John Locke, John Newbery, And Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Words: 416
Pages: 2
Open Document
Tori Smoode
EDU 221
Historical Research Paper
Professor Eichman
I strongly believe literature is a timeless and endlessly evolving study. Entering the 18th century three men had a very important influence on children’s reading, these men were John Locke, John Newbery, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. English philosopher John Locke is known to be one of the most influential men in children’s literature, he created what is like an outline on how to educate a young child’s mind. In 1693 John Locke published “Thoughts Concerning Education”, “Locke famously characterized the human mind at birth as a ‘blank slate.’”(EducationWeek) Locke also believed that each child holds the equal potential to learn and that heredity didn’t correspond to one’s ability …show more content…
The importance of this time period is the recognition and revival of the old traditional folktale. Many historical and cultural events, philosophical accomplishments, and immense discoveries had a significant impact on the literature during this time. This time period was ultimately a philosophical movement for literature, “writers of this period offer their own philosophies as proof of the issues and influenced the masses.”(LetterPile) Common themes that often played a large role during the 17th and 18th century were romance, religion, political views, and educational doctrine. A doctrine can be defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group.”(OxfordDictionaries) I think that this movement will have forever affected literature. It shows us how each child or groups of children can be taught differently based on how they are raised and how the individuals around them view different things. This was the moment in time people educated or preached their own morals beliefs on very diverse topics, which I feel like is so often done in today's society whether it be in children’s literature or a broad expansion of written
Show More

Related Documents: John Locke, John Newbery, And Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Essay about The History of Childresn Literature

of books to this point yielded to the ideas of those such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume. These idea were what created the birth of children’s literature, and stories that were written for children. This transformation dates from 1744, which was the year the English publisher John Newbery printed A Little Pretty Pocket-Book. Newbery was influenced by John Locke’s Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), in which Locke maintained that as soon as children knew their alphabet they…

Words 1592 - Pages 7