Comapring "Growing Up" with "Superman"

by bmccarey99 @ 2008-11-25 – 09:03:20

The first point to take away from today's lesson was introduced by the objective: "To learn to compare Plaith’s view of childhood in “Superman” with Cary’s in “Growing Up”". Based on the essays I have marked so far, many people are losing marks for not commenting on the author's intentions in their analysis. The simplest way to do this is to make sure that you use their surname to introduce your point; instead of "Children seem innocent and carefree", try "Plaith presents children as being innocent and carefree." A simple change but it can make a real difference to your mark.

We then went on to compare the portrayal of children in "Superman" (both as dreamers and as people who are capable of great cruelty) with their portrayal in "Growing Up". Here, Robert Quick sees himself as a great father who has allowed his children to grow up in a world where they are free to express themselves. The first time Cary shows the reader Quick's children , they support this point of view: engrossed in books but covered in grass stains which suggest an active and exciting childhood. However, in their subsequent attack on their dog and then on Swift himself, their animalistic and cruel nature becomes much more evident. They seem uncontrollable and wild (which clearly links to Plaith's characters such as Sheldon Fine and Paula Brown herself.

Next lesson we will look at writing detailed analysis comparing the portrayal of these children but the key thing to take away is that, although both writers show children are capable of great imagination, this imagination is not necessarily always as innocent as it might seem.