rule and do whatever they wanted to do, without having parents to tell them otherwise.
But, the narrative does push the idea that children, no matter how much they want to go off on their own and play, have to come home to their parents at some point because that is where they will be safe and where they belong. There's also that little bit where the mother, even after sending her child off to supper, at the end leaves it in his room for him to eat later. I believe it's the giving and gracious mother type coming back again, though the unseen mother here has shown much more backbone than the Giving Tree ever did.
Discussion Questions:
1. One theme that can be seen in this book is the warmth and security that a child can only get at home (meaning they must return home where they are safe, even after venturing off on their own.) Is there any other themes or ideas present in the text?
2. We never get to actually see Max's mother in this book—why is that? Does that say something about her type of parenting, like how she leaves Max's dinner for him after initially sending him to bed without it?
Shaina King
Word Count: 598
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is undoubtedly a classic children’s picture book. The images of Max and his adventures with the wild things are very famous in our culture, and encourage the imagination of children. An interesting aspect of Sendak’s most well-known book is the characterization of Max, the boy whom the story follows. The first appearance of Max shows him causing trouble at home for his mother. Many of the illustrations show him frowning, growling, or mischievously smiling. He is even depicted chasing his dog with a fork. He is sent to his room for telling his mother, “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” (5) Though we enjoy Max’s imagination and the journey it takes him on, he truly does not seem like a very pleasant boy. This is quite different from the typical children portrayed in story books, who are usually pleasant and well-behaved. Picture books involving naughty children seem to usually involve some sort of a punishment and a moral, and the child shows remorse for their behavior. Not Max. He uses the time in his room to go on a fantastic journey through his imagination. The journey spans over ridiculously long periods of time, though it all happens quickly enough that his dinner is still warm at the end of the book when his mother brings it to him. Though he must ultimately return home to his mother and seems less resentful about his banishment to his bedroom upon his return, he does not seem to show remorse for his earlier behavior which is typical for children’s literature. He does, however, seem to realize the love his mother has for him is still present even through his punishment.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect of Sendak’s book is the depiction of the wild things. They are described as horrible creatures, and they are drawn with sharp teeth and claws. Though they are depicted as terrible, unlike Max they always are shown smiling. Of course, they are a figment of Max’s imagination so it is no wonder that they immediately decide to make him king. What kid wouldn’t love to travel to a faraway place where everyone did exactly what they said? However, it is interesting that Max, as unhappy as he is, would imagine these terrifying creatures being happy.
Max seems to be searching for someone to love him unconditionally. At first, he seeks proof of this love through the person’s willingness to do what he wants. His mother’s punishment as a result of his mischievous behavior seems to make Max resentful. His adventure to the land of the wild things leads him to a group of creatures that love him so much that they are heartbroken to see him go. They echo back to Max what he told his mother, “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” (5) However, the monster’s is a sign of love, “… we’ll eat you up – we love you so!” (31) Max realizes that what originally appeared as a sign of dislike from his mother was actually a sign of her love. He returns from the land of the wild things due to his love for her and the smell of his dinner, which is a sign of her love for him.
Discussion questions:
1. Do you think that the “naughty” character of Max is more relatable/a better role model for children than the stereotypically perfect “Dick and Jane” type character?
2. What do you think the significance is of the mother never being shown?
Alyssa Schramm
Word count: 580
Upon my first reading of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, I was taken very off guard. I had never been exposed to this book, nor the movie of the same title. I had heard so many wonderful things about it though, which is the whole reason I signed up for this particular story. I chuckled when I opened the first page and noticed flower like things on both pages, which if were green resemble a marijuana leaves. It is a story that seems full of run on sentences, and in fact there are only ten sentences in the entire story. It did not read very well, and I was not impressed at all by all the hype that the title Where the Wild Things Are has.
ReplyDeleteLike all things in this class so far, a second reading opens the mind a little more. The words of course did not change at all, but what I did start to notice were the illustrations. I quickly noticed that the illustrations tell the same, if not more of a story than the words itself. On page four we see max chasing his dog with a fork, while he is dressed up as a wolf. In the back grown a picture of one of the “wild things” drawn by Max. Max clearly is depicted as having quite the imagination. We have all been there. When I was younger, my friends and I, would play army guys in the woods, using hockey sticks as guns, and pine cones as grenades. It is interesting that all of his imaginative stuff exists in his room.
It is interesting that Max is never seen with any other children in the story. In fact it seems as though Max is an only child. I have read and heard that children without siblings are often much more imaginative than the ones with them. This would certainly explain how Max can create an entire alternate universe in the confounds of his bedroom. The “wild things” though, seem like very strange beings, as they look like something that is both cuddly, and terrifying at the same time. They have hair that looks soft, but they have claws, teeth, and horns that look very scary.
This story is very much about how creative children can be, and how kids can entertain themselves by using their imagination, and of course a fancy wolf outfit, which was probably made by mom. It certainly bought me back to my childhood, and how much fun I could have with almost nothing at hand. My mom does daycare out of her house, and I can constantly see this play out even with two to four year old children. When we grow up, it seems that we lose the ability, or at least the want to explore our imagination. When I was little I used to be able to make some awesome creations out of legos, at least I though they were. Now it's like I can build squares, and larger squares.
Word count: 508
Discussion Questions:
Is it possible that Max is an only child, and has not been exposed to children of similar age? If so would this impact his ability to create/ Use his imagination to create?
Does the lack of words do anything for the story? Could the story be told using only illustrations?
Many of the children’s books we have read thus far I have not been familiar with, but Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are I have read. This has always been a story that I have enjoyed reading, but I have never really taken the time to look deeper in to the book and spend more time analyzing it.
ReplyDeleteRight away as I was reading I noticed how there was a lot of white space towards the beginning of the book. One page would have just a few words on it, while the other page would have a picture set up like a panel of a comic book, with a large white gutter surrounding it. As I continued to flip through the pages, I noticed that the picture panels started to become bigger, taking up more space on the page. As Max’s bedroom turned in to a forest and he sailed away, the illustrations began to take up one whole page, leaving no gutters, and even spilling over to the next page as well.
I felt that the expanding of the illustrations on the page helped to increase the anticipation of the story. I found myself wanting to flip the pages faster to see what would be on the next page. The excitement level seemed to continue to grow as the gutters grew smaller and the illustrations took up more of the page. I found it very interesting that while the wild rumpus was taking place, there were strictly illustrations, taking up the whole page, with no words. To me, this kind of allows the reader to imagine what the animals are saying to each other, rather than just being told what they are saying.
This is a book that could be used for several activities in a wide grade range of classrooms. One activity that would be great for students to do is story reenactment. I envision students working in groups, each group being given two to three scenes from the story. The groups would have time to put together their scene and then each group would performs their scenes in order of the story. This allows students to incorporate art in to their learning as well as be active in the classroom.
I question the motive of this story, wondering if it is for pure entertainment, or as a way to teach children a lesson. As Max is misbehaving, he gets in trouble and gets sent to his room without dinner. Although he ends up having some fun in the place where the wild things were, he ultimately ends up feeling alone and misses home. When Max returns to his room, he has his dinner waiting for him even after his mom was mad at him. This can go to show that while sometimes you may make someone angry, that does not mean it will always last. Children can learn from this that sometimes a quick timeout does not mean they are in trouble forever, but gives them a chance to reevaluate and move on.
Discussion questions:
Why do you think the format of the illustrations changes throughout the book? Would there be a difference if it was all the same throughout?
What is the main purpose you would use this story for, entertainment, or to teach a lesson?
Word Count: 553
Allison Krueger
Where the Wild Things Are takes me back to my own childhood. In fact, the book I have is torn and scribbled in due to how many times it was held and read when I was a child.
ReplyDeleteThis story takes the reader through quite an adventure. The illustrations are filled with great detail that gives the reader such a sense of imagination. As we read about Max, the main character and where his imagination takes him, the story shows children how a sense of imagination can run wild.
The story introduces punishment to the reader. We see Max be scolded by his mother and is sent to his room without any supper. Max’s room is very plain and simple, showing the reader there isn’t much for him to do while he is cooped up in his room. Putting a child in a room where there aren’t many distractions, gives them the opportunity to think and imagine. A child’s bedroom in a children’s book today would probably show an iPod, toys, maybe even a TV in it. You can tell this story is old by how plain and un-originial Max’s bedroom is.
The story about Max’s life soon turns to Max’s story that is inside his imagination. The wild things that become Max’s friends appear to be such scary creatures, but they end up loving him very much. The journey of Max’s imagination seems to be a long, adventerous journey. However, when Max says goodbye to the creatures and returns home, his supper is waiting for him. His imagination took him away from reality for a long time, yet the reality of it was that not much time had passed at all.
Max imagined the creatures to be friends that loved him and wanted to spend time with him. For a child that is punished and has to be left alone in his room without supper, it is easy to imagine new friends and unconditional love. There is no sign of Max feeling bad for his behavior from earlier once he snaps back into reality, however children don’t often show remorse in children’s literature.
The imagination of a child can run wild and Where the Wild Things Are provide a great example to children on how crazy and fun their imagination can be. In today’s society, children aren’t using their imagination as much because of technology and all the other inventions that have caused children to disengage from all the wonderful things they are provided with.
I don’t feel that children read this book and immediately gain a lesson from it. They see how Max’s imagination made being stuck in his room a lot of fun. The mother leaves supper for Max even though she told him he would not receive supper that night. This shows the forgiving love that the mother has for Max. The illustrations and creativity put in this book is a great one for children to see. The book creates an imagination inside the reader’s head right away when they start the story.
Discussion Questions:
What is the main moral that adults and children take from reading this book?
Do you think the book shows how Max feels about being punished and sent to his room?
Does the book portray punishment to children as a good thing because imagination can take over their mind while they are stuck in their bedroom?