Document Type

Unpublished Paper

Publication Date

Spring 2013

Abstract

This essay analyzes a non-canonical alphabet book written in the nineteenth century. The Colonial Alphabet For The Nursery was written for the child audience during the Victorian era. It associates a word with each letter of the alphabet, and the word is used in a sentence describing its corresponding illustration. This paper explains how the book portrays Great Britain as a world superpower by showing the other countries as poor and insignificant. Much of this alphabet book teaches children the various stereotypes about numerous ethnicities. This allows for them to grow up with misconceptions about diverse racial groups. This essay describes how the text encompasses the theme of nature to educate the child reader on the dominance of Britain.

Comments

A research paper completed for English 4710. This is an advanced undergraduate course focused on the study of a particular genre and its ability to articulate meaning in historical, social, and/or literary contexts. This paper is part of the Children's Literature genre series.

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