Children learn about themselves and others from their families, their educational settings and from texts the books, films and other media they consume. Our focus in this unit is on representations of identity in texts for children, paying specific attention to the gender roles, sexual identities, racial politics and social class dynamics depicted in the fictional narratives children engage with for pleasure or in schools. Students will analyse childrens texts using narrative theory models that interrogate endings, character perspectives and audience positioning. This first year unit introduces students to key concepts essential to the analysis of childrens texts.
