Answer the question below.

Fantasy is hard to define. Yes, it's imaginative fiction, but even dramas come from the imagination. There are certainly many types of fantasy (from talking animal tales such as Wind in the Willows to sword and sorcery works like The Dark is Rising to dream fantasies such as the Alice books. Many feel that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is quintessential American fantasy. I'm not 100% sure what that means, but this is your opportunity to explain it to me by answering one of the questions below.

  1. What particularly American concerns do you find in Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, consider, for instance, the idea that Dorothy and her traveling companions represent the common working people who are said to be the backbone of this pioneer nation. Look at the no-nonsense, pragmatic considerations of some of the scenes (for example, what is a practical way to escape being stung by swarms of bees?). Be sure that you describe scenes and actually quote and document sections from the book to demonstrate what you mean.

  2. This really is much like the topic above, but it has you make your point clearer by using some comparison / contrast. Looking at such things as subject, character, style, and theme what distinctive differences do you find in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Why does one seem more English and the other more American (don't just look at the most obvious things such as different word spelling and references to aristocracy in Alice, though you certainly can mention those; consider things such as the nature of the two young heroines, the more conventional linear plot of the American work as opposed to the more experimental style of the English novel). Again, to earn lots of points be sure you are describing specific scenes and quoting passages from the books.