Beginning with the idea that fictional stories provide an opportunity for readers to expand their imagination, The Fall of a City and the article, The Hidden Agenda of Bedtime Stories support this idea as well as describe the benefits of fictional stories. More particularly, in the short story The Fall of a City, written by Alden Nowlan, it describes how essential fictional stories are to a humans personality development. This short story is about a boy named Theodore, who lives with his aunt and uncle. At the beginning of the story, the readers are introduced to Theodore sitting in the attic with the kingdom of Upalia, that Theodore made out of matchboxes and humanoid figures cut out of paper. In the story, it describes how Theodore imagined that The armies of the Emperor Kang of Dariova were attacking the fortifications on the Upalian frontier! Teddy inhaled deeply and held his breath, his thin chest pressing against his sweat shirt (Nowlan -2). This quote supports the idea that a childs imagination and perception is the most influential factor that helps shape a childs behavior. Although at the beginning of the story, Theodore is seen as a brave and fearless young boy, however, in reality, Theodore suppresses the identity created through the imagination of the Kingdom of Upalia. This is evident at the end of the story when Theodores uncle notices what Theodore has been doing up in the attic and Theodore destroys the kingdom, representing the loss of imagination. This loss of creativity could be dangerous for a young child as it inhibits the growth in personality. In conclusion, The Fall of a City represents the imagina
tion through which fictional stories such as the story of Upalia are formed, which is essential for developing behavior unique to an individual. The article The Hidden Agenda of Bedtime Stories represents the benefits of fictional stories told during bedtime to a child.
Another example that supports the idea that fictional stories provide an opportunity for readers to expand their imagination is the news article, The Hidden Agenda of Bedtime Stories written by Andrea Gordon. In the article, Gordon talks about the importance of bedtime stories for a child as these stories provide a relaxation period, as well as a period in which a childs cognitive skills can be enhanced. It is observed that while reading or listening to bedtime stories, melatonin is released that allows readers to sleep and process information gathered throughout the day and expands imaginations. Among other benefits, the author states that sleep allows the brain to process the information, which in the article, parent Natalie Foy and Ted Betts, want the books we read to engage the kids, to make their minds work, and most importantly, to capture their imaginations (Gordon 3). These opportunities given by bedtime stories such as Peter Pans Neverland encourages children to imagine by immersing themselves into the story, where the reader can relate to and can become the character to tackle various problems and interact with other characters made up by the reader in the dream world. By reading about a characters life, readers are transported to a different world, where anything the mind can think of is allowed and readers are also introduced to different ideas.