Type
Text
Type
Thesis
Advisor
Videbaek, Bente | Dunn, Patricia A.
Date
2015-12-01
Keywords
Education, Fantasy, Fantasy in education, Fantasy in the classroom, Fantasy literature, Literature | Literature
Department
Department of English.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77548
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
This thesis argues for the greater inclusion of fantasy literature in high school and middle school English classrooms. Through an analysis of the popularity of fantasy series, including recent movies and their widespread pop cultural appeal, this thesis illustrates that fantasy resonates with many readers. A close examination of various works of fantasy literature appropriate to be read in full or excerpted in the classroom demonstrates that fantasy usefully illustrates various literary concepts, such as symbolism, metaphor, allusion, allegory, and character foils; provides clear examples of the hero's journey, which appear in various canonical texts as well as other media; offers numerous connections to canonical texts studied in the high school curriculum, including works which contain elements of the fantastic; and that fantasy can be used to demonstrate different theories of reading literature, such as biographical, new criticism, reader response, postcolonialist, feminist, and disability studies approaches. Moreover, the abstract themes that fantasy makes concrete can be helpful and powerful ways to help students understand themselves and relate to their peers. | 84 pages
Recommended Citation
Cignarella, Marisa Florence, "In Defense of Magic: Using Fantasy Literature in the Classroom" (2015). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3348.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3348