Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Where the Wild Things are
After going over what everybody was assigned for the book discussion on "Where the Wild Things are," I was really fascinated by what my peers came up with. For example, I thought that seeing the moon as a symbolic image to represent Max's mother was incredibly interesting. I had never thought of it like that before, and after that point was raised in class, it made me see the moon in a whole new way. It totally makes sense that the moon in some way or another could represent his mom because as soon as he went away to "where the wild things are," the moon was small and insignificant, signifying that Max was unhappy with his mother after she sent him to his room without supper. As time passed, he probably was less and less upset with his mom, and that would make sense that the moon would increasingly get larger in the illustrations. The moon was also pictured numerous times in the book, indicating that his mother was always somewhat "watching over him." I just thought that viewpoint was really cool and a new way to look at images and their meaning. I wasn't too sure what to expect on the first book discussion, but now I can't wait to hear the next one just because I love everybody's interpretations and opinions. It really opens me up to looking at text as well as pictures in a whole new way.
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2 comments:
I was really surprised with what my group members came up with as well. I was the facilitator of the group and thought that I came up with alot of ideas that I felt others would not see, I thought I covered them all...I was so wrong. At the end of our discussion we asked ourselves a question. We asked if these authors write and illustrate children's books thinking that students or people out there will analyze them like we did. Do they make little hidden meanings behind their words and pictures hoping that someone will break it down and figure it out? Or are we just over analyzing something that is meant to be taken for at face value?
That's a really good point. I feel like sometimes things are just meant to be taken at face value...you know...short and to the point, no hidden meanings, subliminal messages, etc. However, it's also very interesting to think about the alternative, and wonder if these authors and illustrators are in fact trying to give hidden meaning in their text through pictures etc. I guess it would just depend on which authors and illustrators you asked...
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