Matilda Research Paper

The movie that I chose to do for this assignment is Matilda. I chose Matilda because I felt that movie has many elements that showcases what I learned about the middle childhood stage. Matilda is a movie about a young girl named Matilda who is a gifted child. She is a genius that discovered her love for books at the age of four. Her parents (Harry and Zinnia) and older brother (Harry) are not responsible and often mistreats her. In that household, she is the only one who is mature and knows how to handle responsibilities. Also, her parents and brother did not show much love towards her. With all that goes on in her home, she often found an escape through books. Her home troubles were not just enough. Although, her teacher Miss. Honey was really

There are some child geniuses and also children that are mature way ahead of their age. I have seen children who grow up in abused home, whether it be alcohol/drug abuse or physical abuse. The children that grow up in those homes often feel neglected and that is how Matilda felt. Her parents did not really care for her as they should have. This often leads to children feeling neglected and feeling unwanted by their family. This is the age in which they start to see and realize things. Although I grew up in a loving household, I really did not keep that many friends. I can recall being isolated from my peers because I really did not want to participate in many of the activities that were occurring. This is the age in which bullying starts and when children start to realize the difference in others. Unfortunately, at this age, many children felt that being different was a bad thing. If a child was not into the same thing they were into, they were often ridiculed. Like Matilda, I was an avid reader. I also had a really active imagination. Reading was a way that I could isolate myself from this world. Whenever I read novels, the character and plot always came alive. This is what I usually did to keep myself occupied. This developed my cognitive and emotional development. Reading helped me to build who I am as a person and enhance my knowledge. It also helped me to work better with my peers. Forming a strong backbone helped me to not

Her cognitive development is from the knowledge she built from the novels that she read. She is in both the preoperational and concrete operational stages of this development. Matilda has great reasoning skills and she is able to comprehend and reason well. She is able to see and understand things in ways that even children of her own age are not able to. Since she reads too much, she is able to memorize and elaborate on words. From the moment she learned to read, she motivated herself to read books with larger words. This shows that she is aware of certain strategies and that she is aware of what she knows. Matilda also shows signs of all of Gardner’s multiple intelligences. (Lecture, 19) All the skills that she possesses all relate in one way because she finds ways to utilize them in whatever she is doing. Being the gifted child that she is, it is very likely that her IQ would be very high. (Lecture, wk. 7.1,22) Matilda is aware of her self-identity. She knows who she is and would not let anyone push her around. The way Matilda is treated both at home and at school had impacts on her social developments. (Lecture, 7) This could also relate to Erikson’s theory of industry vs inferiority. (Lecture, wk. 8, 7) Although, she is treated unfairly, she does not have low self-esteem. Instead, she is able to use it to help build herself up in better ways. This