Peher Kelwalramani: a level (2023-24)

Key:
Thesis
Main reason/ argument
Evidence (ethos/ logos)
Counter argument:
Acknowledge opposing view
counter opposing view
new ideas
suggestions/ recommendations/ solutions

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY SAMPLE

Assess the view that the main aim for children’s fiction is to encourage a love of reading.
Under the light of one’s beside table lamp, all children find their enchantment in fictional
books. Some prefer to travel to the realm of witches and healers, while the others couldn’t
wait to transport themselves to the world of fairies and princesses. While children’s fiction
may encourage people to read more, many could see that children’s fiction has much more to
offer, including, teaching us; boosting our imagination and creative ability; and providing
comfort and sole.
At the outset, one of the major aims of children’s fiction is to provide valuable morals. More
than half of the children’s fiction in the world has something or the other to teach us. The
stories teach us love, friendship, honesty, trust and integrity, for example, the famous book
that everyone has read before, “Charlie and the chocolate factory”. The story is about five
lucky kids who get the opportunity to visit the infamous factory of the famous chocolatier,
Mr Willy Wonka. While this story is very descriptive and unrealistic, it talks about being
humble and caring towards your family and the ones you love and the importance of hard
work, dedication and hope. These are vital life lessons that each child must learn at a young
age and books like Charlie and the chocolate factory impart these qualities into children. A
few more examples would be folktales. Every single folktale has a moral to be explained at
the end of it. Children can learn a lot from them.
Additionally, these fictional books encourage a child to push their creative limits and boost
their imagination. Novels, especially the ones with no pictures, allow children to put their
creative mind at work, letting them form images in the head by reading a few descriptive
words. Each and every child has their own teeth on how fictional objects look, how fictional
characters look and how fictional places look. All answers are correct, for example, we have
the book by Salman, Rushdie, Haroun and the sea of stories. This piece of literature is set in a
realm with genies, talking ships, bizarre looking characters and adventure. While reading this,
the reader gets transported to the land. The reader unlocks their imagination and brings the
story to life with their visualisations. More such books would “The magic faraway tree” and
“The wizard of Earthsea”. Having a good imagination and creative ability is a really
important characteristic that everyone should have. It gives a person, freedom and books like
these increase ones creativity.
Another aim of these fictional books is to provide comfort and solace, not only just to
children but also to grown-ups. Some characters in these books are exceptionally well written
and readers often relate to a character story in one way or another. This character makes them
feel seen and the reader forms an emotional connection with them. Young children sometimes
think that their favourite character exists in real life and form of friendship with them. When
a person feels low, they pick up their comfort book and it is like receiving a bear hug, full of
love. It makes people feel better. A good example would be Elsa, from the story of frozen by
Hans Christian Anderson. Elsa is an older sister, who is lonely after her parents, death, and is
trying to be a fearless girl for her sister and a worthy queen for her kingdom. She self-doubts
herself and doesn’t feel like she is enough. Many readers and viewers relate to her story.
Many people too doubt their own abilities and beat themselves up. Characters like Elsa
remind them that they are not alone. They find support them.

Lastly, children’s fiction brings people together. Series like Harry Potter, the Avengers and
Lord of the rings have readers and fans all over the world. People bond over their shared
laugh. For these books, people join fandoms, discuss these books together, connect and form
friendships, for example, the comic con is a huge event that takes place, annually and
hundreds of people attended each year. They dress up like their favourite characters; attend
panel discussion; talk to authors; and socialise. Laugh of fiction has brought countless people
together.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that fiction creates a pseudo world. Children begin to live
in the world of imagination and fail to identify the real world. Books of authors like
Geronimo Stilton affect children’s vocabulary as they use a range of gibberish onomatopoeic
words. At the same time, we need to understand that children, irrespective of reading books,
anyway live in a world of imagination until they reach a certain age; that is when they begin
to differentiate between the real and the imaginative world. As far as Geronimo Stilton books
are concerned, content wise, they seem fine for older kids, who can follow the storyline.
Reading fictional books should be promoted as 1 is exposed to new words and concepts.

To conclude, children’s fiction is a vast sea of stories, some existing purely for entertainment,
while some existing to teach us skills and morals. Everyone in the world should be a reader.
There are uncountable genres of books that exist and everyone can find something of what
they are fond of. Therefore, the main aim of children’s fiction is to provide us with life
lessons; comfort; capability to imagine; and bring people together alongside, encouraging
people to fall in love with reading. After all, it is said, “if you have never read, have you ever
lived?”. Let kids choose reading material that interests them, even if it is something you
wouldn't have read. It is important not to lecture on the “quality” of newer books. This
lecturing gives children the impression that there are “good” and “bad” books. No book is
bad.