Fairy Tales

Until now, I have never thought of the morals that are incorporated within fairy tales. I always enjoyed them when I was younger, but would never have thought what they may be teaching. I can't say that I ever read fairy tales as a kid, but I grew up on the Disney movies. My favorite Disney fairy tale would have to be Aladdin. When I was younger, I loved that Aladdin was able to do all of these amazing things like fly around on a magic carpet with his pet monkey while having his own personal genie. This story isn't one of the typical Disney stories you see. In most Disney fairy tales, the tales are solely based on girls or princesses. In Aladdin, however, the main character is a poor male who dreams of a better life. Aladdin comes across many daunting tasks as he tries to win over Princess Jasmine. The moral of this tale seems to be that no matter who you are, or what type of background you have, you can succeed if you believe in yourself. Although not everyone who dreams of succeeding will be granted three wishes by Robin Williams, or be able to fly on a magic carpet, this tale gives hope to those who dream of something more.

Park Article

I can't say that I have read any books by celebrity authors, so I really don't have any personal insight into this subject. The opinion I do have, however, is that celebrity authors are most likely not qualified to write books worthy of reading by children or adults, unless they have had prior training in literature, writing, publishing etc. before they became the famous person we know them as today. Most celebrities are using their fame as a platform to do other things. I can't tell you how many actors/actresses have tried to pursue music careers and have been awful in my opinion. It doesn't matter if they are awful though because if they think they can sing then they will sing while being backed from the various people who are benefitting from their exploits. This is also true with celebrity authors I am sure. If they have the time and money to dawdle in writing literature then they will just because it is something that interests them at the time. I also agree with Park when she says that celebrity books will push better books off the shelves. Books by celebrities have somewhat of a "priority" over books from other authors. It is sad, but some readers will buy a book by a celebrity just because they know their name even though there are much better books to be bought. This is a way for the bookstores to make more money and it is sad but that is what the world we live in revolves around, making money. Not only are the bookstores benefitting from books by celebrity authors, but the publishing companies as well. They don't care that these books are not fit for reading because they know they will make money off of the author's name. And let's not forget about the celebrities themselves. Their pockets will become more full than they already are, as if they need it. I won't get into how greedy our society is, but its sad. In my opinion, books by celebrity authors take away from the hard work and success of writers who actually know what they are doing. I think it is an insult for celebrities to write books in most cases because it is demeaning towards the true art form of writing. I won't say that all celebrities are bad authors, but I haven't heard of or came across a book by a celebrity that was worth reading.

Beach Articles

After reading the Beach articles, the concerns I've had with teaching multicultural literature in classrooms have been confirmed. Although teaching multicultural literature is a great stepping stone for students to understand things about different cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, it doesn't justify the true history behind the lives of the characters in the books. When reading Esperanza Rising, a student who has not been brought up to understand Mexican culture will not be able to grasp some of the concepts within the book. It is possible for them to pick up a little Mexican history from this story, but they will not fully understand where these characters are coming from unless either they or their families have went through something that these characters have gone through. In Copper Sun, there are things that a student would not understand about African culture unless they have African heritage or they have been taught about African culture. Even so, it is impossible to fully grasp what these characters in these stories have been through unless you have been in their position no matter if you are taught about the history or not. However, I still think it is a great idea to incorporate multicultural literature in the classroom because it does give a student a little insight into the lives of ethnically diverse characters nonetheless.

Research Paper Proposal

For my research paper I would like to discuss how certain authors incorporate underlying meanings of good morals and success in their stories. I think it is extremely important to motivate students, and with the right type of literature this could be a great way to incorporate a form of character education in the classroom. Stories like these could be used to spark critical thinking and reflection on certain behaviors and character ethics, which can teach students constructive ways in which to go about their educational careers as well as life. With the moral decline and drop out rate in our public schools, motivational as well as ethical approaches to learning could be an important aspect in teaching todays students however, not every method of incorporating things such as these are beneficial and appropriate. I may touch on some of these teaching strategies in my paper but I want to base the majority on literature that can be used and the philosophies they convey. I will probably use a couple of the books that I read for the literary circle this past week which are, Oh! The Places You'll Go, by Dr. Seuss, and How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird, by Jaques Prevert. And I tried to italicize the titles of the books but for some reason the system would not let me, oh well. I will find some others that portray the same message as well, I just haven't gotten that far in the process.