Counter Narrative Text

In my counter narrative text, I am telling the story of "Cinderella" from the stepsister's point of view. I follow more of the original story where Cinderella's father is absent and is not there all of the time. I also changed it to the stepsisters being little girls, while Cinderella is a teenager. The story is a scrapbook, where the sister, Lucy, tries to remind Cinderella about how good it is to be a part of a family and all the memories that the family share. I took the blended family side of Cinderella and turned it on its head.

In making the focus of Cinderella about the blended family, the sisters do not seem mean nor does the step mother. It seems more like the family is trying to learn how to become one family instead of two. Also, in making the step sisters younger and Cinderella older, Cinderella is seen as a little bit self absorbed and not as caring as she is portrayed in the original story. These slight differences make a big difference overall to the story. Cinderella is not a fairy tale princess and the step mother is not so evil.

Research In the Community

During the research in the community assignment I learned a lot about D.C. and the media. I learned that D.C. has very diverse communities and that the media provides multiple examples of children's literature.

When I was doing research in the bookstore, I had some issues. I went to the Borders in Friendship Heights and I was disappointed to see that there was not a lot of stories that focused on diversity. First, the picture books are all the way in the back of the store and hard to find unless you stumble on them. When I searched for picture books that discussed ethnicity or diversity, I only came up with two. The books were not shelved properly and there were no labels to what type of books they were. There was no order to it. Maybe the store felt that young children only pull books out of shelves so there is no point on having order, but I still felt that there was something lacking. Perhaps this is because Friendship Heights is a shopping district and the area is more for adults who are stopping in the bookstore after shopping.

This unlike the library in Cleveland Park where it is easy to find the children's section and there is clearly labeled section for different cultures. When walking through the neighborhood and in the library I saw many diverse cultures. I think the types of books you find depends upon what type of neighborhood you are in.

There are some things that surprised me during the media section of the research. I was shocked at how many companies used fairytales to help their product. Red Bull for example, uses fairytales in multiple commercials. They use Rapanzeal, Aladdin, and the Frog Prince. However, these commercials are quite sexual and so they are using fairytales in a different way.

I was also surprised at how many websites there are for children's literature. There are many websites that want to help teachers, librarians, and parents, find the best books possible for children. A majority of these websites display books that tackle certain topics that might be difficult, such as feelings and loss. I am glad that there are so many resources for teachers to help their students see themselves in the stories that they read.

Some new insights I discovered is that there is a whole community of people who care about what is being read in the classroom. I never thought it was an issue until I went online and saw how many people cared about children's literature.

Children's Literature Websites

Here are just some of the websites I found that focused on children's literature.

1. Children's Book Council

http://www.cbcbook.org

This group puts out reading lists for teachers, librarians, parents, and booksellers. There are two sections on their mainpage. One section is for new books, while the other has a theme. The theme right now is fall and is called "Sounds and Sights of Autumn".

2. Reading Rockets

http://www.readingrockets.org

This sight is for teachers who are trying to teach children to read and also for children struggling to read. They break their books into different sections. Each section takes on a certain theme. An example being emotions and this category is divided into sections. An example of this would be the section under themes entitled "moving".

3. International Children's Digital Library

http://www.en.childrenslibrary.org

This site gathers children's books from across the world so that children who move have the ability to read books in their native language. This is to help further their understanding of their culture. These books are available to children all over the world.

4. KidLitosphere

http://www.kidlitosphere.org

This is a central site for bloggers who write on children's and young adult literature. Going through the blogs was neat because the bloggers do some pretty interesting stuff with the books they write about.

Banned Books

The class brought in many banned books that dealt with common sociopolitical issues. Two books that come to my mind is "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Wedding," both dealing with the issue of gay marriage and alternative families. In banning these books, it is saying that these families should not exist or it is wrong to be in an alternative family. Yet these books are important because it explains that there is not such thing as a "typical family" anymore. That being in an alternative family is not a bad thing. These books also allows children who are in alternative families to see themselves in literature. Taking it further, it allows the child to discuss what their family is like (in the classroom) to those who live in the stereotypical family.

A banned book that surprised me was, "Where the Wild Things Are." I assume the reason that the book was on the list is because it promotes running away and disobeying authority. The myth that seems to surround this type of banned book is that children will get the idea that they should disobey authority figures. Yet this book has the potential to be a great teaching tool for teaching about feelings and how we act on them. For example, the teacher could discuss what the students do when they feel upset. Do they ever feel like running away? Have they ever run away? This opens up the discussion to what are healthy ways to cope with anger and being upset. Instead of looking at the book in a negative light, it can be seen positively.

The majority of banned books are great teaching tools to talk about differences or feelings. In banning them, it seems as if society wants to become all the same and not recognize how great differences are.

Podcast

For my podcast I am thinking about using the text, "Best Friends Wear Pink Tutus" which deals with gender stereotypes. I would discuss the title: why is it tutus? Why not cleats? Can't best friends be girls who play soccer together? The girls also have a big fight over who would play the lead role. Why do girls always have to compete against one another? Also, why can't a boy be in ballet class? Why can't the best friends be little boys?

Though I remember loving the book when I was little, thinking back on it, I think this book reflects gender stereotypes. That is an important issue to discuss when it comes to children's literature. Girls should be able to do everything boys can do and this book makes me ask the question, why can't they?

Quotable Quotes

"Don't touch me," said the girl. "I want to be sick by myself."

"That's impossible," said her mother. She continued to rub her back and the girl did not push her away." (Otsuka, 26)

I feel that this quote is significant on two levels. The first level is that while the girl wants to be by herself she will never be alone for a long time. On the train there are many passengers and so everyone will know she is sick. When they go to the camp the girl will never be alone because there are people everywhere. Her days of privacy are gone and she will be sharing space for years to come.

On another level this quote is significant because once you are a part of a family you are never alone. The mother tells her daughter that it is impossible, but she does not give tell her why. On a deeper level the mother is saying that she will always be there and that the girl will never be alone. This is significant because the girl's father is gone, but it makes the mother that much more important. No matter what, the mother will always be there. The girl seems to understand this because as the passage says she does not push her mother away, she allows her to continue comforting her. Otsuka seems to be making a statement about mothers and their children and how the bond between them is strong.

"One evening as the boy's mother was hauling back a bucket of water from the washroom she ran into her former housekeeper, Mrs. Ueno. "When she saw me she grabbed the bucket right out of my hands and insisted upon carrying it home for me. 'You'll hurt your back again,' she said. I tried to tell her she no longer worked for me. 'Mrs. Ueno,' I said, 'here we're all equals,' but of course she wouldn't listen. When we got back to the barracks she set the bucket down by the front door and then she bowed and hurried off into the darkness. I didn't even get a chance to thank her."

"Maybe you can thank her tomorrow," said the boy.

"I don't even know where she lives. I don't even know what day it is."

"It's Tuesday, Mama." (Otsuka, 56)

This is a significant passage because it shows how desperate the people in the camp were to go back to their normal lives and how much of a toll it took on the characters, living in the camp.

Mrs. Ueno is so desperate to have normalcy in her life, she carries the bucket for her former employer, just to feel like she has a place in the world. Just to remind herself that there was a life outside of the camp.

The mother, on the other hand, shows what the situation is really like at the camp. She cannot even remember what day it is and that no one is better than anyone else. Camp is the great equalizer. I think this passage show the different ways that people lived there lives at the camp.

Positioning and Being Positioned

Hello My Names Are:

Rebecca, Becca, Bec, Becca-Do

Rebecca-This is the name that I go by most of the time and what I introduce myself as. This is the name I prefer over all others. This name is what everyone in my household calls me and basically all my friends call me by my full name and my teachers call me by this name as well. If you call me by this name than you really know me because you know this is the name that I want to be called. The position of this name is a daughter, a friend, a student, and an employee. When I go out into the real world and got my first job this is the name that people will know me by.

Becca-This is what some of my family friends call me and what one of my employers calls me. This name puts you at a disadvantage if you use it, because I feel like you do not really know me if you use it. Apparently when I was born this was the name I was called all the time, but it died out before I can even remember. This name comes from a position of a niece and close family friend.

Bec-I am only called this by two people, my Dad and my Uncle Larry. This name positions me as a daughter, my father's baby girl (even though I am not the baby of the family). It also positions me as a the little girl who would come running to give my uncle a hug. This name clearly gives you access into my life as it is a cute pet-name. Of course, both men use my full name when we are with a group of people, but when it is just me and my dad he calls me it and my uncle only calls me it when he hugs my hello and goodbye.

Becca-Do-This is the nickname my Aunt Deb gave me. This positions me into a niece who likes to goof around with her aunt. My Aunt Deb is very goofy and so whenever we are in a silly mood she calls me that. It is only used for family occasions, never when we are out in public.

Hello My Names Are Not

Becky

Becky-I absolutely detest this name. If you call me this, than you are a friend of my grandmother's because that is what she used to call me. This name puts me in the position of Bobbie's granddaughter. I would not use this name for any purpose whatsoever as I feel that it is very babyish and unprofessional.