Strange elements in the books

[Fay]

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

A chessboard of fantastical creatures. Poems full of delightful nonsense and lyrical rhyme. Getting into danger. Escaping from danger. Becoming a Queen.

In Through the Looking Glass, these elements grip a child's imagination and make the story more memorable. They are the icing on the cake that make a child want the whole thing.

Holding up this icing is the cake of life. Some of the ingredients are: unreasonable people, running fast just to stay in place, the need to be polite, efforts that result in nothing, issues that don't get resolved, a knight in unshining armor.

This book, and books like these, are a child's initial exposure to what happens "in the world out there." Whether they know it or not, these books allow them to absorb concepts of reality. And I suggest that the more successful ones are those wherein concepts other than the fantastical linger. (Not necessarily morals. Just concepts of reality.)

C. S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia) wrote:

"Since it is so likely that they (children, when they grow up) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."

When I read this as a child, I was lured by the mysterious world behind the mirror. But I did not understand Jabberwocky. So I dropped the book. Now that I have finally finished it, I realize that reading the book is an allegory for life. I will never understand everything, and I will be frustrated by many things. But the things that I will understand will have a profound effect on me. Like the fact that help sometimes comes from the most unexpected places. Or that there are people who will be kind to you without expecting anything in return.

This is the entire cake for me. The lure of the fantasy icing, and the substance of the reality cake.

______________________________
I know that I was not able to explain my thesis very well in this statement. In fact, one of my reviewers worded it better. But I'm glad that they still understood what I was trying to say here.



PEER REVIEWS

ON FORM: SCORE OF 2

peer 1 → I don't see any problems at all with the form of this essay - the way in which it is laid out typographically is very effective as it makes it easy to read. Your grammar is good, your word usage is proper and I can't, offhand, think of any suggestions for improvement.
peer 2 → Grammatically correct essay, but I don't think that you needed the quote from C.S. Lewis, it should be you opinion.
peer 3 → The form of this essay is successful.
peer 4 → I think what the writer is getting at is that Lewis Carroll uses the fantastical and amusing to lure children into the book so they can later draw wisdom from the allegories int it (?). Grammar and syntactically fine but it could be stated a little more clearly.
peer 5 → Grammar and spelling are correct. Writing is more about personal impressions and more argumentation would be preferable, although argument is clear and no formal objections about it. Other authors are cited, which is recommendable.


ON CONTENT: SCORE OF 2

peer 1 → in my opinion, this is a very cleverly organized and well thought out essay. I like the introduction and the way in which the thesis statement is presented and argued is inventive with good examples presented. The C.S. Lewis quote has a cohesive effect
peer 2 → Sorry, I couldn't find any valuable argument, insight or point in your work. There was a quote from C.S. Lewis, you telling us that you have finished the book and nothing else.
peer 3 → I think the writer makes a valid point about fantasy and about children's literature: it's great when you have an engaging, well-written story that also contains insights about the human condition. That's what we all really want as readers and why we feel so sad and betrayed when a crappy, superficial book becomes a bestseller.
peer 4 → Interesting proposition, and I like the way the writer shares his/her personal experience with reading the books to drive home the message about how the books can be read on multiple levels. A little better organization of thoughts - hard to do with a short word limit and not much time between classes - would have made the message a little clearer, but the essay was interesting reading.
peer 5 → TtLG is understood as book about coming of age with colorful bestiary serving as lure for young reader to immerse into the story. Beside that, book is serving as mean providing some concepts of reality. It would be preferable if some of personal impressions and motif listing were omitted.