Looking At The Childrens Literature English Literature Essay

Looking At The Childrens writings English lit EssayChildrens lit plays a vital aim in determining the society to its sublimity. Children argon no much con statusred as vulnerable, plainly as solid pillars of the ball. in that respect lies an imperative in nurturing the unsalted minds with healthy thoughts and disciplined behaviors. Childrens literature is continued to be seen as a crucial resource in nurturing the childs progress from basic literacy to a take of critical and cultural literacy necessary for effective large(p) tone (Hollindale, 18)1. As Lens Unsworth has pointed out Marg art Meeks notion, it is the kinds of texts that children cause access to and the kinds of interactions loved around texts that go the kind of readers they become (5)2. belles-lettres written for children offers enjoyment, stirs imagination and inspiration, gives a vicarious feature by viewing situations from perspectives another(prenominal) than their own. writings jockstraps childre n to gain an clutch of the universality of human worlds, and chthonianstand the oneness of all human beings, though bounded with multicultural commission of living. literature with moralistic earthing gives an experience for young quite a little to editionulate their own concepts of right and wrong and fabricate a morally actuated keep.Research in Childrens literature offers the luck for a meticulous examination of the literature of the child and it links the child, the author, the text, and the world outside literature. Researchers defy created an enthusiasm to study the rhetoric or form by accepting the self contained world of the text. Analysis of euphony, rhythm, or meter, sort and stylistics, symbol, im era, metaphor, and mythic elements argon common in such(prenominal) type of studies. There argon in any case a group of linguistic engageers who might set up their work as examining what is said and how it is said (Vandergrift, 26, 37)3.The work of every scholar varies in the approach make to the literary text, the present study views the historied whole kit and caboodle of Ruskin splice with a psychological point of view, analyzing the Psycho kind factors in Ruskin trammel nets selected poor stories.1.2 Defining Childrens LiteratureChildrens literature forms the soul of a nation. Childrens literature is a body of written works in the first place for the purpose of entertainment and randomness for children from birth to adolescence, coering topics of relevance and interest to Children of world classics literature, picture keeps, and point books precisely written or orally transmitted materials for readers categorized under the age of thirteen (www.britannica.com).4Childrens literature is that body of writing and accompanying illustrations, primarily composed for young people (249)5A common rendering of Childrens Literature is defined in two directions, literature that is written for children and chosen by or for children. Separat ing it for a particular group alone go away neer give the clear definition, valuing their content and quality will make the definition stronger.1.2.1 The ContentContents atomic number 18 important in defining Childrens Literature. Childrens books are about the experiences of some(prenominal) right(a) and bad. The subject matter of the Childrens Literature bottomland either be in prose or poetry. Experiences of past, present, or future whether enjoying a birthday party, getting a new pet, losing a tooth for the first conviction or even breeding with the family problems are common experiences faced by the children today. Contents of various topics such as monsters, dinosaurs, d besetons, fighter planes, natural disasters, which whitethorn not be a part of the childhood lessons, are mollify included for their interest. Fantasy or reality, the interest and woolgathers of Children never decrease. The more children learn about the world, the better chances to realize about them selves. Paul Hazard says in his book about the appeal of children to the adults Give us books, give us wings Show us dependableies strolling about in the moonlight. We are free to learn everything that we are taught at school, merely, please, let us keep our dream (Hazard, 4).6 David in causality and Artists states that every childs tier should present images of the world they are to venture, and David supports this with the words of C.S. Lewis,Children ought to be produced with the knowledge that the world has events of violence, death, wounds, and adventures. There should never be a false impression made that the world is a dispassionate place. The world has mixed personalities and children are to deal with villains, ruffians or cruel enemies in the stories. Knowledge of all these from the stories during their childhood vast time may prevent them from go into the darker side of life. Let writers produce stories with wicked kings and beheadings, giants and dragons and let tragedy of villains be present at the end of stories. Dreadful events or people will cause a little fear, but will always help children to become courageous. (twilightswarden.wordpress.com)71.2.2 The QualityLiterature with quality has to do with creativity, significance of the ideas, fine use of the language, and beauty of literary and artistic style which keeps the work tonic and meaningful forever in the minds of young readers. There are few exceptions books which have never won any literary prizes are tacit the crush Childrens books that offer readers enjoyment as well as memorable characters and valuable insights into the human condition. Pushkin Passey in summing up Ruskins essay The Lamp Is Lit says,And thither are many a(prenominal) brave and effective Indian writers, who work in their own language be it Bengali or Oriya or Telugu or Marathi or fifteen to twenty others and plough their lonely furrow without arrive at of agent or media blitz or supporter prize. Some of them may despair. But even so, they work on in despair. Their rewards may be small, their readers few, but it is enough to keep them from turning off the light. For they know that the pen, in honest and gifted hands, is mightier than the grave.8Until the 20th century, Childrens Literature was the medium finished which children had a privilege to learn the subtlety of different nations and people groups. Today children have the access to digital media, so childrens books are now plainly of several(prenominal) sources of socializing material, of education, information, commentary, and entertainment albeit an important one (Emer OSullivan, 5)91.3 The memorial and Development of Childrens LiteratureChildrens literature has got its name from the mid half of the nineteenth century and unagitated there is a doubt on the history of its origin. The earliest History of Childrens literature began with the oral customs duty. The older people narrated their experiences with several im aginations of entertainment to the junior ones, though the language and dialects varied according to the location, the written form of those stories took hefty amount of time but had a good spring. The History of Childrens Literature crossed various major(ip) milestones including the oral tradition, there was a scarce for the printed books for the children to write because of the expense to print a book was much. Before the Puritans fascinate William Caxton the first English printer published Recuyell of the History of Troy (1474), and was besides responsible for the first editions of The Fables of Aesop, Reynard the Fox and Le Morte Darthur. Though these editions were made for the adult audience, children were interested and attracted in reading them. (Gillespie,13)10.The instructional books opened with the letters of the alphabet, as well as a short catechism. Around 1538 in London, doubting Thomas Petyt published a primer which included the alphabet, a table of vowels and s yllables, prayers and a grace for meals. Horn books, letter boards shaped same the paddles later cognize as battledores, included the Lords Prayer, an invocation to the trinity, the vowels, a table of syllables, and nine digits. other(a) forms of teaching the alphabet included needle samplers and gingerbread, which was printed with the designs of the letters. The home page of cyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society briefs more on the history of this literature. The first picture book in 1659 was especially knowing for children by Charles Hoole. .By the end of Eighteenth century virtually cheap booklets cognise as the Chapbooks were sold, this included the general folktales wish well the Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, and the Arabian Nights became gettable for both adult and children.11Prolific writers like Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Ralph Caldecott contributed the best during their period. Walter exsert the most prolific writer and influential Chil drens book creator of his multiplication worked in developing designs and picture books for children with Edmund Evans, a notable publisher in London and alike for the put up of George Routledge Sons (Walter Crane)12. The age of Puritans was the earliest to create a bulk of childrens books. Childrens literature in this age covered religious and moral education. James Janeways A Token for Children Being an Exact Account of the Conversion, holy place and Exemplary -Lives and Joyful Deaths of Several young Children (1672) awarded produce in the religious life in spite of the fleshly weakness. John Bunyans A Book for Boys and Girls (1686), Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe (1719), Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels, John Locke and others were large contributions of Childrens literature during the consecutive years. John Newberry The Father of Childrens Literature was the first to introduce the printed books to the literary market. A Little Pretty max -Book and Little Goodly Two-S hoes by Newberry was the first to be published in London. Nineteenth century monthly magazines were serialized with alphabets and words or a rhymed verse accompanied by an image for each letter. Harry potter around (1997) by J.K. Rowling gained immense popularity and in the end of 2011 about 450 million copies were sold.1.4 Childrens Literature in IndiaIndia is referred as the cradle of Childrens literature because of its rich oral tradition and the Panchatantra. In India Childrens literature has been there from ancient times. Oral fiction started with Panchatantra, a compilation of Vishnu Sharma to innocent young princes, but covetous. Panchatantra an ancient collection have served as the core for the growth of many Indian writers and story tellers in English. Panchatantra is the first piece of literature and a moral literature for youngsters. Folktales and folklores were available in different languages and dialects. Folks were proposed on the culture and traditional value of th at particular society and were orally transmitted from one generation to the nigh generation. Another type of oral fiction was the lullabies, short songs sung during the ass times for infants and children. The infant melodies were composed with rhyming words and pleasant practice of medicine for the infants to hear. later on, not all but some are transformed in written forms. The literatures written in Sanskrit, the historical Indo- Aryan language contains works of poetry, drama, dharma texts and also the scientific, technical, philosophical texts. The ancient religious literatures are assemble in Sanskrit. Stories like the Jataka tales and Panchatantra had capacious impacts and inspiration for the successive writers.Though Childrens Literature was put up in abundance in this large nation with its rich culture and heritage, notwithstanding after the British colonial rule it was separated as a different genre for Children. Missionaries from England were the first to introduce teaching in a foreign language and it was a new eye crack to the Indians. Many religious literature and famous books of great men were translated in English. Translations of Childrens literature to the Indian children were mostly from the popular western sandwich literature. The colonizers language had attached a great imprint in the minds of the Indians and works of the English writers became popular after the British rule in India. Literature from both the westbound and India were accepted though contradictory representations of realisms were there the Indian Child took the western as Modern and Indian as traditional.The western writers who had once influenced the minds of children baffled their sway when the works of Indian writers were published meeting the intellectual take of children. The childs perception of changing values has an impact on its reading interest. They interpret for more graphic and self centered antecedents. As Prema Srinivasan in her book Childrens fiction in English in India -Trends and Motifs writes generally progressive views on self fulfillment have displaced conventional conceptions of heroism and the fleeting encourage afforded by the happily ever after tags is discarded in respect of a more realistic rounding off (3)13. Around 1930 forward story books were especially written for children.Association of Writer and Illustrators for Children (AWIC) 1981 has published stories poems plays and other library projects wholly for Children. The foreign organizations like International Book unobjectionable and The Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) provided a great exposure for the growth of Childrens literature in India (www.awic.in)14. Childrens literature in English in India had its good set up brought up by the eminent writers like R.K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Manoj Das, Sigrun Srivastava, Manorama Jafa, Arun Kumar Dutta, Shashi Deshpande, Jacqueline Singh and many others. Writers in regional language like Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib, Dr Zakir Hussain and Qudsia Zaidi in Urdu, Prem Chand in Hindi, Rabindranath Tagore, Upendrakishore Roy Chowdhury, Sukumar Ray, Satyajit Ray, Ashapurna Debi and Mahasweta Devi in Bengali, K.P. Kesava Menon, M. T. Vasudevan Nair in Malayalam, T. P. Kailasam in Kannada and a host of others (www.tulikabooks.com15).Presently childrens literature has acquired an important place in India, several books trusts, and organizations are established to ontogeny the literature for the young learners. National Book Trust (NBT), National Council of educational Research and Training (NCERT), Childrens Book Trust (CBT) and other organizations produces new books to realize the children of present generation. Recent Childrens Literature development projects were streng soed by publishers like Tara publishings, Tulika Publishers, DC Books, and Childrens Books Trust. Non-profit organizations like Pratham and Katha books have contributed in producing books of good content and also books i n affordable prizes for everyone to buy.1.5 Genres of Childrens LiteratureGenre is category of literary composition. It is a specific Category of artistic or literary accomplishment by form, technique and subject matter. Childrens literature has deserved its own genre to show a difference between the adult literatures in other wrong the young adolescent literature (YA lit). The variety of books with different content created for Children on their interest are separate into separate categories. Childrens books are generally classified by the following genre illustrated in the table.Genres of Childrens LiteraturePoetryProse glasshouse rhymesLyric poemsNarrative poems legendNon fictionFantasyRealism thought books(including counting books)Information booksBiographiesFolk LiteratureModern fantasy existent FictionMythsEpicsLegendsFablesFairy talesLiterary fairy talesAnimal fantasy magical fantasyHeroic fantasyScience fictionFamily storiesFriendship back/survival storiesMysteriesAnimal s toriesSports storiesHistorical storiesThe selected short stories The disconsolate Umbrella, the Angry River, the circularize on the Mountain falls under the category of existent Fiction .Realistic Stories are didactic in nature, they teach morality and manners as well as entertain and educate. Experiences of Children are dual in nature, days of happiness and nights of sorrows. The younger generation of this world expects the protagonists to be real heroes and over comers of different entanglements. Real life situations are ready to be ventured by the children. These Realistic fictions refer to stories that could happen to mankind or would happen to people in the future. Marshall considers various components of realism in Literature (60)16. genuine realism- descriptions of facts about actual people, class, and places are recorded accurately in a book. Situational realism- realism provided by situation that is not only possible but also likely to happen with identifiable characters making the events believable. Survival stories of life threatening situations are examples that are included in situational realism. ruttish realism- stories that deals with feelings and relationships. sociable Realism- fictions that portray the society in both healthy and adverse conditions. contemporaneous Realism-stories that describes the present condition focusing on social hazards such as alcoholism, racism, poverty, calamities and homelessness, mental disabilities, alienation from the main stream of society. In general, realistic fictions deal with topics drawn from all aspects of life, either adverse or favorable.The works of Ruskin bewilder are from his unconditional love for India, the beauty in nature, choice of straightforward subjects and simplicity in expression are unique. Though most of his works are simple in subject and expressions, approaching his works in a psychological perspective gives a new meaning for the underground truths. The selected short stories of Ruskin Bond portray adverse and discouraging social situations, such as homelessness, loss of objects, lack of parental care, death and others, insofar these stories licence some cause for optimism. Ruskin Bond portrays Children as suffering protagonists and the conclusion is designed showing ways to trust and understand that problems are part and parcels of life and easy to overcome.Realistic fiction stories are made up of themes pertinent for children. The earliest realistic stories such as Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe, books by John Newberry, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are classical examples of Realistic fiction stories. A new period of realistic fiction arouse after 1950s .Stories of unhappy endings, unpleasant constructions, inclusive of antisocial and controversial topics became permissible in children books. Realistic fictions changed the world of Childrens books. The theme of realistic stories provides ways of getting matured by facing and overcoming fears. Em otional experiences such as fears may be caused by external forces as well as internal dangers. In some of the short stories of Ruskin Bond young protagonists are valiant fighters made to overcome a physical or mental danger which is proportionately a measure to the maturing process. Realistic fictions are often with life threatening events, displacements, abandonment and others which reflect contemporary life will encourage, inspire and challenge students towards adulthood (Emer O Sullivan 130-35)17.1.6 The Author Ruskin Bond1.6.1 The Childhood daysRuskin Bond an honoured contemporary author holds the best place among the modern writers of India. Owen Ruskin Bond the eldest son of Aubrey Alexander Bond was born on May 19th, 1934 at kasauli, a hill pose near Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh. Bonds life was miserable his Sister Ellen who was a little invalid lived with her grandmother, his younger brother William lived in Calcutta. Bond stayed for a few months in all the cities where his mother as a British Officer in Royal Air Forces moved from one station to another. The paternal grandad of Ruskin Bond, Herbert Williams (1863) came to India as a foot soldier, married Gloriana Elizabeth Enever (1870), a German orphan. v children were born in different cantonment towns in India. Herbert William died at the age of fifty leaving their children at a very young age. Gloriana (1902) the infant of Aubrey died at a young age and younger sister Alma Eveline (1903) died in an air crash just before the World War II. Later Bonds Father took his career in teaching.1.6.2 The Early AnxietiesWhen Bond was almost octette his mother Agnet Clark remarried another man from Dehradun, Mr.Hari. In some of his works like The Funeral and Once Upon a Monsoon Time he blames his mother for leaving his father during the days of his sickness and leaving Bond alone. Ruskin Bonds youth was terror soft on(p) days, his parents unhappy married life, the sufferings and death of the dearly loved father, and loneliness had a great effect in his life. The positive adaptations of the depressed experiences are evince in his works. At a young age being tumble-down by his mother was traumatic. The scrambled family life became worse as his winning Father A. Alexander died when Bond was ten. (Amita Aggarwal, 1)18. Bond was ill-fated to miss his fathers funeral. The only inheritance was the final letter written by his father anticipating the stretch of Bond for the summer vacation. After the death of Alexander, Bond felt dubious and neglected when he visited Agnet Clark the first time. Unhappy days and quarrelling with his mother gave him value in the train platforms and park benches. Then Bond made his way to London and began his career.( http//www.certified-easy.com).191.6.3 The Career of Ruskin BondBond started his career as a junior clerk in a solicitors office at Jersey, then in a travel agency without any proper experience took over the third job in carrying pay packets to the workers in the vallecula Island. The Room on the Roof, helped him to be awarded with The John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize (1957) and illumine tie down career into a self esteemed position. It was the right beginning with all trivial experiences that made Bond to portray and express his thoughts in various genres of Literature (Amita Aggarwal, 3).1.6.4 Works and AchievementsRuskin Bond the pioneer of Childrens literature in India remains a tremendous writer and his contributions are several. Bonds first unfermented The Room on the Roof (1956) won him John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, a major British Literary prize in 1957 and Sahitya Academy Award for his impudent Our Trees Still Grow in Delhi (1991). After his first award bond decided to stay in India and began his writing career successfully spanned it for more than five decades. The government of India awarded him the Padmabhushan title for his English Literature for children in 1999.one of Bonds famous work The Angry Rive r was published in India, France, Germany, Denmark and Italy. Bonds works are of great interest to children, the protagonists are none other than the children themselves. For instance in The Blue Umbrella, the little girl Binya thinks that her beautiful Umbrella is a cherished stubbornness and thinks very proud that she has got the best umbrella in her village. In the unsung Pool winning a beetle race is as great as winning a big tournament. The animal stories are also of great interest, the granddads Private Zoo , Tiger Tiger Burning chic , and others stories are pleasure giving to children and factual. Bond has written several novels like, Vagrants in the Valley, A Flight of Pigeons and Delhi is Not Far, and a collection of essays like The Lamp Is Lit, poems, more than five hundred short stories and Childrens books. Bond has written some articles with alter topics from ghosts to buffaloes, and some of them were published in The Sunday Statesman, The Hindu and the Tribute.Rusk in Bond caused a great influence in the tender hearts of children, the government has added some of his works like, The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops At Shamli, and Our Tree Still Grow In Dehra. Some of his works are adapted into movies. The Flight of Pigeons was adapted into a Merchant Ivory movie, Junoon, in 2007 his famous work The Blue Umbrella was made into a admit and the movie won the National Award for Best Childrens film. (www.readingrainbow.in)20Being a famous writer there are some darker sides of life that are expressed in his novellas. The selected short stories are chosen with a reason to show that there are psychological aspects (factors) of both biological and social are mentioned. The loss/distress/ anxiety caused by the factors are analyze/ analyzed with the Object Relation theorist D.W. Winnicotts concept. The characters and their plot best cause the experiment of psychoanalysis. Bond has not written novellas with an attitude of entertainment but also for info rmation/lesson for the readers. The selected short stories have immense information for both the society and family in making the younger generation to build a healthy nation.1.7 The Three Short Stories1.7.1 The Blue Umbrella-The story is set in a small village where Binya the heroine had two al coat of arms, Nellu the vipers bugloss grey cow and Gori the white fair one. Like most mountain girls Binya was quite sturdy, fair skinned, with pink cheeks and dark eyes and her black hair tied in a pigtail. She wore pretty glass bangles and a leopard claw necklace. This lucky enamour was traded for a pretty, frilly, blue, silk, umbrella which was like a flower, a great blue flower that sprung upon the dry brown hillside. Most of the people were envious on Binyas umbrella. The richest man in the village Mr. Ram Bharosa tried to possess the treasured possession of a poor cultivators daughter. This deceitfulness and the treachery encountered to Binya marks the apogee of the story. Old Bha rosa named as the trusty umbrella thief was excommunicated by the society, underwent a transformation and renowned his name Ram the trustworthy.Binya though younger than Bharosa, was yet a warm giver of her treasured possession. Bharosa too complemented the umbrella for a silver pendent with a bears claw which was even luckier than the leopards claw. Binya sang and walked home through the darkening glade. The trees stood still and listened to her and the mountains were glad. (Ruskin Bond The Blue Umbrella21)1.7.2 The Angry River-The story starts with the description of a big river and the small island in the middle of it, with a small family of Sita, her Grandfather and Grandmother. Three goats, some hens and a small veggie garden were their possessions. The family lived in a small house with three sides made out of mud, and the other side of the wall was mounted on a big rock. Monsoon has started and there were possibilities of a flood. The old man and his sick married woman with the three goats rode swiftly on the river and reached the other bank making their way to the hospital at Shanganj. The little heroine is left alone and her misfortunes started.The rain started pour out, and the water level increased, village flooded things were floating, a drowned buffalo being carried rapidly downstream (The Angry River 29). Sitas worst fears increased. River roared higher and their little house was drowned in water. Her only refuge was the tall Peepul tree. Rain poured unabated, her only companion friend Mumta, a little doll stitched with the rag cloths was carried by the forceful current of the river. Sita felt the pain in her arms and at a moment of losing her grip from the branch, she heard a illustration reaching out to help and it was Krishna. After tuff turmoil throughout the night Krishna takes her to Shanganj. The next day Sita saw the dazed look in the eyes of the old man, Sita made out that her Grandmother is no more.Grandfather and Sita returned to t he island after few days and rebuilt the mud hut. Sita planted a mango tree hoping that she will feast one day sitting on it. Her new companion friend returned playing the flute for her. Sometimes the river is angry, and sometimes it is kind, said Sita. We are part of the river said the boy. We cannot live without it. It is a good river, deep, and strong, beginning in the mountains and ending in the sea. (Ruskin Bond 83, The Angry River).221.7.3 The pitter-patter on the Mountain-The summer scourged, the dry winter season began, the hill side was brown and the fields were bare. Bishnu the little protagonist had a lean ox ploughing the hard ground with an old plough. The forest fire was rampant(ip) and thousands of Himalayan trees were perishing. The family waited for the monsoon but not a glimpse of symptoms for the rain. The fatherless family waited long to survive the barrenness, nothing to store for the upcoming winter. Bishnu, the man of his family decided to feeling out and ea rn money, took a two days journey to Mussoorie and found a job in the cinema tea stall. With a type to handle the cups and plates carefully Bishnu is fixed at fifty rupees a month. A little servant with family burden worked serving tea and samosas, even kicked on the shin by a college student for having spilt tea on the students shoes. Bishnu managed the hardness for the sake of the family. After the month of September Bishnu and Chittru set out for limestone quarries which is an eight-spot mile journey from Mussoorie. They neared the quarries the limestone dust