critical analysis

Evolution of the Concept of Childhood : Evidence from Children 's Literature

Zohar Shavit 's discussion of the development of the concept of childhood takes into consideration the literature that has been developed for children . Shavit 's goal was to explain how the concept of childhood evolved as it is shown along the lines of children 's literature . This essay will attempt to provide criticism regarding the manner by which Shavit argued his case . Focus and attention will be towards the development of the argument . Furthermore , each section of Shavit 's article

will be analyzed and critiqued in terms of how it contributed to the strength of the author 's argument

Shavit begins his article by discussing the beginnings of the concept of childhood . He described how up until the seventeenth century children lived in an adult world and were not considered as distinct from their adult counterparts (Shavit , 318 ) In other words , the world had no concept of what a child was . Every aspect of a child 's life was that of an adult as well . He cited various reasons for such including the fact that there was a high mortality rate among children and the poor survival of children during the time . Moreover , children did not really enjoy a childhood as it is now defined for early in life , they were made to do things that adults do . Some marry at a very tender age while others are thrust into a working life (Shavit , 318 ) Shavit then discussed how in the seventeenth century the unity between the lives of adults and children shifted to polarization (Shavit , 319 ) He described how children began to develop their own way of life including the emergence of clothing and educational games (Shavit , 319 ) Basically , at this time , a distinction between adults and children began to be established . The concept of childhood developed out of the polarization between the adult 's and the child 's world

Shavit moved on to discussing the emergence of children 's literature specifically to meet the new educational needs of children as defined by the perceived need to mold children who were seen as delicate creatures (Shavit , 320

Having established how children 's literature emerged , Shavit then discussed the evolution of the one of the most commonly analyzed children 's tales , Little Red Riding Hood ' He discussed how the story evolved just as the conception of childhood evolved as well

Shavit 's main argument and the thesis of his article is that the concept of childhood and its evolution through time shapes the literature that has been developed for children . Basically , as the concept of childhood is altered so is the literature for children Shavit 's thesis is quite general . His analysis lies along the general lines (Shavit , 317 ) Furthermore , based on his thesis , one can see that the evolution and history of both the concept of childhood and of children 's literature are necessary elements of his argument . As such in to prove his thesis , Shavit had...