Teaching Literary Analysis

While talking with my parents over lunch, the subject of teaching the novel and analysis came up. My Dad was reflecting on his English education at Rosseau Lake College, saying that his teacher would have him read a book, then ask "So, what was it about?". As a high school student, he would of course respond with a literal summary of the story, but have no idea of the great significance, themes, symbols or intertextuality present in a text. His teacher would then explain "The Meaning"of the novel, and my Dad would respond by saying "Yeah....I didn't get that". My Dad went on to philosophize that this seems to the the backwards way of teaching analysis. He explained that he would teach a novel by telling his students the greater significance before they read a chapter, telling them what to look for, what themes to watch for, so that students can read a text with purpose and interest. I explained that analysis is something that has to be learned, and that we don't "give away" the answers before students read because it is meant to be a constructivist inquiry process where students create their own meaning and are responsible for their own learning. He argued that this method is obsolete if students don't have analytical skills under their belt yet. I explained that analysis comes with practice, and that the more texts you read the greater your understanding of themes, archetypes and intertextuality.
Teaching English seems to have evolved from a focus "the basics" such as grammar, punctuation, and the parts of a sentence to more of an emphasis on "the bigger picture", on identifying greater themes and connecting them to our lives. My Mom couldn't remember the name of a single book she read in high school, suggesting that aside from teaching her to write well, her English education had little impact on her life. In a recent interview to teach overseas in the U.K. my interviewer informed me that in England the focus remains on the structure of writing, instead of the big picture. These conversations got me thinking about what is most important in an English education. Is it more important that our students understand how to use commas and pronouns or that they are able to identify bigger themes in a text? Are these ideologies mutually exclusive? Should structural writing be taught in elementary school so that we can move on to textual analysis in the secondary years? Are we doing our students a disservice by focusing on one more than the other? Something to ponder as I continue through my career as an English teacher.

Aggressively Inarticulate...

I was exposed to this video during a class discussion on slam poetry. At first it made me genuinely laugh out loud, but then after the second & third viewing- it made me really think.  Initially I was struck with the idea that this was simply a product of the older generation lamenting their increasingly obsolete role in a world full of growing & changing technology which they may fail to master. The idea that every single generation since "you know, a long time ago" has philosophized about & criticized the next generation for their: taste in music, books, movies, dance, fashion, moral character, family values, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and the ability to express themselves. If we consider the way the English language was spoken even one hundred years ago, we will see how it has evolved, how the way that we express our thoughts has changed. My first thought was that the Baby Boom Generation has no right to critique the way we express ourselves- the hypocrisy would simply be unbearable. To be criticized by the generation who changed the world in terms of their: taste in music, books, movies, dance, fashion, moral character, family values, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and the ability to express themselves......would simply make no sense. Well....yes.... there is slang, and short forms meant to accommodate the ever increasing pace of our technological lives & yet I would venture to speculate that Shakespeare would take issue with the way that even the more articulate person of the older generation expresses themselves today. Expression through language has always been an ever changing force.............however, this was only my first thought.
I then began to consider why it is that we attach "invisible question marks" & "parenthetical- you knows" to the ends of declarative sentences. Is Mr. Mali correct? Is it "uncool to sound like you know what you're talking about"? Or to "believe strongly in what you're, like, saying"? What has caused this phenomenon? What has happened to us as a generation to cause us to be uninvested in our own opinions? Who has infected us with this uncertainty & insecurity? So much so that we feel the need to invite others to agree with us & validate our thoughts and feelings by using "right?" or "you know?" at the ends of our sentences? I do not believe that it is a lack of internal conviction. I also believe that it is dismissive to suggest that it is because this generation has "nothing to say". How can we as teachers encourage our students to speak with authority & conviction if we fail to understand the causes of the generational condition of uncertainty.
Is the internet responsible? Have we become so accustomed to having ways of finding people who share our exact taste in music, books, movies, dance, fashion, moral character & family values- that we have lost any reason to have to support & defend out beliefs with logic, reason and conviction? If someone disagrees with our beliefs & opinions- we can simply refuse to engage in thoughtful debate, because we have an online community who believes what we believe.
I don't know.
Have people have become so afraid of any kind of conflict or confrontation that we have lost our desire and ability to thoughtfully express ourselves? Have we have become "aggressively inarticulate" in order to protect ourselves from having to expose the truth of our thoughts, beliefs & feelings, in order to shield ourselves from disagreement?

Lesson Plan..... All Redesigned Up

When redesigning this lesson, I was looking for a way to incorporate visuals to my short story organizer and character web. The short story "The Kayak" does not have a visual component to present to students. For reluctant readers or visual learners, my previous lesson did not have an aspect to appeal to them and engage their interest. By using Glogster to have students both create a short story organizer and a character attribute web, you are giving them a chance to demonstrate their knowledge both in writing and visually. Students would be able to use their creativity to represent what they know about setting, characters, conflict, plot, theme and point of view. Incorporating Glogster into my short story lesson plan is a great way to utilize differentiated instruction in the classroom and hook student interest.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XRFgthPlvOyURfdC5IyxRIYfymqOoaiQ7o1-6Tl-ueA/edit?usp=sharing