GOALS IN TEACHING LITERATURE
1. Development and extension of literary competence
Literary Competence: ability to internalize the grammar of literature which would permit a reader to convert linguistic sequences into literary structures and meaning.
2. Development and enhancement of the imagination and creativity
The different literary genres allow the readers to enter different worlds: realistic, fantastic, futuristic and even out of this world.
3. Development of students’ character and emotional maturity
Through literature, the students can discover and realize many universal truths and insights about the world and human nature.
4. Development of critical thinking
Students may be challenged to interrogate their own beliefs and practices and those of others.
5. Development of literary appreciation and a refined reading taste
The literary experience should provide students with a love of literature.
Why teach literature? (Duff and Maley, 1990)
ü Linguistic: In terms of language acquisition and learning, literary texts offer samples of a very wide range of styles, registers and text types at many levels of difficulty.
ü Methodological: Since literary texts are open to multiple interpretations, readers can have different opinions and ideas about a variety of topics. This provides the learners with the opportunity to engage in genuine interaction.
ü Motivational: Literary texts are non-trivial since they deal with matters which concerned the writer enough to make him/her write about them. Literary texts touch on the themes to which the learners can bring a personal response from their own experience.
PROCESSES IN STUDYING LITERATURE
How do readers respond to literature? How can we make our students respond to literature?
1. Description: Students can talk or write about what they read in their own words.
2. Discrimination: Students can discriminate among different literary types.
3. Relation: Students can relate several elements of a literary text to each other or to other texts.
4. Interpretation: Students can figure out what they think the author is saying and defend their interpretations.
5. Generalization: Students can draw out the main idea of a piece of literary work or an author’s style.
6. Evaluation: Students can evaluate the worth of a piece of literature using a set of criteria.
7. Valuing: Students can indicate the importance of literature to their own lives or to the world outside the text.
8. Creation: Students can respond creatively by making art projects, composing a musical medley, producing a music video, writing another stanza for a poem or another chapter to a novel, etc.
WHAT DO WE TEACH?
a. Short Stories: fictional works depicting one character’s inner conflict or conflict with others, usually having one thematic focus.
b. Novels: long works of written fiction.
Elements of Fiction
v Setting: This refers to the time and place in which a story takes place.
v Characters: They are usually the representations of human beings.
v Plot: This refers to the way the actions are arranged in the story.
Types of Plot
Linear: conventional
In Medias Res: story starts in the middle of things
Circular: conventional combined with flashbacks
Parts of the Plot
Exposition: introduction
Complication: onset of major conflict
Crisis: curiosity, uncertainty and tension are greatest
Climax: highest point of interest (decision, revelation, action or realization)
Denouement: finishing of things right after climax
v Point of view: This refers to the one who tells the story. The point of view can be:
Omniscient- delves into the thoughts of the characters
First Person- the narrator may be the protagonist, a minor character, an observer or the writer himself/herself
Third Person Limited Point of View- the narrator can only relate the actions or behavior of the characters
v Theme: This refers to the significant truth about or insight into the life and human nature that is illustrated in the actions, preoccupations, and decisions of the characters.
v Images: These are usually characterized by concrete qualities rather than an abstract meaning. These appeal to the senses.
v Symbols: These could be images or objects that stand for something other than themselves.
Elements of Poetry
v Sense: It is revealed through the words, images and symbols
a. Diction: This refers to the denotative and connotative meanings
b. Images and Sense Impressions: This refers to the words used that appeal to the sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch
c. Figures of Speech: These refer to the creative use of words or expressions that a poet uses to enhance the sense impression
v Sound: This is the result of the creative combination of words. The poet may resort to the use of alliteration, assonance, rhyme, repetition and anaphora
a. Rhythm: This is the ordered alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow of sound and silence
b. Meter: This refers to the duration, stress or number of syllabus per line
c. Rhyme Scheme: This is the formal arrangement of words and lines to fit together and the organization of the parts to the whole
v Structure: This refers to the arrangement of words and lines to fit together and the organization of the parts to form a whole
a. Word Order: the natural or unnatural order of words
b. Ellipsis: omitting some words for economy or effect
c. Punctuation: abundance or lack of punctuation marks
d. Shape: contextual or visual design, omission of spaces, capitalization or lower case
Types of Poems
v Lyric Poems: express the author’s mood, emotion or reflection in a musical language. It derives its name from the lyre, and was primarily intended to be sung. Not all lyrics are sung but they are all melodious.
a. Ode: the most majestic type of lyric poetry. It expresses enthusiasm, lofty praise of some person, thing, deep reflection or restrained feeling.
b. Elegy: it can always be distinguished by its subject matter, death.
c. Sonnet: it is distinguished by its form, for it always consists of 14 iambic pentameter lines
d. Song: short lyric poem which is intended primarily to be sung.
e. Simple Lyric: category of the lyrical poems that do not properly belong to the other types of lyric poetry
v Narrative Poems: tells a story of love, adventure or romance
a. Epic: long narrative poem about the exploits of a supernatural hero
b. Ballad: tells the story of ordinary people
c. Metrical Tale: an ordinary love story in verse
d. Metrical Romance: medieval verse tale based on legends, chivalric love and adventure or the supernatural
Literary Devices in Poetry
v Figures of Speech
a. Simile: comparison of two things by using the words like or as
b. Metaphor: direct comparison of two unlike things or ideas
c. Personification: gives human traits to inanimate objects or ideas
d. Synecdoche: using parts for a whole
e. Metonymy: using another word which is clearly identifiable or associated with the idea referred to
f. Hyperbole: Exaggeration
g. Apostrophe: direct address to something inanimate or dead or absent
h. Oxymoron: using contradictory terms
i. Litotes: giving an assertion by means of negation or understatement
j. Allusion: refers to any scientific, historical, mythological, literary or biblical event or figure
k. Paradox: phrase or statement that on the surface seems contradictory but makes some kind of emotional sense
v Sound Devices
a. Onomatopoeia: use of words that imitate the sound of the idea it denotes
b. Alliteration: repetition of consonant sound, especially in the initial position
c. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds
d. Rhyme: repetition of sounds at the end of words
e. Anaphora: repetition of word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses or verses
3. ESSAY (a prose composition of moderate length usually expository in nature, which aims to explain or clear up an idea, a theory, an impression or a point of view)
Parts of an Essay
v Introduction
v Main Body
v Conclusion
Types of Essay
v Formal/Impersonal Essay: deals with a serious subject and important topic like philosophy, science, politics and religion. It has an authoritative and scholarly subject.
v Informal/Familiar Essay: covers light, ordinary, or even trivial subject matters in a conversational, friendly and often humorous tone, but equally insightful as that of the formal essay.
Theatrical Styles
v Arena: theatre style of the Greeks. The actors are surrounded on all sides by the audience and they make entrances and exits through the aisles. This establishes an intimate relation with the audience.
v Medieval Theatre: this used staging areas called mansions inside churches and portable wagons wheeled about outside the churches.
v Elizabethan Theatre: this used a wooden structure providing an enclosed space around a courtyard open to the sky. The enclosed structure generated an intimacy and involvement between the actor and the audience.
v Proscenium: the stage used in the 19thCentury. This stage distances the audience from the play, providing a clear frame behind which the performers act out their scenes unaware of the audience’s presence.
v Eclectic: this is the theatre of the modern times. It uses arena, proscenium and every other kind of staging.
Genres of Drama
v Tragedy: shows the downfall and destruction of a noble or outstanding person, traditionally one who possesses a character weakness called a tragic flaw. The tragic hero, through choice or circumstance, is caught up in a sequence of events that inevitably results to disaster.
v Comedy: intended to interest and amuse audience rather than make them deeply concerned about events that happen. The characters encounter some difficulties, but they overcome their ill fortune and find happiness in the end.
v Tragicomedy: a play that does not adhere strictly to the structure of tragedy. This is usually a serious play that also has some of the qualities of comedy.
v Farce: has very swift movements, has ridiculous situations and does not stimulate thought.
v Melodrama: show events that follow each other rapidly but seems to be governed always by chance. The characters are victims in the hands of merciless fate.
Elements of Drama
v Plot: Sequence of events in the drama
Exposition: introduces the setting, characters and the basic situation
Inciting Incident: introduces the central conflict
Development: the conflict runs its course and usually intensifies
Climax: conflict reaches a high point of interest or suspense
Resolution: conflict is ended
Denouement: ties up the loose ends that remain after the resolution
v Characters: the entire shape of the action derives from the characters’ strengths and weaknesses
v Setting: time and place in which the action takes place
v Dialogue: speeches of the characters used to advance the action
Soliloquy: speech which an actor, usually alone on the stage, utters his/her thoughts aloud, revealing personal feelings.
Aside: short speech made by the character to the audience which, by convention, the other characters on stage do not hear.
v Movement: these are keyed to the structures of the speeches
v Music: are sometimes incorporated for dramatic effect.
v Theme: the message, central action, or what the play is all about.
THE LITERATURE TEACHER: REQUISITES AND DEMANDS
1. Literary competence
The teacher of literature must not only be literature literate, but more importantly literary competent himself/herself.
2. Broad reading background
The teacher of literature must not be just one paragraph or one book ahead of his/her students. He/She must have read a lot of literature before even venturing to teach it.
3. Love for literature
The students must sense that their teacher in literature oozes with love for literature in the way he/she discusses literary texts, gives ready examples, quote lines of poetry or passages from fiction or drama, or talks about the authors.
4. Emotional maturity and experience
Certain topics and themes in literature need to be handled carefully and tactfully, without moralizing or pontificating or passing judgement on people, their religion, race, gender or class. He/She must remember that the object is to liberate the students’ minds from prejudices, biases or narrow-mindedness.
5. Knowledge of different methods, strategies and techniques
The teacher of literature constantly finds ways to make the teaching of literature meaningful, interesting, enjoyable and even unforgettable for his /her students.
6. Knowledge of students’ reading ability, language ability and interests
The teacher must know where the students are coming from—their ability level, what they have read, if they like acting, singing, writing or debating, what hobbies and habits they have, etc.
CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING METHODS, STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING LITERATURE
Teacher-Centered
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Learner-Centered
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Focus is on instructor
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Focus is on both students and instructor
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Focus is on language forms and structures (what the instructor knows about the language)
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Focus is on language use in typical situations (how students will use the language)
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Instructor talks; students listen
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Instructor models; students interact with instructor and one another
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Students work alone
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Students work in pairs, in groups, or alone depending on the purpose of the activity
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Instructor monitors and corrects every student utterance
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Students talk without constant instructor monitoring; instructor provides feedback/correction when questions arise
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Instructor answers students’ questions about language
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Students answer each other’s questions, using instructor as an information resource
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Instructor chooses topics
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Students have some choice of topics
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Instructor evaluates student learning
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Students evaluate their own learning; instructor also evaluates
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Classroom is quiet
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Classroom is often noisy and busy
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ü Traditionally, literature is taught through lecture and straight recitation. The teacher is the fountainhead of knowledge and sole authority of the correct interpretation of literary texts. In such a teacher-centered classroom, the students become passive recipients of knowledge. This set-up, although convenient for the teacher, could prove to be boring, unchallenging and monotonous.
ü A student-centered classroom gives students an opportunity to read and experience literature freely without fear of being reprimanded for not being able to guess the teacher’s interpretation. Students are encouraged to think on their own, to trust themselves and to feel confident about their own reading of literature.
This refers to the amount of time that the teacher and the students talk inside the classroom.
ü At the simplest level, teacher talk time (TTT) refers to how much the teacher talks during a lesson. However, this will vary according to the stage of the lesson. For example, the teacher needs to speak more when providing explanations of and examples for the target language early in the lesson. Elsewhere he may speak less as students need ample opportunity to practice the new material. Overall, however, the teacher should roughly limit his speaking to 20% to 30% of the class time, with the remainder devoted to speaking/use of the language by the students.
ü On the other hand, Student Talk Time (STT) should be around 80% during the course of the lesson. Their use of the language should further promote qualitative thought. For example, this means that choral drills, substitution drills, and other exercises remain important because students need these activities to become familiar with and absorb the target language. However, too many drills or other, similar activities result in students who switch off their brains. The fail to critically observe, analyze, and practice with the new language.
ü Talk time by the teacher and students accomplishes the following:
1. It allows the teacher to restrict his speaking to vital areas of the lesson. When he then speaks, students know the information is important. They listen more attentively and work harder to successfully process the information.
2. Students get to speak more. When students speak more, they have increased opportunities to become familiar with the new material.
3. Students have more chances to experiment with and personalize the language. They can mix previous vocabulary and grammar structures with the target language of the lesson, as well as steer conversations towards their individual interests.
4. As students speak more, they must also rely on their skills. For example, if two students fail to understand one another, they must work together to repair the miscomprehension. This better prepares the class for the real world, where they can’t rely on the teacher for help.
5. As the teacher speaks less, students have added opportunity for interest and challenge. For example, think back to your life as a student. Which classes did you enjoy the most, ones with a long lecture or ones that allowed active engagement?
ü Some guidelines in supplementing the printed page:
1. Developing response tasks and purposes for tasks. Select a text and think about what you would like students to learn from interpreting this text. Based on what you want students to learn, select some talk, writing, or drama tools that will best achieve what you want them to learn. By defining what you want students to learn, you can link your tasks to your purposes—what students will learn.
2. Devise some tasks, and for each task, define the purpose for that activity based on what you want students to learn from doing that task and from using the tools designed to fulfil an activity—for example, that you want students to learn how to contrast different cultures in a text so that they can define the conflicting forces shaping characters using a mapping tool. Then, write a clear set of directions for these tasks, including your purposes—students will want to know: “why are we doing this?”
3. Sequencing tasks. In formulating your tasks, you also need to think about how to best sequence tasks so that each tasks prepares students for subsequent tasks “first things first.” In thinking about sequencing tasks, you are continually asking, will students be able to do this task, and, if not, what can I do to prepare them for this task so that each task serves to prepare students for the next task. For example, rather than start out with a discussion of a text, you may need to prepare students for that discussion with some free writing or listing-questions tasks. Or, for a mapping task, you may first want to have students list different items to include in their maps.
4. Formulating alternative versions of tasks. Because you’ll be using the same or similar activities with different grade or ability levels, you will need to be able to create alternative versions of your tasks to match differences in students’ grade or ability levels. For younger grades or lower ability levels, you may need to provide more specific directions or scaffolding or you may need to substitute less difficult tasks. Even within the same class, you may need to provide some students with more structured directions than other students.
ü Students have different interest, needs, preferences, learning styles and abilities. A teacher of literature needs to address this fact about his/her students. They do not learn in the same way and they do not grasp the same things. A variety of methods, strategies and techniques could address different needs at different times. The teacher cannot insist on using the same method, strategy and technique all the time.
ü Here are some suggestions for adding variety in the literature classroom:
1. Reader's Theatre: Host a Reader's Theatre in which a book text is broken up into parts for pupils to read out loud. Have the children read from the script directly, adjusting their voices to reflect emotions. Reader's Theatre scripts are available online for free, in books or you can create your own. If you decide to create your own, choose a text that is loved within your classroom. Engage many children in your class by choosing a book that has multiple characters.
2. Writing Books: Ask your pupils to write their own books that are modeled after literature. Expose your class to a variety of writing styles. Plan out weeks where you will have an author study. During this study, read a collection of books by one author. With the students, notice different things that make the author's writing style unique. Show the children how they can then transfer this to their own writing. Give the students time after writing to share with their classmates what they have created.
3. Book Clubs: Create book clubs for children who are reading at a second-grade level or higher. Your book clubs should have around four students. Choose the literature they will read or ask the group to select the book. The students will all read the same book, but assign them different jobs. Jobs can consist of a director who leads the discussion and a wonderful word finder who looks for adjectives. Then, have the students gather together to discuss the book and share what they found and liked in the book.
4. Group Lessons: Expose your students to rich literature during story time and reading workshops. Choose a variety of books to provide an assortment of literature. Choose one child per week to do a literature review to the class. In his literature review, ask the child to identify the type of book, such as non-fiction, fiction, poetry, etc. Have the child share a brief overview of the book and finish with why he would recommend this book to his peers. Presenting what they read meets several standards and challenges children to think beyond the text.
5. Reading Aloud or Re-enactment: If you want to read through a specific section of a book as a class, one way to get the class involved is to choose students to read one paragraph each, choosing students at random. Students will not want to disrupt the reading by asking where you are in the book, so they will generally keep up. You can also have volunteers stand and read lines from different characters, if you are teaching a play. Getting students into character can help keep them involved in the reading.
6. Literature Movies with Discussion: If the book or play you are teaching is difficult to read, for example if it is written in archaic English, it can help to play segments of a movie made from the book. Movies are visually entertaining, and watching the characters and hearing them speak can help the class understand language of the time period while still seeing the action and events of the book. Lead a class discussion about the movie segments to make sure your class is better understanding the book.
ü The teaching of literature can very well be integrated with developing multiple intelligences. The choice of activities or tasks should consider the development of multiple intelligences.
ü HOWARD GARDNER'S NINE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES:
2. Logical/Mathematical Intelligence: the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system, the way a scientist or a logician does; or to manipulate numbers, quantities, and operations, the way a mathematician does.
3. Musical Rhythmic Intelligence: the capacity to think in music; to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, and perhaps manipulate them. People who have strong musical intelligence don't just remember music easily, they can't get it out of their minds, it's so omnipresent.
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence: the capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body (your hands, your fingers, your arms) to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of production. The most evident examples are people in athletics or the performing arts, particularly dancing or acting.
5. Spatial Intelligence: the ability to represent the spatial world internally in your mind -- the way a sailor or airplane pilot navigates the large spatial world, or the way a chess player or sculptor represents a more circumscribed spatial world. Spatial intelligence can be used in the arts or in the sciences.
6. Naturalist Intelligence: the ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) and sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can't do, and to know where to go if they need help.
8. Interpersonal Intelligence: the ability to understand other people. It's an ability we all need, but is especially important for teachers, clinicians, salespersons, or politicians -- anybody who deals with other people.
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