Week 14 note

New glossary

1. Biography
Biography is a story of the life of an individual told by a different author. The story is more than a series of life's events; it is also how the subject experienced those events. It includes three essentials: facts, a concept or theme that the facts relate to, and an attitude toward the subject and the reader. ex: Roald Dahl

2. Autobiography
An autobiography (from the Greek, αὐτός-autos self + βίος-bios life + γράφειν-graphein to write) is a written account of the life of a person written by that person. In other words, it is a self-written life story.

3. Old French saying-
That which cannot be spoken can be sung
That which cannot be sung can be dance

4. Puppet theater

A puppets are real object, often resembling some type of human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of her hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form oftheatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in their construction and operation to very complex.

5. Muppet
The Muppets are an ensemble cast of puppet characters known for their self-aware, burlesque, and meta-referential style ofvariety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the namesake for the Disney media franchise that encompasses feature films, television series, music recordings, theme park attractions, print publications, merchandising, and other media works associated with the characters. Ex: Sesame Street

6. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical comedy-drama fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the most well-known and commercially successful adaptation based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. The co-stars are Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton, with Charley Grapewin, Pat Walshe and Clara Blandick, Terry the dog (billed as Toto), and theSinger Midgets as the Munchkins.



7. Biographical fiction

Biographical fiction is a type of Historical fiction that takes a historical individual and recreates elements of his or her life, while telling a fictional narrative, usually in the genres of film or the novel. The relationship between the biographical and the fictional may vary within different pieces of biographical fiction. It frequently includes selective information and self-censoring of the past. The characters are often real people or based on real people, but the need for "truthful" representation is less strict than in biography.

The various philosophies behind biographical fiction lead to different types of content. Some asserts itself as a factual narrative about the historical individual, like Gore Vidal's Lincoln. Other biographical fiction creates two parallel strands of narrative, one in the contemporary world and one focusing on the biographical history, such asMalcolm Bradbury's To the Hermitage and Michael Cunningham's The Hours. No matter what style of biographical fiction is used, the novelist usually starts the writing process with historical research.

Biographical fiction has its roots in late 19th and early 20th-century novels based loosely on the lives of famous people, but without direct reference to them, such asGeorge Meredith's Diana of the Crossways (1885) and Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence (1919). During the early part of the 20th century this became a distinct genre, with novels that were explicitly about individuals' lives.

8. haste

late 13c., from Old French haster "hurry, make haste; urge, hurry along" (Modern French hâter), from haste "haste, urgency" (see haste). Now largely superseded by hasten (1560s). Related: Hasted; hasting.

haste (n.) 

late 13c., "hurrying, haste; celerity, swiftness, speed;" c. 1300, "need for quick action, urgency;" from Old French haste "haste, urgency, hastiness" (12c., Modern French hâte), from Frankish *haifst "violence" or another Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (source also of Gothic haifsts "strife," Old English hæste "violent, vehement, impetuous"). From late 14c. as "undue haste, rashness, unwise or unseemly quickness." To make haste "act quickly" is recorded by 1530s.

Important People
1. Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl (/ˈroʊ.ɑːl ˈdɑːl/; Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɾuːɑl dɑl]; 13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of acting wing commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults and he became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. In 2008, The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

2.  Eleanor Roosevelt 

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlᵻnɔːr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American politician, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, having held the post from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office,^[1] and served as United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.

3. Franklin D Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (/ˈroʊzəvəlt/, his own pronunciation, or /ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation

delivered 8 December 1941, Washington, D.C.

4. Diane Stanley 

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children, noted especially for her series of picture book biographies. SHAKA: KING OF THE ZULUS was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; LEONARDO DA VINCI received the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction from the National Council for Teachers of English. Ten of her books have been honored as "Notable Books" by the American Library Association and she has twice received both the Boston Globe/Hornbook Award and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Golden Kite Award. She is the recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction for the body of her work. 

5.  Jen Bryant

Jen Bryant writes picture books, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her biographical picture book: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet,received a Caldecott Honor award and her historical novel in verse Ringside 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 & up. Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick), The Trial (about the 1935 Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial), a 1960's-era novel Kaleidoscope Eyes (a Jr. Library Guild selection), Georgia's Bones, celebrating the creative vision of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Music for the End of Time, based on a true story about WWII, and Abe's Fish: A Boyhood Tale of Abraham Lincoln. 

Jen has taught writing and Children's Literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives lectures, workshops and school presentations throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA.

6. Judith St. George

Judith Saint George (February 26, 1931 – June 10, 2015) was an American author, most famous for writing So You Want to Be President? Author and illustrator David Smallwas awarded the 2001 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in the book. She has written more than 40 books, most being historical fiction. Ms. St. George was born inWestfield, NJ and is a graduate of Smith College. She was a resident of Connecticut at the time of her death on June 10, 2015.


7. Doreen Rappaport

Doreen Rappaport is known for her ground-breaking approach to multicultural history and stories for young readers. In her many award-winning books, she brings attention to not-yet-celebrated Americans, along with well-known figures.

A former teacher of music and reading, Doreen knows how to capture children's attention. Her dynamic formats engage even the most reluctant readers.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is an Orbis Pictus Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Caldecott Honor Book for Illustration, ALA Notable Book, and is on the Blue Ribbon list of the Bulletin Center for Children's Books.

We Are The Many: A Picture Book of American Indians, introduces the accomplishments of sixteen distinguished American Indians. 

Her classic Escape From Slavery presents the history of the Underground Railroad through adventure stories.

The Boston Coffee Party introduces children to a neglected event in history books and shows the active roles played by women during the Revolutionary War.


8. Lewis Carroll 

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (/ˈtʃɑːrlz ˈlʌtwɪdʒ ˈdɒdsən/;^[1][2][3] 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/), was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, which includes the poem "Jabberwocky", and the poem The Hunting of the Snark, all examples of the genre of literary nonsense. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic and fantasy. There are societies in many parts of the world^[4] dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life.


9. Martha Graham

Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her influence on dance has been compared with the influence of Picasso on modern visual arts, the influence of Stravinsky on music, and the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture.

She danced and choreographed for over seventy years. Graham was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. She said, in the 1994 documentary The Dancer Revealed, "I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable." 

Her style, the Graham technique, fundamentally reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.^[5]

10. 林懷民 - the student of Martha Graham

Lin Hwai-min (Chinese: 林懷民; pinyin: Lín Huáimín; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Hôai-bîn; born 19 February 1947) is a Taiwanese dancer, writer, choreographer, and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan.

11. Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King".

Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, as a twinless twin—his brother was stillborn. When he was 13 years old, he and his family relocated to Memphis, Tennessee. His music career began there in 1954, when he recorded a song with producer Sam Phillipsat Sun Records. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was an early popularizer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who managed the singer for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. He was regarded as the leading figure of rock and roll after a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines that coincided with the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, made him enormously popular—and controversial.

12. P. L. Travers

Pamela Lyndon Travers, OBE (/ˈtrævərs/; born Helen Lyndon Goff; 9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996) was an Australian-born Britishnovelist, actress and journalist.^[1] She is known best for the Mary Poppins series of children's books featuring the magical English nanny Mary Poppins.

Upon emigrating to England in 1924, Goff began to write under the pen name P. L. Travers. In 1933, she began writing the novel Mary Poppins, first of the Poppins books. Travers travelled to New York City during World War II while working for the British Ministry of Information. At that time, Walt Disney contacted her about selling to Disney Studios the rights for a film adaptation of Mary Poppins, whose sequel Mary Poppins Comes Back was also in print. After years of contact, Walt Disney did obtain the rights and the Disney film Mary Poppins premièred in 1964. In 2004, a new British musical theatre adaptation of the books and the film opened in the West End; it premiered on Broadway in 2006.

Movies and Books introductions

1.  The BFG

A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kind-hearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because, unlike them, he refuses to eat children.


2. Mozart: The Wonder Child: A Puppet Play in Three Acts by Diane Stanley 

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart was only three years old—not much bigger than his name—on the day his life changed forever.

So begins this vivid biography about one of the most legendary prodigies in history. Award-winning author and illustrator Diane Stanley engagingly tells the story of a brilliant boy who grew up to be a complex and often troubled young man—a man who composed some of the most beautiful music of all time.

With stunning and expressive illustrations, she portrays Mozart's turbulent life as a marionette show, inspired by the famous Salzburg Marionette Theatre, using an innovative artistic approach to present the life of a renowned musical genius. In concise and lyrical prose, Stanley presents an honest and sympathetic portrait of the boyhood and tragically short adulthood of a composer whose music has lived on for more than two hundred years.

3. A River of Words: The story of William Carols by Jen Bryant

When he wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s notebooks filled up, one after another. Willie’s words gave him freedom and peace, but he also knew he needed to earn a living. So he went off to medical school and became a doctor -- one of the busiest men in town! Yet he never stopped writing poetry. In this picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations celebrate the amazing man who found a way to earn a living and to honor his calling to be a poet.

4. So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George

This new version of the Caldecott-winning classic by illustrator David Small and author Judith St. George is updated with current facts and new illustrations to include our forty-second president, George W. Bush. There are now three Georges in the catalog of presidential names, a Bush alongside the presidential family tree, and a new face on the endpaper portraiture.
Hilariously illustrated by Small, this celebration by St. George shows us the foibles, quirks and humanity of forty-two men who have risen to one of the most powerful positions in the world. Perfect for this election year--and every year!

5. Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport

This picture-book biography is an excellent and accessible introduction for young readers to learn about one of the world's most influential leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Doreen Rappaport weaves the immortal words of Dr. King into a captivating narrative to tell the story of his life. With stunning art by acclaimed illustrator Bryan Collier, Martin's Big Words is an unforgettable portrait of a man whose dream changed America-and the world-forever.

6. Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl 

From his own life, of course! As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny. Did you know that Roald Dahl nearly lost his nose in a car accident? Or that he was once a chocolate candy tester for Cadbury's? Have you heard about his involvement in the Great Mouse Plot of 1924? If not, you don’t yet know all there is to know about Roald Dahl. Sure to captivate and delight you, the boyhood antics of this master storyteller are not to be missed!

7. Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.


8. Saving Mr. Banks  

Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 period drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson as author P. L. Traversand Tom Hanks as filmmaker Walt Disney, with supporting performances by Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, and Colin Farrell. Named after the father in Travers' story, Saving Mr. Banks depicts the author's fortnight-long meetings during 1961 in Los Angeles, during which Disney attempts to obtain the screen rights to her novels.


9. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

Mary Poppins is a series of eight children's books written by P. L. Travers and published over the period 1934 to 1988. Mary Shepard was the illustrator throughout the series. The books centre on magical English nanny Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane, London, and into the Banks's household to care for their children. Encounters with pavement-painters and shopkeepers and various adventures follow until Mary Poppins abruptly leaves—i.e., "pops-out". Only the first three of the eight books feature Mary Poppins arriving and leaving. The later five books recount previously unrecorded adventures from her original three visits. As P. L. Travers explains in her introduction to Mary Poppins in the Park, "She cannot forever arrive and depart."

The books were adapted by Walt Disney in 1964 into a musical film titled Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. In 2004, Disney Theatrical in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh (who had previously acquired the stage rights from Travers) produced a stage musical also called Mary Poppins in London's West End theatre. The stage musical was transferred to Broadway, New York in 2006, where it ran until its closing on 3 March 2013. In 2013 the film Saving Mr. Banks depicted the making of the 1964 film.