Though I had initially thought about writing my kid lit paper on portals, I also blogged about writing it on cannibalism which is where I've settled. Cannibalism in children's literature, is this really for kids? As I've discovered, it certainly is.
Since I haven't been able to devote as much time as I'd like to gathering research on what other people have said about cannibalism, and I was surprised to find there isn't a lot specifically about cannibalism, I picked up some articles on violence in kid lit to use as references. In my paper I also discuss a few fairy tales and the role of cannibalism, and I write about a scene in His Dark Materials which involves cannibalism. I tried to discuss how these violent, grotesque scenes influence the literature and the children exposed to it. Why is it good for children to read about cannibalism in fairy tales? What kind of values does this type of lit instill in children?
For my presentation, which I also give on wednesday, I was thinking about reading a couple passages involving cannibalism from our texts this semester and then explaining how I analyzed such scenes in my paper. I will try to incorporate some other insights people have mentioned, and then I'll present some of my own. Hopefully no one gets hungry.
Till wednesday... read, read, read.
