For your Children's Literature Analyses, you have several options. You may either write it up as a Word document, you may create a Powerpoint presentation (or Prezio), or you may video record yourself sharing the book and talking through each of the elements below. If you choose the video option, you will upload to a Google Drive or OneDrive or on YouTube and share the file link with me at the assignment link. All items from the "Elements to consider for All Books" section should be addressed. Please be sure to include a brief intro to your book that includes its title, author, year of publication, and a very brief (2-3 sentence) description of the text. Following your introduction, you should organize your discussion to answer the following questions in whatever way makes the most sense to you. Use the following checklist as a guide, but be sure that you address each item. Addressed? Elements to consider for All Books What is the genre of the text you've selected? What features tell you that it is this particular genre? What is the setting time and place) of the text? Who is/are the main character(s)? What do they do in the story? How do they relate to others? What do they think and feel? What is their role in the plot? How does the author use language to portray/describe this character? . Does the story contain round or flat characters? Describe one of them and why you think they are "round" or "flat"? What is the plot of the story? Is there a conflict? If so, is it between characters, within a character, or between the character and nature or society? What is the plot structure? (Is it an initiation story, a journey, an episode, a layered story, or none of these?) Does the story have an explicit or implicit theme? What is it and how do you know? Who do you think is the intended reader? Why? In what point of view is the story written? How does it impact the text? What elements of style are present in this text? (e.g., words, images, metaphors, voice, tone, or mood, intertextuality). How do they impact the story? Or does the story have deep roots in the history and traditions of a given people? Language (may not be relevant to your selected text) Does the book mock language and culture? In other words, does the language help create a certain image or representation of a people? Or does the book promote respect for the language and culture? How would you describe the illustrations? Do they enhance the meaning of the text, and if so, how? Is the dialogue forced and clunky with literal, non-idiomatic translations that would be confusing to a native speaker? Or does the language flow naturally, in both original and translation? The following elements should be addressed as they are relevant to the text you've selected. The questions on agency are related to the questions about plot and characters above, but should be thought of looking through a cultural, socially aware lens, thinking about societal factors and how that impacts the conflict and the characters. Does the book suggest that fluency in English is more valuable or important than fluency in the native language? Or is fluency in English presented more realistically as a tool? Elements to consider to Determine Cultural Relevance Agency (probably relevant to most texts) What causes conflict and how is it resolved? Which characters change? Which ones do not? Why? Who makes the decisions? Who follows orders? Who speaks and who is silent or silenced? Purpose (relevant to ALL texts) What could this book help students understand? What are the limitations of this book? What could the teacher do to move beyond the limitations of the text? Whose interests are served? That is, who is privileged by the story? Does the problem get resolved by assimilating to social norms? Whose broad social interests are served? (1.e. social groups) After addressing the elements above, you will summarize by including a brief synthesis of what you see as the most powerful components of the text you've selected with one idea for how you would use this text in instruction. Your summary should be no more than two paragraphs (if writing your assignment). Representations (probably relevant to most texts) What roles are given to women, people of color, the working class and poor, and the differently abled? Is this problematic? What roles are given to characters representing dominant groups? Are they shown as being made aware of their privilege and exclusionary practices? Is this problematic? Culture (may not be relevant to your selected text) What areas of the world are illustrated? Are the regions homogenized? (i.e., does the book discuss Latin America or Columbia? Africa or Sierra Leone?) Does the text resist romanticizing or stereotyping cultures? Does the story present "fakelore", or, in other words, an "original" story set in the culture of a generalized region