Document Type : research article
Author
Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Birjand, Iran
Abstract
The children literature is the origin of the values and aspirations of a society that must be internalized in the spirit and soul of an important group of people, namely children and adolescents, because they are the future makers of the society. This field of children literature differs greatly from adult literature. One of the most significant of these differences is the elements of the story, because the elements of the children's story must fit into the characteristics, wishes, and talents of the children. Character is another important element in this matter. Examining character’s impact on the reader makes the selection of the story more crucial, and introduces suitable and useful stories. With this view, participation in this field of literature becomes feasible only for those who have achieved deep knowledge and understanding of the field. Zakaria Tamer, contemporary Syrian writer, is one of those writers who has succeeded in this area and has created valuable and lasting stories. This study aimed to investigate the element of character in Zakaria Tamer's story collection through a descriptive-analytical method, in order to evaluate and measure their educational role and effect on the audience. The results show that Zakarria Tomer has applied different kinds of characters including human, animal, and natural and artificial phenomena. As seen in Tamer's story collection, Tamer applied one (specific) character in one story and different mixed characters in others. Animal characters showed higher frequency of usage and played a pivotal role among others. This may refer to and be influenced by children's psychological features. Animals are selected depending on their character features. Behind each story, Tamer sought an educational message illustrated through characters' speech and action. Simplifying the speech and action through applying rhetorical feature made the understanding less complex
Keywords
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