"Teaching" Literature

Recently I did an observation of a professor in his American Lit. class. Shortly afterwards, I fell upon this essay on my hard drive that I prepared as a short speech for an orientation meeting of our department a few years ago. I was on a panel about integrating writing and interaction in our literature classes. I'm glad I found it because it really is my approach to teaching.

I think I'll open with a little story about myself, or perhaps a confession. I was often a child who stole collections of literature and poetry from the schools I attended. Actually, from about 7th grade on. This is not a 12 step confession of a klepto, but an insight into how very much I loved literature and poetry. I wanted to keep many of the textbooks my teachers loaned us, but I couldn't afford them. A loophole presented itself--if a schoolbook was lost or stolen, the person responsible for it only had to pay a used book type of fine so it could be replaced. I acquired quite a library which I still have to this day, and actually, as my teachers caught on, many of them gave me throw away books that were slated to be replaced. I loved literature then, and I still do.

Now, as I teach core literature courses, I discover that apparently very few students have been "stealing" literature books--in fact, it becomes evident that just getting many of the students to buy a book is a major accomplishment. And I really don't have time to wonder why. What I want to do is what obviously someone did for me in the past when they invited me into the world of literature in a way that made me become involved and wanting to read more and becoming a lifelong reader.

It's become clear to me that most students will start the class uncertain about whether or not they will get anything out of it other than to pass a literature requirement. I also believe that many, all too many, students do not have a working knowledge of literary terms, and in fact, have rarely looked at literature through a writer's eye, but rather only through the eyes of whether or not the story is entertaining. Entertainment seems to be a biggie in our fast food, short attention span culture.

With these things in mind, I try to make sure I am clear about what we're reading, why we're reading it (whether it's of historical importance, a literary marker, or whatever), who wrote it, and some literary terms that might be helpful to use in our analytical discussions. I've found that the students don't have to fake knowing these terms if the terms are covered briefly in class, and in fact, a working literary vocabulary often is seem as an invitation to become an insider to the academic world. If we discuss what we're doing and why we're doing it, it makes for a partnership.

I use discussion and I use writing as our tools to enter our literary adventures. Luckily many students have had quite a bit of writing before they come into the core literature classes. They are familiar with analytical essay forms, although they may or may not be adept with them. I want to broaden the writing possibilities--I want them to mirror what we are doing as we look into the crafting of the literature we read. I try to accomplish this reciprocal agreement between reading and writing by having small and large group discussion on a thought provoking question I've given them to respond to either extend their thinking about what they've read, or to examine it in a different way. I give them frequent writing assignments that will take on different forms that mirror the types of genres we have been reading. For example, when reading Aesop's Fables or Sappho's poems, I might have them try their hand at writing a contemporary fable, or their own Sapphoic poem. Or after reading Luis Valdez' one act play, "The Buck Private," and August Wilson's "Fences," have them work in small groups to create their own one act play---the script typed in proper form--to be presented in class. Each person then writes a process response paper about the challenges they encountered and how or if they overcame them. Another example is after reading Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried,' either write an essay about the things they carry, or about the things they see contemporary society carrying.

I think it is important to continually try to extend my thinking about creative ways to engage the students in looking at, thinking about, and appreciating literature through writing. I've found that students' energy levels do grow through these kinds of discussions and writing assignments. I like the discussions to get heated, with students questioning their own interpretations as well as others, and defending them by citing places within the text. These kinds of things also help to keep students away from those easy access essays and summaries on the internet, from plagerizing papers and thought, and thereby cheating themselves. I want them to be excited about literature, have some actual insights into, involvement with, and appreciation for the written word. I challenge them, and they challenge me. I know I've succeeded when I hear some of my students say they are going to keep the books rather than turn them back for cash at the bookstore. I imagine they may be building their own libraries.