Friday, May 27, 2011

Of Commencement Speeches & Children's Literature


In a terrific Commencement speech delivered at Harvard, scholar Maria Tatar makes use of children's literature to talk to the graduating class. In particular, Tatar makes use of J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" to identify the ambiguous legacy of maturity in the story of the boy who never grows up. Mention is also made of J. K. Rowlings, "Tuck Everlasting," Spielberg's "Hook," Mark Twain, David Foster Wallace, and university classes in children's literature. Altogether, well done!

See: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/26/peter-pan-years-life/

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