Reading across texts with critical lenses Fantasy Reading across texts with critical lenses

Familiar characters acting differently Thinking of Frozen, while there are many characters we expected and they acted like we expected, there were characters that broke everyone’s expectations. Expectations we might not even know we had.

Thief of Always Thinking of some of my favorite scenes in this book gets me thinking about what I like about them and what I don’t like. Some of the characters are archetypes, that we spoke about earlier, but there is another, subtle difference in the characters that I see….stereotypes. I wonder how the characters fit with my expectations of young male and female characters’ and how some books, a lot more than maybe I would wish for, perhaps use stereotypes instead on archetypes, as characters.

Teaching point Readers, today I want to teach you that one way readers analyze a story is with critical lenses, such as being alert to stereotypes and gender norms (or rules). One way to do this work is to consider characters’ actions and appearances.

First way to analyze Compare the character to other characters, by his or her appearance.

What do all of these have in common?

First way to analyze Compare the character to other characters, by his or her appearance. Think about Disney characters: realizing all female characters reinforce a stereotype that girls have to look like Barbie dolls to be important

Or these

First way to analyze Compare the character to other characters, by his or her appearance. Think about Disney characters: realizing all female characters reinforce a stereotype that girls have to look like Barbie dolls to be important, or the men need to be handsome and strong. This could be very damaging because they make individuals feel as if they don’t fit. Also, some stereotypes are negative and that’s not fair.

Thinking of Thief of Always I am glad Lulu didn’t quite fit the mold of the beautiful one, although she is blonde and blue eyed at the beginning and she didn’t want Harvey to look at her at the end, but she loved her reptiles and was willing to play with the boys. She doesn’t seem to care about her beauty.

Second way... analyze by actions Ask yourself: “Does this character act in ways that are unusual?” In particular you can look for how a character reinforces or breaks with gender norms. Gender norms are the unwritten rules of ways girls and boys are supposed to behave.

Second way... analyze by actions Ask yourself: “Does this character act in ways that are unusual?” In particular you can look for how a character reinforces or breaks with gender norms. Gender norms are the unwritten rules of ways girls and boys are supposed to behave. Take a minute and discuss unwritten rules you know.

Second way… analyze by actions Ask yourself: “Does this character act in ways that are unusual?” In particular you can look for how a character reinforces or breaks with gender norms. Gender norms are the unwritten rules of ways girls and boys are supposed to behave. Take a minute and discuss unwritten rules you know. NOW, think about Lulu, I think there is no way Harvey could have beat MR. Hood without Lulu’s help. She broke the gender norms by being strong and fighting.

Now you do Think of your books, how do the characters conform or break the rules? Here is one way to track this change.

Why is this important If we are alert to these archetypes and stereotypes in books, and television, we are better consumers of the information. We know that not everyone is ALL good or ALL bad, so we look for those glimmers of hope and look for the reasons they act like they do. Remember to be extra alert to how different characters are represented – those with disabilities, those of diverse ethnicity and culture and those who make personal choices about how to live.

Think about Paper Bag Princess, how does she break the rules? Share: Think about Paper Bag Princess, how does she break the rules? The Princess breaks rules. She ends up “Happily ever after”, but is it married to the prince, or is it fighting other dragons?