A new week of reading and exploration lies before us, but
first, what have we learned? It falls on me to recount what last week’s
workshop has not only shown us, but also what we have shown to one another.
A key point of discussion was initiated with the sharing of
the varied children’s books we had brought to class and just how, if at all,
they follow the 7 basic plot points found in this week’s Brooker reading. A
mixed bag of books were presented by group members, from the simple story of Eric
Carle’s ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar ‘and
its quest for sustenance through to a deeper theme of overcoming grief and the
loss of a loved one found within J.R Poulter & Sarah Davis’s ‘Mending Lucille’. The group was able to
identify key differences between texts in their ability to deviate from one
another on story elements, yet develop upon and conclude in a similar story shape
and narrative flow. It would seem that perhaps the biggest revelation to dawn
on the group, with some guided tutor facilitation, was that some stories just may
not fit into these classic plot points, instead taking a direction and sharing
a story on their own merit.
Having followed along the points made from this week’s
lecture, key identifiers of verbs and nouns used, coupled with multiple layers
of meaning that stem from illustrations and the way in which the words are used
with one another, was another point of note and discussion.
Difficulties arose in deciding just which form of narrative each
book used, the question of multiple narratives being present in the same text was also questioned, the general
consensus was that the majority of the texts chosen utilised a 3rd
person narrative.
Overall the group was able to freely share thoughts and
discuss any issues with one another, allowing for good group cohesion and an
enlightening discussion on the different underlying themes present in each
book.
Joel Blackie.
There was a variation to the types of books we bought to class to share and discuss. Through the help of our tutor, I believe it gave the group a clearer understanding of these key differences between texts.
ReplyDeleteWith the Brooker reading where we were required to construct story shapes for the books we read that week, we all discovered that not all the books contained all the elements of Brooker’s basic plots. Through discussion among our group and with our tutor, we discovered that some story shapes were more complex than others and had a more complex narrative pattern because of the series of conflict and climaxes encountered in that one book.
As Joel, mention difficulties did arose when deciding which form of narrative each book used. The question of multiple narratives being present in the same text was questioned. We did conclude to the fact that a majority of texts utilised a 3rd person narrative because we all brought in picture books.
If we were to bring in mixture of adolescent novels and young children’s picture books to class and then discuss the form of narrative each book used, then the task would be a lot easier as a majority of novels use 1st and a combination of different forms of narrative and we could see the difference between the form of narrative in a picture book compared to an adolescent novel.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Joel’s summary, our group was able to explore various children’s books which allowed us to engage the concepts of a narrative. The different books helped us identify the narratives story shapes and flow. Through the reading (Brooker), we were able to view a range of plots which the majority of narratives are based upon. The plots proposed by Brooker allowed us as a group to converse about the situations and circumstances surrounding the children’s books. Furthermore this also permitted us in relating our book’s plots, to those suggested by Brooker.
I agree with everyone’s comments above about this week’s readings and discussion. After reading about the story shapes discussed in this week’s reading, we were able to create basic story shapes that would cover the basic elements of a narrative. These would start with a short setting of the scene, introduction and description of the characters follow by a large action that would then lead to the climax and finished with a resolution. I found it interesting that majority of the picture books we read were 3rd person narratives but after reading various novels, I noticed a lot of them were in 1st person. This makes me wonder if it’s easier for young children to understand 3rd person narratives.
ReplyDeleteKris Batsiokis