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Henry Jenkins, "No Matter How Small: The Democratic
Imagination of Dr. Seuss"
Walter Dan Stiehl
-Is the closest we have to a Modern Day Dr. Seuss, J.K. Rowlings and her
Harry Potter series? There can be many comparisons. Both authors create
fantasy worlds where the unexplained can happen and mystical characters
live. Both have a distinct child or child-like hero that triumphs in the
end over the narrow minded adult figure. Can this type of literature which
Dr. Seuss exemplified be one reason why the Harry Potter Series has been
so successful?
Stephanie K. Dalquist
-Could the political undertones of the stories mentioned (ie Horton Hears
A Who) have been written as they have by any author without Seuss' background
in poliical cartoons?
-Could his focus on the "msall" also be an appeal to the "little guy"
in general, not just children? It seems this interpretation would work
well, especially considering the political intentions of the tale...
-How would today's children draw their futures?
-Did Seuss do anything like Spock did to get his message to as many people
as possible?
Max Bajracharya
-What is the appeal of the nonsense used by authors like Dr. Suess and
Lewis Carroll? Are children really seeing the problems a child faces in
an adult world or is it something more fundamental or literary that is
appealing to the child?
Hilarie Claire Tomasiewicz
-Did Seuss have children of his own? It would be interesting to know if
he had a wife whose political agenda/child rearing views differed from
his own. If he did, has anyone ever asked his wife about how some of Seuss's
under-lying assumptions of childhood gelled with the actual rasising of
his own children?
Jennie R. Ben-Hain
-Was there any counter-reaction against Dr. Seuss as a children's book
author considering his extensive political background?
David Mellis
-Whatever the motivations or deeper meanings behind Seuss's books, are
they really capable of the type of impact he hopes for in the epigraph?
Yes, lots of kids love his books, but do they really impact their ideas
on individuality or anything else?
Girim Sung
-When writing children's literature with the objective to teach moral
behavior, doesn't this assume that children are tabula rosa? Should books
be used to teach moral behavior, to instill adult values, or should they
cater to children's desires like other "toys" do?
Raffi Krikorian
-After reading this piece, i'm now confused about who the books are for.
when i read them, i enjoyed them as simple stories. when i grew up a little,
i realised the subtext behind them (communism, environmentalism, etc).
but now after reading jenkin's piece, i see it as a defining spacing between
childhood and adulthood. is there anything else i'm missing?
Adrienne DeWolfe
-It is interesting that Seuss has such a strong timeliness but today still
has a timelessness with children. Also, we see that theme of children
overcoming the adult world that I believe makes Harry Potter and a generation
of Dahl books so appealing. If Seuss was the voice of his era in children's
literature, who is (if there is anyone) the voice of our concerns and
toils today?
Christian Baekkelund
-Given Seuss' political and ideological bent, did his writings ever come
under fire from those whom disagreed with his ideology, and assuming they
did, how?
Char DeCroos
-Suess states that most cultures indoctorinate thier kids with cultural
legends and thus values, "The Japaneese indoctrinated their kids with
Shinto legends ..." Exactly what cultural legends are we currently indoctorinating
our kids with in the US now? There seems to be no set cultural legends,
such as the Horatio Alger legends of the past, instead we're filled with
a fusion of pretty much everything -- Disney modified tales, Harry Potter
books, imported anime, etc. Is this creation of culture taught to children
increasing elsewhere in the world?
Daniel Huecker
-Jenkins points out how the pedagogical nature of the children's story,
especially by Dr. Seuss, was strongly shaped by the political and social
forces of the post war 50's. Can a similar struggle of individuality vs.
unity be found in America after the Civil War? Were children in the late
19th century also seen as the "rock bottom base upon which the future
of this country will rise" (Seuss)?
Jennifer Chung
-His books seem to be aimed at what I'd consider a certain early age group.
Is this because he didn't feel it was worth hitting older children with
the same not-brainwashing messages, or because it was just more convenient
for him to write materials for younger ages?
Brandy Evans
-It seems that one of the main points of this article is the Seuss' literature
strongly reflected and was influenced by the cultural trend in childrearing
of the day, permissiveness. Is this usually the case with the most successful
children's literature? How much are modern authors of children's literature
influenced by Seuss himself and how much by contemporary authors that
have replaced Spock?
Nicholas Sammond, "Manufacturing the American Child:
Child-rearing and the Rise of Walt Disney"
Walter Dan Stiehl
-In the Eisner era, has the original vision of the "Uncle Walt" who was
half Geppetto, half Jiminy Cricket held true now that Disney has become
much more of a corporation than it ever was? Can we still associate Disney,
the company, with that wholesome image that Walt developed, when the company
through ownership of other studios produces such non-child friendly films
as "Color of Night" and "Priest"?
Stephanie K. Dalquist
-Ao if children do indeed shape society from the images in movies they
carry with them to adulthood (p.35), why don't we have a Disney-fied society?
-Has this been considered in the curent debates about violence, as a historical
case? Or would violence be "different" somehow?
-The article brings up Parents' Magazine as producing anxieties and giving
the tools to resolve them. How has the readership/subscription size of
such magazines changed over the years, as the method of chid-raising changed?
Has the content of the magazines changed to fit these trends?
Max Bajracharya
-Adults have always seemed to see a very American part to Walt Disney
(both the man and company) in work ethic and products, but do children
have this same impression? How has the introduction of Japanese animation
and ideas effected botht the adult and child view of Disney?
Hilarie Claire Tomasiewicz
-Do you believe children to be the "locus of a controllable future in
the midst of an uncontrollable present?" Hammond comes down pretty hard
on Disney for taking advantage of this belief, but don't all producers
of children's artifacts buy into this view somewhat?
-Why would someone make things for children if they belived that they
would not affect the the child positively in some way?
Jennie R. Ben-Hain
-The idea of having a standardized "character score" seems like a rather
odd notion. Would this include things like a 'Plays well with others'
test? Since all of the blame for how a child turns out is blamed on the
parents, why would they want to raise a child, for fear of screwing up
royally?
-Its interesting that to produce a standard grade-A "normal child" one
can use any of a large set of parenting policies or even a mix of all
of them.
-The studies of movies and their effect on children seems rather generalized.
-Who can say what anyone's reaction to a movie is, not to mention this
nebulous thing called "child"?
David Mellis
-Again, why do ascribe so much importance and influence to Disney and
Walt Disney? Yes, they make a lot of money, and run a lot of companies
but they don't control our thoughts or our minds.
Girim Sung
-Although most of us remember the good things about Disney movies, there
were a lot of unexpected things too. For example, when we watched Peter
Pan again, most of us didn't remember the flirty mermaid scene. Even with
these adult like scenes, how has Disney been able to maintain its reputation
as the innocent child movie? And why don't we remember those scenes? Is
it because we were too innocent to notice or is it a form of Freud's childhood
amnesia?
Adrienne DeWolfe
-It seems that Disney really helped to contribute to this politicization
of children which is in fact so removed from children. To what extent
do you think Disney did shape the politicization of children?
Christian Baekkelund
-Frequently, the "Disney-version" of classic stories such as Pinnochio
are radically different than the original. What sort of history of lashback
by those who respected the originals highly has there been?
-Have some parents been bothered by the level of creative license Disney
has been known to take, or do they not care?
-Similarly, as has been pointed out in previous lectures, a group of media
critics have made it known that they do not believe that removing all
the sex, violence, etc. from movies -- or stories, in general -- is a
good thing, for it does not give children exposure to it early from which
they might benefit. Have any critics made claims as to such with respect
to Disney films?
Char DeCroos
-It appears that Disney (at least of the article) is capitalizing upon
the Yankee ethic of hard work to obtain success. Does it seem that Disney's
recent attitudes have drifted away from this? I don't think that I've
really seen such a 'defferred gratifiaction leads to cool things attitude'
at the parks nor any of the recent films. I also disagree with the "basic
utility of most of the items reffering back to the moral message of the
film." In contrary, Disney items seem almost red herrings out of the parks
and/or 3 months after a movie.
Anindita Basu
-How do films like Mulan and Aladdin fit into Disney's construction of
America and what it means to be American?
-How can critics justify that cartoons are dangerous if the argument is
that cinema is so lifelike that kids won't be able to discern fiction
from reality?
-How much does mainstream Hollywood represent American culture now? It
seems that the smaller film companies, such as the independent ones which
are pushing what can be shown, represent what's happening in society more;
Hollywood represents culture by the absence of what is shown, not what
actually apears on screen.
-When did the movie rating system start?
Adam Smith
-How has the Disney image of childhood changed to meet the current view
of childhood? Is Disney outdated?
Daniel Huecker
-Who was the audience of Disney's cartoons? How might that audience have
changed as they moved from the cinema to TV? We see a similar idea as
Seuss: you must trick the kids into learning in an almost unconscious
manner. On what theory was Disney's approach to child education through
entertainment based?
Jennifer Chung
-It's so odd to think of Disney as being The wholesome child-happy source
for parents seeking to enhance their children's developments. When did
they get supplanted by 'more wholesome' things, such as educational programming?
Brandy Evans
-It doesn't really cover the modern movies, which through marketing manage
to embed themselves even more strongly into the psyche even of those who
have never seen them. Do they still serve the same purpose as, say pinocchio?
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