In Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett we see that the role of authorship can have a great deal of an impact that the author makes on people. I find it interesting, now knowing that the author is for sure a female, how little boys are supposed to act as portrayed through Ceddie. In the previous readings we see how little boys are to be independent, witty, and not the perfect little angel we see girls being portrayed to be. We see Ceddie as completely different from Tom Sawyer and Dick. Ceddie is “beautiful” (445), “wished to make every on as comfortable as he liked to be himself” (446), and “seems to be a very mature little fellow” (473). I think the fact that this is a female writer really shows how she was not pleased with the way little boys were portrayed. She completely turns everything that Mark Twain shows a little boy to be on its head. She proves the point that little boys can be sensitive, sweet, and good too.
I think that not knowing what the author’s gender is plays a little role on how we interpret the text we read. If we do not know the gender of the author we just take the text as is written and do not even stop to worry about the background behind why certain points are made. I know we mentioned in class that this story is to be used to help parents raise up the “perfect” son. This idea does not change when we find out the author is a girl. The main thing that changes is the point of view that it is coming from. I think it gives it a little more of an edge, and come to think of it, I could not see a man portraying a young boy this way. If you think about it, in most families, the dad lets the little boys run free and the mom is in charge of the boy behaving. Does that show through in Burnett’s writing? I think so.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tom Sawyer: What it takes to be a little boy
In Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, we see the little boy thriving in the country. In class we mentioned all different things that tie little boys to the country and how the country is their ideal place. We see the character of Tom as this smart little boy when it comes to people, but would we consider Tom the next Valedictorian of his class? I think not. We see Tom take the pansy his new love throws over the fence, take it and put it in his jacket “…next to his heart—or next his stomach, possibly, for he was not much posted in anatomy…” (419). I honestly get from this that he doesn’t have to necessarily have to be the brightest crayon in the box. I think that boys have more of a focus placed on them being tough little boys, not on being intellectual.
From that same selection we see Tom being the typical little boy that doesn’t want to be caught with emotions. When he picks up the flower, he “…stops within a foot or two of the flower, and then shaded his eyes with his hand and began to look down street as if he had discovered something of interest…disappeared round the corner.” (419). Why would Tom be so scared to just pick up a simple flower? I think that Twain is teaching little boys to not show emotion. He also is putting a major emphasis on being cool, which Tom was the epitome of. Tom was good at manipulating people, not being manipulated by a girl. I think that Twain, without knowing it, is telling boys to be the one’s in charge of the situation, and not let people know what they are feeling.
From that same selection we see Tom being the typical little boy that doesn’t want to be caught with emotions. When he picks up the flower, he “…stops within a foot or two of the flower, and then shaded his eyes with his hand and began to look down street as if he had discovered something of interest…disappeared round the corner.” (419). Why would Tom be so scared to just pick up a simple flower? I think that Twain is teaching little boys to not show emotion. He also is putting a major emphasis on being cool, which Tom was the epitome of. Tom was good at manipulating people, not being manipulated by a girl. I think that Twain, without knowing it, is telling boys to be the one’s in charge of the situation, and not let people know what they are feeling.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ragged Dick: from rags to riches
In Ragged Dick we are first introduced to the classic American little boy. We have already learned what to expect from little girls in this time period through what we have already read. Now we are shown the many differences between little girls and little boys and the roles they play.
We see many lessons being taught in the story. We see Ragged Dick as little boy that is working for his own good. We see him as an independent, ambitious, and very sarcastic little boy. We get the idea that this is the way a little boy is supposed to act. When we see that Johnny doesn’t make as much money as Dick, we have the fact that, “That boy…ain’t got no ambition,” (351) brought to our attention. The reader then knows that ambition is an important thing for little boys to have to make sure they can support themselves. We also see that Dick is a very confident little boy in the fact that he will joke and be sarcastic with complete strangers. When Dick is talking to Mr. Whitney we see him being sarcastic about staying at the “Box Hotel” (361). Little boys are taught to be able to support themselves, have the work ethic to do a good job of this, and to be funny and sociable in a different way than little girls.
As for the fictionalized characters, I believe we see the switch from sole man powered jobs to more corporate jobs. We see that more thought and power is given to those in nice clothes. When Dick receives the gift of a change of clothes, we see men working the entrances of shops encouraging Dick and Frank to “walk in, young gentlemen” (373) and they are given more respect than Dick received when he was dressed in rags. I think that we are shown how more importance was slowly being given to the men who could afford a more luxurious life-style. Men used to be very down to earth, but now we see the difference between Dick and Frank that show the morphing of our society at the time.
We see many lessons being taught in the story. We see Ragged Dick as little boy that is working for his own good. We see him as an independent, ambitious, and very sarcastic little boy. We get the idea that this is the way a little boy is supposed to act. When we see that Johnny doesn’t make as much money as Dick, we have the fact that, “That boy…ain’t got no ambition,” (351) brought to our attention. The reader then knows that ambition is an important thing for little boys to have to make sure they can support themselves. We also see that Dick is a very confident little boy in the fact that he will joke and be sarcastic with complete strangers. When Dick is talking to Mr. Whitney we see him being sarcastic about staying at the “Box Hotel” (361). Little boys are taught to be able to support themselves, have the work ethic to do a good job of this, and to be funny and sociable in a different way than little girls.
As for the fictionalized characters, I believe we see the switch from sole man powered jobs to more corporate jobs. We see that more thought and power is given to those in nice clothes. When Dick receives the gift of a change of clothes, we see men working the entrances of shops encouraging Dick and Frank to “walk in, young gentlemen” (373) and they are given more respect than Dick received when he was dressed in rags. I think that we are shown how more importance was slowly being given to the men who could afford a more luxurious life-style. Men used to be very down to earth, but now we see the difference between Dick and Frank that show the morphing of our society at the time.
Ragged Dick: from rags to riches
In Ragged Dick we are first introduced to the classic American little boy. We have already learned what to expect from little girls in this time period through what we have already read. Now we are shown the many differences between little girls and little boys and the roles they play.
We see many lessons being taught in the story. We see Ragged Dick as little boy that is working for his own good. We see him as an independent, ambitious, and very sarcastic little boy. We get the idea that this is the way a little boy is supposed to act. When we see that Johnny doesn’t make as much money as Dick, we have the fact that, “That boy…ain’t got no ambition,” (351) brought to our attention. The reader then knows that ambition is an important thing for little boys to have to make sure they can support themselves. We also see that Dick is a very confident little boy in the fact that he will joke and be sarcastic with complete strangers. When Dick is talking to Mr. Whitney we see him being sarcastic about staying at the “Box Hotel” (361). Little boys are taught to be able to support themselves, have the work ethic to do a good job of this, and to be funny and sociable in a different way than little girls.
As for the fictionalized characters, I believe we see the switch from sole man powered jobs to more corporate jobs. We see that more thought and power is given to those in nice clothes. When Dick receives the gift of a change of clothes, we see men working the entrances of shops encouraging Dick and Frank to “walk in, young gentlemen” (373) and they are given more respect than Dick received when he was dressed in rags. I think that we are shown how more importance was slowly being given to the men who could afford a more luxurious life-style. Men used to be very down to earth, but now we see the difference between Dick and Frank that show the morphing of our society at the time.
We see many lessons being taught in the story. We see Ragged Dick as little boy that is working for his own good. We see him as an independent, ambitious, and very sarcastic little boy. We get the idea that this is the way a little boy is supposed to act. When we see that Johnny doesn’t make as much money as Dick, we have the fact that, “That boy…ain’t got no ambition,” (351) brought to our attention. The reader then knows that ambition is an important thing for little boys to have to make sure they can support themselves. We also see that Dick is a very confident little boy in the fact that he will joke and be sarcastic with complete strangers. When Dick is talking to Mr. Whitney we see him being sarcastic about staying at the “Box Hotel” (361). Little boys are taught to be able to support themselves, have the work ethic to do a good job of this, and to be funny and sociable in a different way than little girls.
As for the fictionalized characters, I believe we see the switch from sole man powered jobs to more corporate jobs. We see that more thought and power is given to those in nice clothes. When Dick receives the gift of a change of clothes, we see men working the entrances of shops encouraging Dick and Frank to “walk in, young gentlemen” (373) and they are given more respect than Dick received when he was dressed in rags. I think that we are shown how more importance was slowly being given to the men who could afford a more luxurious life-style. Men used to be very down to earth, but now we see the difference between Dick and Frank that show the morphing of our society at the time.
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