I am from Misiones, Argentina, I am 19 and am at the English Teacher Training of an important institute of Posadas, the capital of my province.
At the moment I am working on an essay based on bradbury's kaleidoscope for a subject called JUVENILE LITERATURE. The topic that I am "trying" to write about is related to the feeling that we have before death, or how the main character of the story feels when he knows that he is going to die. I would like to be sent any information related to this topic, and of course reviews, analises and any kind of information about the story which can be useful to me.
I will be grateful if you can help me, since I have been surfing the net for hours and I can't find what I am looking for.
THANK YOU! and BESOS! (kisses)

My e-mail: agustar_311@hotmail.com

Agustina--You topic sounds like a very interesting and one I've often wondered about myself.

Unfortunately, it's more than a little tasteless to ask someone what they feel like right before they die.

One thing that I should maybe point out is your title: 'Juvenile Literature' sounds as if the literature in question is itself juvenile! I think you mean something along the lines of 'Literature for Juveniles', or the nicer sounding 'Literature for Young People'.

Good luck!
Brian

Agustina,

I wasn't going to reply to this, as I don't have much to contribute - but not many other people have either, apparently.

There is a speculative passage about near death experiences in one of Carl Sagan's books. I think it's The Dragons Of Eden, but it might be Broca's Brain. The passage I'm thinking of discusses ideas due to Stanislaw Grof. (I understand Sagan's speculation to have been proven scientifically inaccurate, but that may not be relevant to your context.)

I found a thesis on the web which deals with near-death experience in western culture. I have no idea of the validity of the paper, but it might give you some avenues of investigation - plus it has a bibliography which may give you some clues. The thesis is here: http://www.nderf.org/Pew's%20NDE%20Thesis.htm

Phil
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

[This message has been edited by philnic (edited 01-18-2005).]

I taught in East LA Junior high and gave my students an assignment from Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The TellTale Heart". The story has a scene where the main character is going to kill an old man. For a long period of time, the old man knows he's going to be killed. I asked my students to write an essay on what they would be thinking about if they were that old man and knew they were going to die.

Responses ranged from ways of assuring there would be retribution to regrets about what they had or had not done in their lives. Some discussed what they had loved in their lives. Some expressed gratitude to persons how had had an influence in thier lives. I know this doesn't help, but it is definitely a topic juveniles think about sometimes.

Agustina
from
Argentina

Perhaps another take on this subject? How about "One Minute After You Die" ?
http://www.oasisaudio.com/product.php?id=118