Children's Literature and History

HELP!!! I need some body help! Not just any body! Help! You know I need someone! Won't you PLEASE help me?!!

Okay, so I'm not quite that desperate, but with the stress of finals and the end of the semester, I thought we could all use a good laugh and take solace in the fact that at least we don't have it as bad as these people. In any case, I have a confession and I'm going to be an adult about it and take whatever pains will come with this confession: I'm horribly behind on this paper. Do you ever feel that you're drowning in papers and no matter how hard you try they just keep piling up and you just get less and less sleep and though you try to finish things by an ideal time, it's just not happening? That was me this past week.

So after  my momentous struggle with myself and my papers, I'm finally getting to posting my ideas for this paper. I know it's so last minute, but if any one has any contributions I'd greatly appreciate them! Without further ado, I give you Children's Literature and History!

Children's Literature, an Annotated Bibliography

Some of my favorite children's books.

The greatest difficulty I face in most of these units is figuring out what to write about. I like to keep my writing interesting and the best way for me to do that is to write about what interests me. Last Saturday, I was perusing the of topics we could write our annotated bibliographies about. I came across visual arts and how these were affected by printing. This led me to think about illustrations in books, which led me to thinking about picture books, which led me thinking about children's books, which led me to writing my last post on Monday. The more I have learned about the history of children's literature, the more enamored I become with it. THEREFORE I give you an annotated bibliography about children's literature, its history, criticism, and evaluation of the genre as it affects the printed word.

Literature that Relfects Society

As I anticipate completing the bibliography assignment, I find myself reflecting on the time in my life when weekly visits to the library found me bringing home the likes of these books:

Do you remember library day in elementary school? -- That half hour or 45 minutes set aside each week where you traverse the halls in a single file line with your class as you journey to the library in search of a new book? From third grade up, my personal book selections consisted of chapter books. Yours probably did too. But think back to the time before novels. Think back to the time when going to the library meant finding a new picture book. Think back to the time when Curious George, Green Eggs and Ham, and Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day meant more to you than any other reading you did. For me, this was the time when the printed word meant the most to me. This was when reading was exciting!

The history of children's literature greatly reflects and has been profoundly influenced by the history of the printing press. Spanning folk, oral, written, and print knowledge, children's literature is an ever-changing genre that manifests cultural perceptions of childhood.

Life and Legacy of the King James Bible

What do hard core drugs, stolen diamonds, and the Bible have in common? Smuggling! That's just one of cool facts I learned when I visited the Life and Legacy of the King James Bible exhibit in the library last Saturday. Besides featuring genuine Bibles dating back to the pre-Renissance era, the exhibit gave a brief history of how the King James version of the Bible came into existence as well as provided an interactive section where vistors could compare different versions of the Bible. Since Catherine's post on the exhibit focused mainly on her experience with examining the fonts of the different Bibles, I wanted to focus my visit (and my post) more on the history of the King James Bible itself and the process through which it came to be. 

The coming about of the King James Bible was an evolutionary process, nearly 1600 years in the making. Its creation stemmed from the desires of  John Wycliffe to provide the Bible to the masses. He wanted the book to be published in more than just Latin. As it contained several "inerrant truths," Wycliffe wanted the common man to be able to acess, read, and understand the Bible (lib.byu.edu). Thus, a miraculous spin of events began which eventually led to the coming forth of the King James Bible.

Lost in Translation

In my previous post about the midterm assignment, I talked about the difficulties my group and I faced in trying to create our artifact. Now, I would like to discuss the difficulties we faced in trying to translate another group's artifact. Our assigned group was the Africa group, otherwise known as the Egypt group, otherwise known as the group with the language that seems impossibly difficult to interpret. In a word, trying to figure out the Egyptian was hard. In many words it was infuriatingly difficult.

Within our group, each of us was assigned different tasks. My assigned task was to figure out how to translate the message from English to Arabic once we had translated the Egyptian to English. Unfortunately our group couldn't really make it even that far. Whether or not there is a specialist in Egyptian at BYU or not we either chose not to meet with that person or could not meet with them for whatever reason. In any case, we found ourselves in the library pouring over books about the Egyptian language for hours trying to find some sort of meaning in the assigned artifact. Here's the difficulty we discovered: there's too many meanings to each symbol!

In Egyptian, there are a multitude of different symbols, all of which can stand for individual letters or even complete words. Additionally different arrangements of different symbols can completely change the individual meaning of each symbol. In the assortment of different books we used (there were about six) we found some of the symbols used by the Egypt group, but a large majority of their symbols were no where to be found.

Eventually, we created a sentence that may or may not have had the intended meaning of the Egypt group's original message. From the group, we found out that each symbol was suppose to be a word in itself. So we wrote down a line of blanks (one for each word in the sentence) and started filling in each blank with the different meanings of each symbol that we could identify. From there we had to do a little bit of guess work. Altogether, we came up with a sentence that basically stated that a man from a city identified by a river  traveled to a different city (a city of strength?) where he was killed. We think perhaps the sentence is suppose to be talking about Christ's crucifixion, but without actually talking to the source of the sentence, it's hard to say.

Because of this, I am really starting to relate to the frustrations that interpreters must have felt in trying to translate Egyptian hundreds of years ago. And really, with all the double meanings and ever changing use of each symbol it's a wonder that any one actually could translate Egyptian with out divine assistance. I know I certainly couldn't!

See No Evil

"Censorship has followed the free expressions of men and women like a shadow throughout history." Mette Neweth

I recently came across the following video:

Given Jimmy Kimmel's compilation of unnecessarily censored videos clips and Catherine's post on newspapers, I've been thinking a lot about censorship lately and wanted to learn more about the subject.

She can sing. She can dance. But she can't do calligraphy.

I'm a girl. As a girl I feel like there are a few chief components to life that I should be the master of. Handwriting is one of those things. Calligraphy? Of course I should be able to handle it. WRONG! Such was the discovery I made tonight whilst working on the Rosetta project with my civilization group.

First and foremost, I now have a deep and abiding respect for anyone who can successfully manage a calligraphy pen. Those things are difficult! As such, it was my responsibility to acquire the calligraphy pen with which we were to write our message. Perhaps I didn't buy the highest quality pen (college budget... hehe), but still it was a good pen. Despite my most valiant efforts though, I could not make that pen work for me. On our practice page, I managed to convince the pen to write one word: "Mom." Thanks Mom!

In our group, the process of creating our "artefact" happened like so:

• We met at the library with supplies in hand.
• We journey through the library to find a suitable place to work
• We select parallel verses from the Qur'an and Bible about Joseph in Egypt to compare and contrast the two works.
• We each take turns writing the Hebrew/Arabic calligraphy in pencil on our medium. Hebrew on one side, Arabic on the other.
• We each take turns tracing the pencil with the calligraphy pen (except for me who couldn't get the pen to work).
• We examine our work.
• We celebrate!

I'm amazed at the time it must have taken monks to slowly and meticulously write this calligraphy. Theirs was much more detailed and much higher quality than our artifact, and ours took nearly two hours to complete! I'm definitely grateful I do not have to copy all my books by hand, and especially that I do not have to use a calligraphy pen in doing so. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to use one. Or maybe I'll simply be forever haunted by the memory.

Altered Perceptions? Also, Architecture is a Metaphor. But Actually, I think this is a Post about Journals. Maybe. Or maybe I just want you to think. Enlighten me.

I really don't know what happened...

I'm always so stuffy in my blogposts. In my attempts to sound scholarly or academic or professional or whatever it is I try to sound like in my blogposts, I sometimes lose myself. No, I almost always lose myself. I could even say I always lose myself. This is a tragedy.

So what does this have to do with written knowledge, architecture, or anything worth noting? Well, as I was contemplating how to write this blogpost, I got thinking about all the different voices we use in writing. There's our personal voice, our formal voice, our persuasive voice, our objective voice -- so many voices! Then comes the editing. Think of how much we edit our thoughts as we create the final product (Even as I attempt to type this I'm editing like crazy, and I was trying so hard to just speak my mind!).

Q & A with Dr. Toronto: A discussion on Written Knowledge

This past week I was able to interview Dr. James A. Toronto about the significance of written knowledge in the Middle East. Dr. Toronto has a Ph.D from Harvard in Islamic Studies and currently teaches at BYU. 

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris

I remember going to the movie theatres as a young child and watching this for the first time:

I'm sure as a 3 or 4 year old, I mostly enjoyed this gorgeous film for its silly gargoyles and upbeat songs like "Topsy Turvey" and "A Guy Like You." However, in more recent years, I have gained a deeper appreciation for the real story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I'm not talking about the story presented in the Disney film (although it is a wonderful story and among my absolute Disney favorites); I'm talking about the story that actually accompanies the true subject of Victor Hugo's original novel: Notre Dame herself.

Calligraphy: The Highest Art of Islam

'Āli `Imrān 3:48 states, "And He will teach him writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel." As Islam's "highest form of art," calligraphy's main role in society has been one of religious duty. Developed and molded to record the words of Mahammed in the Qu'ran, it has undergone several transformations over the course of several centuries. Calligraphy has "capacity to be both decorative and a conveyor of knowledge, spiritual and secular", thus complimenting nearly every other form of Muslim art from jewelry, to architecture, even to weapons.In a region where religion means everything to its people, calligraphy serves as Muslims' primary artistic reminder of their faith, devotion, and love for Mahammed.

Islam, Oral Knowledge, and Thoughts in Between



UPDATE FOR OUR PROFESSORS: I would have done an interview-based post during this unit; however, the professor I was going to interview has been ill and thus unable to meet with me. I hope to hold that interview soon though and post about it ASAP. Now, unto today's post!

Carving of Arabian Musicians

As we conclude our unit on Oral Knowledge, I would like to discuss the discoveries I have made so far by examining what I have learned about Islamic Culture, particuarly with reference to the Umayyad Dynasty. By touching on the significance of music and drama in Islamic culture, I have come realize that art is essential to keeping a culture alive. If utilized, music and drama will enhance a culture's history, by providing a way to preserve it, as evidenced by the traditional performance of Ta'ziyeh. Not only that, but the language and important texts will better be remembered as shown through Cairo's use of song to teach the Qu'ran during the time of the Umayyads.

The tradition of performing arts help maintain history. Because of the story-telling and ritualistic side of drama and music, a civilization like the Islam can retain knowledge of its forefathes, who had no written form of communication, through performance. However, if a civilization that depends heavily on oral knowledge does not strive to preserve its performing arts, a very vital aspect of and potentially the entire culture could be lost, thus unveiling oral knowledge's greatest flaw.

Ta'ziyeh

Islam: the religious faith of Muslims, based on the words and religious system founded by the prophet Muhammad and taught by the Koran, the basic principle of which is absolute submission to a unique and personal god, Allah.

Drama: a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage; a play.

When I think of Islam, the last thing I would associate it with is drama. However, Shakespeare called all the world a stage. Therefore, drama is history. History is drama. Life is drama. "And the life of this world is nothing but play and amusement. . ." (Al-An am 6:32)

As oral knowledge developed in the Middle East, drama became a means by which Muslims could commemorate one of the greatest martyrs during Umayyad Dynasty. What began as a way to preserve the history of one single war has now become the great "Islamic Drama." It is ritualistic. It is powerful. It is Ta'ziyeh.

Language and Music

"One aspect of unity in Arab music is the intimate connection between the music and the Arabic language."

-Ali Jihad Racy, Ph.D

The boundaries of the Islamic Empire during
 the height of the Umayyad Dynasty

A time of extensive expansion, the Umayyad Dynasty laid the foundation for the process by which modern classic Arab music has formed. As Umayyads sought to increase the incredible size of the already massive Islamic Empire, a fusion of cultures and ethnicities began that included both poetry, language, and song. It was during this time that Muslims started to gain an appreciation for music, an appreciation which to this day continuously shapes and reshapes the world's perception of Muslim music.

My Favorite Thing

Some foods are good. Some foods are great. Some foods are life changing.
My mother's chocolate chip cookies are life changing.

My chocolate chip cookies

When Holland posted about her experience teaching the members of our blog group to make chocolate chip cookies, it reminded me of my experience learning to make chocolate chip cookies. As one of the few recipes I have memorized, chocolate chip cookies have come to mean more to me than simply being calorie-loaded, guilt-enducing, waiste-line-ruining, sugar vessels. To me, chocolate chip cookies mean memories. They mean people. They mean tradition.

For the Love of Photography

I love photography.

There's just something about it that speaks to my soul in a way no other art form can. A picture is worth a thousand words. Those words can be difficult to find. But finding the words to express to another individual how to capture an image can be even more difficult.

When Blaine asked me to teach him the basics of photography, I thought to myself Alright, cool. I can teach photography. As a dance teacher, I'm accustomed to hands on learning. I'm used working with others. I understand how to share what I know.

But that was dance. This is photography.

Allow me to introduce my camera:

This is not your standard point and shoot camera. This is a Nikon d50, a DSLR, and quite an old one at that. Still, it is my favorite kind of camera and it was on this camera that I taught Blaine the basics of photography. As I taught him, I realized that while it's simple to teach the technical side of photography (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens focus), the artistic side is almost impossible to put into words. Sure I taught him basic rules like:

Leading lines...

The Rule of Thirds...

And Depth of Field...

But photography is so much more than all those things. Photography is an experiment. Photography is something intangible. Photography is a reflection of the photographer.

In the end I handed my camera over to Blaine and we just walked around campus with me coaching him on the kind of pictures he could take and how he could make them unique to him. I gave him ideas as we went along and showed him through demonstration how I might handle picturing a particular subject. But I wanted to leave the artistic choices to Blaine. After all, photography is all about personal perception. It takes thousands of photographs to finally figure out. But with patience and several tries, anyone can be a photographer. Anyone can feel the love.

Crafty



My sister crafting (courtesy of
http://everydaytranscendence.blogspot.com)

My sister, Erika, can craft. I oftentimes read her blog and marvel at the abundance of adorable creations that freely flow from her artistic fingertips. Most recently, she has begun making custom baby onesies with personalized embroidery. She gives these onesies to friends, family, and even ward members.

So when my sister-in-law became pregnant, I knew I wanted to make something for her and her baby. That's when the lightbulb turned on. Make a onesie.

The onesie Erika taught me to customize started off generic, white, and without personality, but through the help of fabric swatches, a pair of scissors, and some embroidery floss, this tiny article of clothing transformed before my eyes.

This transformation started not with fabric, but with paper. First, we cut out paper shapes (mine was an elephant, hers was a heart) to be turned into pattern pieces. We traced the images onto fusible paper, which would later be ironed onto patterned fabric. To ensure our designs faced the correct direction when transferred onto the onesie, we actually traced the pictures backwards.

After tracing our designs we cut them out, leaving about a quarter inch of paper on all sides. Erika then showed me how to iron the fusible paper to patterned fabric we had previously selected. Once attatched, we trimmed off the excess paper-fused material, leaving only the pattern of the elephant behind.

From this point, the pattern could now be attached to the onesie. Each piece of fusible paper had a removable peeling that allowed the shape to stick to the fabric. We ironed the pattern onto the onesie for additional reinforcement, and although the garment could be considered finised at this point, Erika wanted to take it a step further by adding a finishing touch of embroidery.

A onesie similar to the one I made

Using embroidery floss, Erika demonstrated how to make a blanket stitch on the onesie. While the stitch should have been simple to execute, I greatly struggled with the stitch. Between the meticulous placement of the needle and the particular looping of floss, I could not get the hang of this bizarre stitch. My sister guided my hand time after time, and eventually, I started to pick up the technique of this finishing touch to the personalized onesie.

As I worked on the onesies with my sister, she started sharing with me stories of all the onesies she has made and the people they now belong to. She told me about deciding what kind of pattern to include on the onesie based on the parent's personality and requests. By making these onesies, my sister is better able to connect with others and show her love for them. She not only shares a beautiful material gift to her recipients, she also shares the gift of herself. She shares herself. She shares her knowledge. She shares her love.

Today, creating these onesies has become a quick and simple process for my sister. For me however, making that onesie required fierce determination and intense focus. As one who lacks the skillful hand of a seamstress, I won't pretend that my onesie turned out beautifully. I won't say it's the best handiwork, I've ever done. But I promise, my pathetic little elephant onesie came from the heart. And that's what matters.

Sharing the Dance

Neither the Mantic, nor the Sophic can adequately describe the impossibly intricate and incomprehensible beauty of the performing arts. As an active participant, patron, and perpetuator of the performing arts, I have come to find that, while not wholly owned by either school of thought, the performing arts can be considered the marriage of the Mantic and the Sophic, a place where clashing ideals come together in an illogical, yet completely wonderful way. I love it.

In my last post, I discussed my time as a student in the performing arts, namely my experiences as a dancer. Learning the generation-bridging folk knowledge of ballet shaped nearly the first 18 years of my life. But on January 12, 2011, I discovered that more important than the acquisition of folk knowledge is the imparting of folk knowledge. On that day, I learned that folk knowledge really only has meaning to me if I can share it with others. On that day, I became a choreographer.

Demonstrating a step from "Fortune Favors the Brave" (Aida 2011)

The Definitive Dance

One syllable: dance. Two syllables: ballet. Three syllables: my favorite.

The living, breathing, ever-evolving art of ballet never ceases to amaze me. From its beginning in Renaissance Italy as a means to entertain the court to modern productions by American Ballet Theatre, the history of ballet serves as a definitive example of the power of folk knowledge to sculpt the arts. And ballet has truly been sculpted.

When ballet first made an appearance in the royal courts during the 1400s', ballet dancers typically looked like this:  

A member of the Louis Ballet (1400s')

Your eyes aren't fooling you. That's a man. In heels. Doing ballet. Though mention of the word "ballet" now often conjures an image a woman wearing a platter tutu in pointe shoes, the original ballerinas were men. In fact, women didn't even perform in professional ballets until 1681 (see History of Ballet ). Prior to this date, men would fill women's roles, similar to Shakespearean plays of the day.

Besides who danced ballets, the concept of ballet has changed as costumes, scenery, show format, and hardware has evolved with the changing times. For example, as Marie Camargo sought to show off her astounding leaps, she traded in the traditional ballet heels for a softer shoe, much like the flexible ballet slippers found in classrooms today.

Ballet West presents Sleeping Beauty (2011)

Even though ballet has evolved as a living art, technique and original choreography from ballets conceived as early as the early 1800s' has been preserved through the centuries. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a series of presentations called Ballet West first look. As a part of first look, students from local dance studios such as myself were allowed to watch the dress rehearsals of upcoming Ballet West productions as well as learn facts about that particular production. During the first look for Balanchine's Three Preludes, Peter Christie (head of Educational Outreach at Ballet West) mentioned how happy the company was to bring in world-renown choreographers to teach Ballet West the original choreography. They were excited.

And it is exciting. It's exciting that Ballet West can perform dances created for Balanchine's company. It's exciting that the ballet technique of 1800 is the ballet technique of 2011. It's exciting that through every change made to the presentation of ballet, the dance itself has remained unscathed.

Young girls begin their first ballet class

That's what I love about the grand folk knowledge that is ballet. Dancers everywhere can connect to dancers of the past by learning the same steps as them. What began as a lavish form of entertainment, reserved only for royalty can now be taught to masses of five year old girls in frilly, pink tutus world-wide. Ballet is everywhere, and for everyone. Now that's the power of folk knowledge.