What Would Captain Underpants Do? a Literary Analysis of Children in School
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What Would Captain Underpants Do? A Literary Analysis Of Children In School Item Type Thesis Authors Carter, Jeanne Noelle Download date 25/09/2021 06:36:01 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/8869 WHAT WOULD CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS DO? A LITERARY ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN IN SCHOOL A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Jeanne Noelle Carter B.S., M.F.A. Fairbanks, Alaska August 2006 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3229731 Copyright 2006 by Carter, Jeanne Noelle All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform 3229731 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WHAT WOULD CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS DO?: A LITERARY ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN IN SCHOOL By Jeanne Noelle Carter RECOMMENDED: APPROVED: Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract Using cultural studies and critical discourse analysis as guiding theories, this study focuses on the literary representation of school experience by analyzing popular children’s literature. The study focuses on literature appealing to the 8 - 12 year-old audience. Books of primary examination include L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series, Beverly Cleary’sRamona Quimby books, Dav Pilkey’sCaptain Underpants series, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Andrew Clemenet’s Frindle, C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles ofNarnia series, Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books, Betty McDonald’s Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, and Walter Dean Meyer’sMonster. The general trends found are: 1. Books featuring female protagonists are often concerned with relationships. The protagonists are frustrated that the roles and expectations of school do not allow space for discussing relationships or personal information. 2. Books featuring male protagonists generally focus on themes of power structures and how the students use subversive methods to assert their values in spite of the dominant administrative authority. 3. When books feature children who are working on character or ethical development, those children are often removed from the school context and placed in a more fantastical context. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4. The literature surveyed implies that students value unrealistically committed teachers with no interests outside of the children, who can make lessons clear, relevant, and interactive. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V Table of Contents Page Signature Page .............................................................................................................................i Title Page..................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract........................................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents .........................................................................................................................v Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................1 1.2 Background of the Problem ............................................................................... 2 1.3 Importance of the Study ....................................................................................3 1.4 Purpose of the Study...........................................................................................4 1.5 Research Questions ............................................................................................ 5 1.6 Assumptions of the Study ................................................................................. 6 1.7 Delimitations of the Study.................................................................................6 1.8 Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................7 1.9 Summary.............................................................................................................11 Chapter 2 Literature Review..............................................................................................12 2.1 Cultural Studies .................................................................................................12 2.2 Fairy Tales.........................................................................................................22 2.3 Sacred and Secret Stories.................................................................................25 Chapter 3 Methodology.......................................................................................................33 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................33 3.2 Methodological Overview...............................................................................35 3.2.1 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)..................................................37 3.2.2 Point of View.......................................................................................39 3.3 Validity and Reliability................................................................................... 43 3.4 Proximity.......................... 46 3.5 Data Collection ..................................................................................................52 3.6 Approach to Data Analysis..............................................................................56 3.7 Background of the Researcher .........................................................................59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.8 Summary.......................................................................................................63 Chapter 4 Data Presentation..............................................................................................64 4.1 Anne of Green Gables ......................................................................................64 4.2 Ramona Quimby................................................................................................66 4.3 Junie B. Jones ....................................................................................................68 4.4 Captain Underpants..........................................................................................71 4.5 Harry Potter.......................................................................................................74 4.6 Frindle .................................................................................................................77 4.7 Namia.................................................................................................................79 4.8 Artemis Fowl.....................................................................................................81 4.9 Monster...............................................................................................................84 4.10 Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle..........................................................................................85 Chapter 5 Literary Analysis: All The School’s................................................ A Stage 86 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................86 5.2 Not On The Same Page....................................................................................90 5.3 The Effect of Teacher Attitude on School ......................................................94 5.4 Behavior, Expectations, and Roles in School...............................................101 5.5 Communicating Behind Masks .....................................................................105 Chapter 6 Literary Analysis: I Solemnly Swear that I am up to... 115 no Good 6.1 Not Fitting in with the System.......................................................................115 6.2 Enter the Waistband Warrior ......................................................................... 119 6.3 Subversion as Education .................................................................................127 6.4 Fred and George ..............................................................................................129 6.5 Umbrage: When Push Comes