It was hypothesized that there was no difference in trope density between the Newbery Award books for the 7-year period 1975-1981 and seven books randomly selected from the older reader's category of Children's Choices, an annual bibliography of trade books compiled under the direction of the International Reading Association, 1975-1981. The mean trope density score of the Newbery Award winners was 9.06 per 1,000 words, while the mean trope density of the Children's Choices was 6.16 per 1,000 words. A t-test indicated that the difference was not significant at the .05 alpha level. / Trope density varied greatly from book to book, particularly in the Newbery books where there was a range from 5.7 in A Gathering of Days to 17.17 in The Grey King. Trope density of the Children's Choices ranged from 3.94 to 7.56. / Using the Valeri (1982) classification system where the master trope metaphor was broken into 13 separate categories, a 20% random sample of the 4,758 tropes identified were classified. The most frequently occurring tropes in the Newbery Award winners were abstractionistic metaphor, inanimate metaphor, and personification while litote, synecdoche, and frozen metaphors were the least common. Inanimate metaphor, abstractionistic metaphor, and hyperbole were the most common tropes in the Children's Choices, while synecdoche, metonymy, and litote were the least common. / Although the books examined are recommended for approximately the same grade level, the books differed greatly in stylistic factors such as trope density, complexity of syntax, vocabulary level and degree of abstraction. Teachers need to be aware of these stylistic factors when guiding children in book selection. Attempts should be made to ensure that children are introduced to reading materials that challenge but do not frustrate. Educators should aim toward increasing children's metaphorical competency while developing children's interest in high quality literature. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-12, Section: A, page: 3860. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74974 |
| Contributors | BRANNOCK, VIRGINIA M., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 238 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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