Genre Exploration:

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Points:
Definition and Values
Literary Element: Focalization
Wonder, Lets Get a Pup, and How Smudge Came
Variations on Realistic Fiction
 Contemporary:
1. Contemporary Realistic Fiction
According to Kiefer and Tyson, 1950s
and on
The most important part of the
contemporary part, though, is that
the history/time period of the storys
setting isnt a defining characteristic
of it (thatll be Historical Fiction next
week).
Realistic:
Accurately reflects life as it could
actually occur
The story is constituted of everyday
events that actually happen
Both picturebooks this week deal with
characters who bring home puppies,
very realistic and common events that
occur every day.
The uniqueness of each story is that
it can convey even this everyday
event so differently by showing the
 1. Uses and Values of CRF
Many children seem to prefer CRF over
fantasy (its even the #1 selling genre for
Young Adult literature today):
They find characters more easily
identifiable
The suspension of disbelief that has to
occur for fantasy (such as believing there
are actual wizards or monsters) doesnt
have to happen with CRF
World Building (the readers struggle to
understand what the world of the story is
like and what the rules are) isnt as hard
because there will be some semblance of
familiarity
This doesnt mean stepping into the text
will always be easy. A CRF story from
another country about a life a reader
has never known, such as Patricia
McCormicks Never Fall Down about a
young boys experience with genocide
and war in Cambodia will involve a
greater stretch of association for some
American children than Wonder will.
 1. Uses and Values of CRF
Realistic fiction texts:
Serve children who are in the process of
understanding and coming to terms with
themselves and their lives (acting as
mirrors)
Reassure children they arent alone and
that others face the same problems they
do
Honestly portray the realities of life and
help children gain a fuller understanding
of human problems and relationships
Enlarge childrens frames of reference
(they learn about other people and See the Wonder book trailer
experiences in the world) and help them here
to see the world from another perspective One of your discussion post
and potentially develop empathy (acting options this week asks you to
as windows) explore how each of the three
Illuminate experiences children have not texts from this week performs
had (both those they might have one day one of the uses/values of
and those they may never have but other realistic fiction.
For more discussion on these
kids will)
 Narrator: who speaks; whose
2. Focalization voice is actually telling the
Narrative perspective: whose point of story (connects back to those
view is the story being told through (i.e., 1st or 3rd person pronouns).
whose side is the reader positioned on if
she agrees with the text)?
Personal perspective: 1st person
point of view narration (I, me, my,
we). The narrator is telling the
reader her own personal story.
Younger readers have been
shown to make stronger
connections emotionally to
personal/1st person narration.
Impersonal perspective: 3rd person
point of view (he, she, it, they). The
narrator is telling someone elses
story.
Locomotion is told through
The level of disconnection across the narrator Lonnies 1st
the focal persons story, the person personal narrative
narrator, and the reader is even perspective, helping build
greater when the narrator is
the emotional empathy the
completely removed from the
reader has for his story.
story as an omniscient voice.

2. Focalization
Focalizer: who SEES; these are the eyes
the reader sees the story through. If you
were asked where are you as a reader in
the story? youd most likely say you are
this character, or youd say you are
seeing through this characters eyes
This is NOT always the narrator
(especially if the story is told through
3rd person impersonal narration).
Example: the narrator in The Tale
of Despereaux is an outside
character telling the story, but the
focalizer, at least for much of the
story, is Despereaux.
This is NOT always the protagonist or
central character.
Example: For at least two chapters
in The Tale of Desepreaux,
Despereaux himself doesnt even
appear. In those chapters, the
world is seen through the eyes of
Miggery Sow and Roscuro
temporarily as focalizers.
Focalizee: who IS SEEN (who is being
watched especially by the reader but
also by the other characters
Sometimes the same as the
focalizer. Example: When Roscuros
story was being told, and as the
reader was seeing the world as he
saw it, we were also watching him in
his chapter, and the other
characters he came into contact
were centrally focused on him.
Central Focalizee: The main
focalizee for the entire text. So while
focalizer/focalizee switches
throughout the whole novel,
Despereaux is the central focalizee
for the text as its his story the
reader is following the whole time.
 All of the following characters are both focalizers and
3. Wonder focalizees at different points in the text. Think about
how when they are the focalizer affects the text (and
what youre thinking/feeling as a reader). Think also
about why Palacio put in so many focalizers in the first
place. How does it affect the story (especially if you
think of the alternative that might have made Auggie
the one and only focalizer)?

Auggie is the
first
narrator/focalize
r we meet. We
see FIRST
through his eyes Via is the first focalizer we get The other characters
(for about 80 after Auggie. Its during her briefly come in as
pages). chapter that Auggie stops being focalizers for the
He is also the the focalizer and becomes rest of the text.
only focalizer solely a focalizee. What is each ones
who is returned This is also the first time (again, unique purpose?
to in the text. 80 pages in) that the reader is How did each one
(Notice how his given any description of what change/shape the
icon changes Auggie looks like. Why does story in a specific
with each Palacio make these narrative way by being a
3. Focalization in Wonder

Allow this chart to help you visualize the relationships between the
focalizers/focalizees. Each is a focalizer, and when an arrow points outward
from the character, you see who becomes the focalizee (who the arrow is
point at) for that momentwho the reader is going to see and whose
eyes the reader is going to see them through. What does a chart like this
3. Focalization in Wonder: The Complication of Julian

Quite notably, the most prominent character who never becomes a focalizer
is Julian. In the past, Palacio has commented that Julians focalization
wouldnt have added anything positive to the story, and that his thoughts
wouldve only been hurtful, so there was no reason to write a Julian chapter
because he would only hurt instead of help both Auggie and the readers.
Disregarding Palacios comment and thinking on your own, what are your
thoughts about the lack of Julian as a focalizer in the text?
INTERESTINGLY, Palacio recently created a short story, The Julian
Chapter, despite everything shed said about choosing not to write one.
See the Carmen newsfeed about reading this for extra credit (and I
 3. Lets Get a Pup
The plot/narration of Grahams
story is quite simple. But one of
the great powers of a picturebook
is that a large portion of the
narrative effect comes from the
visuals.
What do you notice about
Grahams illustrations that add to
the realness of this
contemporary realistic fiction
story?
What are the parents drawn
like?
What is the house drawn like?
How are the events following
the adoption of Dave drawn?
Ultimately, what is Graham
adding to his story through
his illustrative choices? How
 3. How Smudge

Came
Illustrations & Perspective:
Lightburns illustrations work in a way to
show narrative perspective interestingly
in this text. Remember the perspective is
one of the visual elements of design we
learned about. How does the visual
narrative perspective below affect your
reading of the story and how you feel?

But illustrations can not only make you

feel a certain way through their visual
perspective; they can also make you
complicit in the actions of the text
like youre responsible for whats
happening. Who is the focalizer in
the illustration above? Why did
4. Variations on Realistic Fiction
Historic Realistic Fiction: (well
discuss this in depth next week) in
brief, the text is set in a specific
historical time period where the
setting plays a prominent role in the
story
Magical Realism: a realistic fiction
text with some element of magic or
the unexplainable that occurs
A strong cultural trait of Latin@
literary traditions (adult author
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
frequently included it in his
writing)
With some texts, the reader may
have doubts while reading as to
whether the magical is really
occurring or if its all being
imagined.
Blurs the line between the
known and unknown in the real
world; often religiously or