1.Holland,Norman Norwood. Holland's Guide to Psychoanalytic Psychology and Literature-and-psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 1990.

      Holland's Guide to Psychoanalytic Psychology and Literature-and-psychology, by Norman Norwood Holland lays out guidelines by which a reader may use techniques and concepts common to psychology to analyze and understand literature.  Holland very succinctly describes the purpose of his treatise as such:  ”…using psychology, particularly psychoanalytic psychology to answer questions about literature and the arts. Why do people write and read literature ?  What do they get out of it? Why does this writer write in this particular style? Why does that character act that way?"  These questions are at the heart of what we hope to uncover about Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince and their shared legacy.

While Holland holds the guide as a means of understanding the psychoanalytic basis of a literary work, he is quick to acknowledge the short comings of this approach.   It is not enough to scrutinize literature using this rubric. One must take into account the “…clinical, social or historical setting.” Or risk falling prey to whatever criteria is most accessible or “in vogue.”   

I find Holland’s view that nothing is truly objective very refreshing.  He posits that everything is influenced by the self, and in trying to be objective we are only “minimiz(ing) personal vagary.” Such a caution has particular relevance to The Little Prince.  As a book beloved by many from childhood onward, it is very easy to allow emotions and ideas formed by an immature mind to color any deeper and obstensively objective analysis of the text.

By using the techniques outlined and discussed in the guide, we will hopefully be able to separate our own feelings and preconceived notions from the task at hand.  While this is not to say personal experience and attitudes won’t inform our work, we must remain vigilante in ensuring it does not detract from our empirical approach in the analysis of The Little Prince.

  2.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV.American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.; 4th edition, 2000

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4^th Edition, or DSM IV is considered to be the most comprehensive tool for the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders.   Published by the American Psychiatric Association, it first graced shelves in 1952 and a 5^th  edition is set for publication in 2012.

The DSM IV is used diagnose mental disorders, learning disabilities and to indentify various types of brain damage and other neurological infirmities.  However  “DSM-IV states, “there is no assumption each category of mental disorder is a completely discrete entity with absolute boundaries...” but isolated, low-grade and noncriterion (unlisted for a given disorder) symptoms are not given importance”(1) .  It is for this reason that symptoms are cross referenced allowing one to make the logical jump from symptom to symptom and hopefully arriving at a preliminary diagnosis.  Of course any findings made using the DSM IV will still require the qualified clinician to conduct a battery of tests in order to confirm any diagnosis but it proves to be an invaluable tool in determining what further steps, if any, will be needed.  

For the purposes of this project, the criteria and guidelines laid out by the DSM IV will allow us to draw the necessary inferences to fulfill the diagnostic portion of our various characters bios.  For example, the Drunken Man whom the little Prince encounters on his travels is most obviously suffering from advanced alcohol dependency.  In addition, one may infer from his actions and statements that he is a depressive and may be a risk for Korsokoffs disease, which a form of alcohol related dementia, due to his seemingly chronic and long term alcohol abuse.  

(1): (DSM IV, Wikipedia “Categorization”,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders)”  

 3.Brianne, “Brianne's Presentation: The Little Prince” 22 May 2008, retrieved February 9th, 2009

 <https://honors.rit.edu/amitraywiki/index.php/Brianne's_Presentation:_The_Little_Prince> 

 Brianne, whose is or was a student at the Rochester institute of Technology created a wiki page on The Little Prince.  In it she discusses some underlying themes of the book, such as the use language and loneliness, as well as the meaning behind the various characters and the significance of their dialog.   

 Brianne considers The Little Prince to be an allegory.  Thusly she argues the characters and events have a literal meaning in their relationship to the Little Prince as well as a relevance to the outside world.  The various planetary inhabitants the Little Prince encounters not only inform his journey, but represent the many foibles of the grown-up world and help to illustrate what can be lost in becoming an adult.

 Subjects such as religion and the significance of friendship as also discussed.   Many of the conclusions reached by Brianne have their origins in other sources online line, most notably Wikipedia and Sparknotes.  However, she manages to supersede this by adding her own take o the material as well as acknowledging the wide impact The Little Prince has had on generations of children and adults.

 For the purposes of our project, Brianne’s Presentation provides something of a framework as to how one should dissect The Little Prince.  She seems to be personal vested in the story and hopefully we can render a similar level of commitment in our work.

4. “Effective web design”. No Date. University of Essex. Retrived February 9th, 2009  <http://www.essex.ac.uk/wag/guides/good_webpages.htm>

          The University of Essex's page entitled “A guide to effective web page design” presents a number of tips for ensuring ones web page is easy to navigate and efficient. It also provides an overview of reader expectations and attitudes, such how people read web pages and the myriad ways by which a webpage may be reached.

While this tutorial is aimed primarily at educators, the information it contains is applicable to any who wish to improve the quality of their particular webpage.  The body of the page starts with the question, “Who reads webpages?” the answer, according to web usability specialist Jakob Nielse, “They Don’t.”  While this is of course hyperbole, remember that one of the keys to effective communication is to use few words while retaining meaning.  The author suggests breaking text up into smaller blocks and to maintain a direct, journalistic style.  While such an approach may not work for the more creative portions of our project, it will certainly apply to our introductory and explanatory material.

 The author also addresses less obvious concerns, particularly not neglecting the disabled or colorblind reader.  For example, having high text/background contrast or transcripts of audio and video files can help the visual or hearing impaired reader better experience the web page. By maximizing accessibility, you are in a much better position to maximize your potential audience.

  I feel that this webpage will prove invaluable as we move forward in our project.  While some of the author’s suggestion may seem obvious upon reading them, they are by no means intuitive.  This guide provides a frame work by which these ideas and concepts may be organized and hopefully best put to use.

5. Wsuvetadpi.   “Literature for All Time- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.  No Date. Retrieved February 9^th 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/wsuvetadpi/

           The author of this site, Wsuvetadpi , sets out to present the historical, personal and social circumstances under which Antoine de Saint-Exupéry lived and wrote The Little Prince.   The work starts with a short yet through retelling of Saint- Exupéry’s early life and leading to the circumstances that led him to war, marriage and self imposed exile in the United States.

          As the work moves onto the subject of The Little Prince we are treated to some interesting facts about Saint- Exupéry’s inspiration.  I was particularly interested to find that several characters took direct inspiration from Saint- Exupéry’s life, rather than the vague metaphors one might expect. While this shouldn’t be terrible surprising considering the allegorical nature of the novella, it makes the work all the more personal.  By also showing how much of Saint- Exupéry’s personal tragedies informed his work, Wsuvetadpi has done a fine job condensing the voluminous library of scholarship on his life.

The level of analysis Wsuvetadpi has put forth clearly demonstrate his or her admiration and respect for Saint- Exupéry and The Little Prince. As we seek to understand the psychoanalytic basis of his characters, knowing what helped shaped their creator will, at the very least, give us a starting point.