Toni Barker October 14, 2014 Genre: Classic Picture book

Literary Analysis
Bibliographic Information:
Sendak, M. (1963). Where the Wild Things Are. New York, NY: HarperCollins Childrens
books.
Plot:
Identifiable Climax: The plot builds with Max becoming king of all wild things and reaches its
climatic point when max initiates the wild rumpusAnd now, cried Max, let the wild rumpus
start! (Sendak, 22) The author then uses illustrations to engage the reader and create a feeling of
the rumpus in a six page climax without the use of text.
Tells a good story: Sendaks book tells a good story because it is enjoyable for children and
relatable in meaning as far as childrens behavior. The authors use of illustration and text to
convey meaning brings the story alive. To a young child, Maxs adventure is a great story with
imaginary characters. Max causes a ruckus with the wild ones until hes ready to return home
after his punishment. As an adult, the story can be viewed as the healthy life cycle of a tantrum
or anger/frustration. The rumpus with the wild ones symbolizes the peak of the tantrum and as
Max leaves them to return home, it symbolizes the calmness and acceptance at the end of a
tantrum.
Setting:
Location: The story begins at Maxs house. The location then changes to the forest/island where
the wild things live. The story concludes back at Maxs house in his bedroom.
How the setting affects actions, characters, or theme: The setting of the center of the story is
extremely important in how it affects Maxs behavior. After Max is sent to his room without
supper, he dreams of a place where his behavior would be considered acceptable. If the location
remained at his home, Maxs actions would be significantly different because he has already
seen the consequences of such wild behavior and knows that he cannot act in such a manner.
Theme:
Does the story have a theme? : The main theme of the story is anger or frustration. Max
naturally has to get past his anger towards his mother by working through it. This process is
conveyed through Maxs wild rumpus with all of the wild things after he is crowned king. He
accepts his anger and chooses to hold on to it while spending time with the wild ones until he
sends them to bed without supper just as his mother did to him. Max worked through the anger
and put himself in his mothers shoes when he put the wild ones to bed. He is then able to
understand that such wild behavior has consequences and is no longer angry and is ready to
return to his mother.
Does the theme emerge naturally? : The theme is not stated too obviously at all. A young
reader may not even recognize the theme without guided instruction. Maxs feelings of anger are
portrayed through symbolism which emerge naturally as Max works through his anger.
Motifs: The author first shows the moon when Max is sent to his room on page 6. The
illustration shows a crescent moon. The illustrations show the moon to be crescent up until the
climax of the story. At the climax of the story, the author then reveals the moon as full instead of
crescent on page 23. The full moon can have many different meaning such as the passing of
time, representation of Maxs wildness with relation to the wolf costume he is wearing, and the
end of his anger cycle (the moon remains full even after Max is back in his bedroom).
Characterization:
How the author reveals characters: The characters in the story are Max, his mother, and all of
the wild ones in the forest. The author reveals the characters through narration. Max and his
mother are introduced to the reader by simply telling the story, whereas, the author leads into the
introduction of the wild ones.

Character development or growth: Sendaks story is the epitome of development and growth.
In the beginning, the main character is portrayed as a misbehaving wild child and is crowned the
king of all the wild things. As Max goes through his anger cycle, he grows as a person in a
positive direction. The wild ones begged him to stay with them, but Max realized that the right
thing to do was to let go of his anger and go back to his mother. His correct decision rewarded
him with his hot supper.
Style:
Appropriate Style: Although the sentences are long, the style of the text is very short and
simple. The long sentences are split between the pages which encourages the reader to continue
turning the pages.
Mood: The text alone is not very descriptive and does not seem to be the primary source of
telling the story. The text is simply used to describe and explain necessary parts of the story
where pictures cannot describe the part of the story alone. This style creates an imaginative mood
cycle necessary to describe Maxs feelings more accurately.
Point of view:
Appropriate point of view: Though the story is told in the third person, the point of view is
from Maxs, the main character. Ordinarily one would assume this limits the story, but in this
case it enhances it. The story is all about Maxs anger and the cycle in which his anger goes
through, therefore telling the story from another point of view, such as his mother, would portray
this anger un-authentically.
Does the point of view limit the readers horizon or enlarge it? : As stated above, the theme
of the story is anger and how Max works through the process of dealing with this emotion. The
point of view, being of Maxs, broadens the readers horizon. Having any other point of view,
the author would not be able to relate to maxs emotions as well and thus would be unable the
meaning of the story as well.
Describe Characteristics of this text specific to the genre:
Extension of text through illustrations: Sendaks illustrations extend the text quite extensively.
As the story leads into Maxs imaginative world, the illustrations fill the entire border. This
represents Max breaking free from reality. Within the six page, textless climax, the illustrations
portray the wildness to the reader much more effectively than a descriptive sentence or paragraph
would be able to.
The cover of the story: The cover shows one of the wild creatures sleeping and overall portrays
a calming feeling. It does not seem to portray the theme of the story very well because it is not
wild. I do however feel that the cover suits the story well because it is somewhat of a type of
foreshadowing. Even though Max goes wild with frustration, he eventually works through this
anger and finds himself in a calming state.
Literary contribution: Sendak wrote this story over 50 years ago and is still loved by children
and adults alike. Winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for the Most Distinguished Picture Book
of the Year, Where the Wild Things Are is an iconic book that has inspired a movie, an opera,
and the imagination of generations.
Reflections:
I really connect to this story and how it unravels the process of emotions. Until now, I
hadnt read this book since I was in elementary school, and it took me back to my childhood.
Anger is such a hard emotion for children to cope with. As an adult it is a good reminder that this
is an emotion that has to be worked through on the childs own terms.
This book has such a diverse audience, therefore could be used in the classroom to teach
multiple lessons depending on the age group. It could be used to have older students evaluate the
illustrations and teach younger children about anger and frustration.