The principle of child relativity and virtues in Ahmet Mithat Efendi's novels

Hundreds of thousands of works have been written on child education from past to present. An important part of these works are children's stories and novels. Ahmet Mithat Efendi is one of the authors who give importance to the subject of children. Ahmet Mithat Efendi, in each of his works, wants to give a lesson to his reader as a message. He tries to convey these messages sometimes through his heroes and sometimes as a writer himself. Sometimes it leaves the choice to the reader. Again, raising virtuous people is an important issue in every society. Due to this importance, many academic studies have been carried out in this field in recent years. The subject of Virtue in some of Ahmet Mithat Efendi's novels has been examined from this point of view so that we can make a contribution in this field. The virtues identified in the novels were also evaluated as being relative to the child. Considering the scope of the subject, ten novels of Ahmet Mithat Efendi were taken as the basis. The novels based on the analysis are as follows: Felatun Bey ile Rakım Efendi, Hüseyin Fellâh, A Turk in Paris, Acayib-i Alem, Girl with Diploma, Bahtiyarlık, Dürdane Hanım, Vah, Hayret, Demir Bey or İnkişaf-ı Esrar. In this context, the subject of our thesis was determined as the Principle of Relativity to Children and Virtues in Ahmet Mithat Efendi's Novels. The study consists of two parts, conclusion and recommendations after the Preface and Introduction. In the Preface, the aim of the study was determined. In the introduction part of the study, brief information is given about the purpose, importance, material and method of the thesis. Here again, in order to establish a solid basis for the study, a title has been opened to all previous academic studies in this field with the sub-title of "Previous Academic Studies" and brief information about them is given. The title of the first part of the study is "Conceptual Framework". In the sub-titles, there are "Ahmet Mithat Efendi and the Novel", "The Characteristics of Children's Books", "Contribution of Novels to Child Education" and "Principle of Relativity to Children". Both in the introduction part and in this part, the theory part of the study has been tried to be formed. The top title of the second part of the thesis was formed as "Virtues and Relativity to the Child". In this section of the work analysis, the main material obtained under the general title of Virtues and Relativity to Children has been classified and analyzed. Virtues and the subject of relativity to the child; It has been classified as Justice, Perseverance, Generosity, Sharing, Solidarity, Brotherhood, Aid, Friendship, Honesty, Trust, Morality, Respect, Love and Loyalty. The findings were interpreted within the framework of these headings. Again, after briefly mentioning the meaning and importance of the words and concepts in this classification, it has been determined and examined how these subjects are handled in the novels that are based on the analysis. In the conclusion and suggestions part, all the findings were emphasized and the things to be done in this regard were presented to the attention of the entire academic community as a suggestion. Key Words: Ahmet Mithat, Novel, Story, Literature, Relative to Child, Virtue, Education.