GLBTQ literature

GLBTQ literature is a very controversial, yet important topic to discuss. Before reading any of this literature, this topic made me feel uncomfortable at times because I have had no prior experience, until this course brought it to my attention just a couple days ago, especially today. However, even though I feel a little more confident now that I was put in a situation where I had to give and defend my own opinions, I think reading more literature would benefit me a lot more. I really enjoyed reading Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan because as a heterosexual woman, I related to the gay relationships that were involved in the story. This includes to the romantic and emotional relationships, friendships, as well as relationships with family. The romantic relationships seemed so real to me, since I was so into the story that I forgot the relationship was between two teenage boys, Paul and Noah. I definitely respected every character because they were able to break the barriers by proving their acceptance within themselves and others. With this, I definitely feel like this book is a very positive portrayal about gays, and should be read by everyone because a lot of people can relate to the different situations. However, I also thought that this book had some unrealistic features because the story took place in a high school where there were gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals in one place where they were all accepted by themselves and others. At times I felt like the story was too good to be true, I don’t recall any types of fights or name calling to the characters because of their sexual identity, which was inappropriate or offending. Everyone accepted each other for who they were, and I feel like there would be a lot more chaos when there are many different types of sexualities combined into one school. I was also puzzled by how easily the characters accepted themselves as being gay. In class most of my classmates agreed because we all knew people in high school who were gay, but didn’t come out until after graduation or even afterwards. Some of the characters also seemed unrealistic. A character in particular, a transsexual named Infinite Darlene, was the homecoming queen as well as the quarterback on the football team. I know if this happened at my high school, there would be a huge controversy, and it would most likely never happen.

On this topic though, I really considered the quote that was given in class by David Levithan, "A story doesn't have to always reflect reality; it can create reality as well."After reading this quote, my perspectives on the book definitely changed. Levithan is an insider who knows more about the gay community than me or any other heterosexuals. He knew what type of story he was creating because of the experiences he faced or understanding the emotions that gays go through. Even though it may not be reality that all gay people are accepted in society, it wouldn’t hurt to try to create a world where acceptances of gays is a reality in the future. This book can then become a reality once outsiders are introduced and understand the background and history of GLBTQ, which allows a type of reality to be created, like the one in Boy Meets Boy.

Personal Standing

I took TE448 because I really enjoyed TE348 when we read and critiqued children’s literature. I loved children’s literature as a child, and I still enjoy reading them. I have always seen diverse literature as being an important aspect to children’s education. However, if it weren’t for this class, I would not have as deep of an understanding about diverse literature or why it is so important to be part of the classroom library. Not only should diverse literature be a primarily focus, but it also has to be accurate. This class has also exposed a variety of diverse literature from many different cultural backgrounds. I am very thankful for this opportunity, and I will use what I have learned further down the road when I become an elementary school teacher. Since I was not as exposed to this type of literature as a child, I will make sure that my students are given the opportunity to learn about people’s culture that they are unfamiliar with. Since I will be working with younger children, they will need to start reading diversity as soon as they begin to read. The earlier they read about diversity, the more educated they will become universally, so that they will not make as many assumptions about people or stereotyping them. I also want children to understand the difference between a good diverse book as well as a bad one. There have been many books that we have discussed in class that I was read to as a child, but is now seen as controversial. I do not recall any book as a child that were seen as stereotypical or offensive. Therefore, I want to use diverse books to teach my students about other ethnicities, as well as show them books that are stereotypical, in order to teach them what not to do.

This all ties into my personal philosophy. Even before children are able to read books, I think it would be very convenient for these books to available to them, so they can at least look through the pictures. As they grow older and are able to read, diversity needs to be a big part of their library. Not only does this need to be about diversity, but also the issues that follow them. Once these issues are brought up and discussions are made with the children or students, stereotypes and misconceptions can be solved. Therefore, they will have a better understanding about the world they live in and the other people who share it. They will realize that people are different from them, but they need to accept this fact in a positive way. Even though I am a very open person who was not as exposed to diverse literature as a child, children in my classroom will be open to differences because they are exposed to accurate information about diversity. I am so happy that I chose to take this class, because I am now more educated than I ever was about many different cultures and what misconceptions that even I have had about others. I will take everything I have learned to become the best teacher I can be.

Children with Disabilies in Literature

Discussing disabilities in literature is a very sensitive subject to me because of personal experiences I have had throughout my life. My sister is severely disabled, she is blind and has cerebral palsy. I have also worked with children who have disabilities for a few years, especially children with autism. Because of this background knowledge I have received from these experiences I feel I am better able to criticize literature that deals with these topics. With this, I think it is very important how authors portray people with disabilities in their literature because it can greatly affect the person with disabilities, their families, or anyone else concerned with these issues. A couple weeks ago in my class, we read Al Capone Does My Shirts. I really enjoyed reading this book; however, I also had some discrepancies about the characters as well. Natalie, the sister who had autism (however the author failed to mention the disability at all in the book), was portrayed as the outcast or the "other". Even her mom continuously wanted her daughter to be a "normal" teenage girl and wanted to make sure she was included with her brother and his friends. "Retarded" was also a word that another character used to describe Natalie as a person. This is the most difficult thing for me to discuss because this word offends me so much. It is as if people with disabilities are inhumane and do not have a personality or feelings like everyone else. When we had small group discussions in our class about different books dealing with disabilities, my group had the book Sara's Secret. We could talk about this book for hours because it portrayed Sara's brother so negatively and we could pick out so many issues and misconceptions about his disability. The one issue that we discussed which we thought was the worst portrayal was again, the usage of the word "retarded." Throughout the entire book the brother was said to be a boy who was not "normal" (another word I dislike) because he slobbered, couldn't walk, couldn't eat by himself or even function at all on his own. This basically compares the poor boy to a dog, because Natalie also said how he enjoyed when she patted him on the head. There was nothing positive about the boy or how he could really relate to any of the students. He was also seen as an object because Natalie brought him to show and tell because everyone in her class had to bring something that was associated with disabilities. This was the main point of the story and I was (as well as the rest of my group) so disturbed by how this book was written. It was written in the 1990's, and the author used the word "retarded" throughout the entire book, as well as in the author's note. We were so surprised by this and we think that in this time period, shouldn't we all use terms that do not define a person with their disability or difference even with race, religion, etc? I would like to know what other people think about this topic, thank you so much.

African American Literature

While taking a class on diverse children's literature, I am definitely most interested in the African American section. We learned in class a couple weeks ago that the African American children's literature is now in the third generation of authors/illustrations. We also discussed that this is a controversial content, but it is still being explored. Some of the authors of this literature are Bishop, Harris, Smitherman, Grimes, Myers, Lester, Hamilton, and Woodson. During class, I really enjoyed the opportunity to take a look at some of these author's as well as some others work first hand. I was amazed at the illustrations because of how realistic they looked, but at the same time, the illustrators didn't use ordinary colors. Instead they used bright purples, greens, yellows, and oranges, which made the book look even more beautiful. All of the books really stood out to me, and I believe it is because I am an outsider of the African American literature, but I am very interested in learning about it more. All of these authors are insiders, and I really took this into consideration as a future teacher because of the authenticity of these books. I could tell by reading the stories that the authors could really relate to them, and I felt like they would be a great attribute to my classroom's library. Here are some of the books that I wrote down in my notebook that I am going to buy. I really think that other future teachers, or anyone for that matter should take a look at these books. I would say that my favorite is Walter Dean Myers and his books: I've Seen The Promised Land, Harlem, Blues Journey, Shooter, and Patrol. I also liked a book by Tom Feelings called The Middle Passage. Even though I was only able to skim through these books, I believe that these books would be a great diversity lesson for all students, as well as the history of African Americans.

insider/outsider position

Depending on certain circumstances, I believe that both an insider and outsider are able to discuss multiculturalism in literature. I believe when literature comes from an insider, children are able to see themselves more clearly because they can recognize themselves in stories. Therefore, they have a better way of relating to it. However, I do not think it is fair to say that an outsider cannot write about multiculturalism. Outsiders who are very well educated about a certain culture, should be given an opportunity to share their side of the issue because this could bring even more diversity into play. I understand that there could be generalizations or stereotypes made, but it is our job as future teachers to stay away from those as much as possible. When outsiders do come up with successful stories that are not biased (or insiders approve of them) I think that they could potentially write a better story about another ethnicity/culture/etc. if the insider is not as educated as the outsider in their own background. In conclusion, I think the best way to solve this debate between the insider/outsider is to combine their ideas together and work together in order to bring their own experiences into the story, and to clear up any generalizations or stereotypes by challenging them.

Hello everyone,
My name is Tiffany and I am a junior at Michigan State University. My major is elementary education, as well as language arts. I am very interested in diverse literature because I want to fit the needs of each individual student when I become a teacher. I think it is very important to have a variety of books with different backgrounds of cultures and ethnicities because students need to relate to books in some way, as well as learn about someone else that is different from them. I just want to make sure that I use the right books the right way without using stereotypes, unless I could use stereotypes to teach my students about the subject. Looking forward to learning more about diverse literature! :)