Teaching literature to young adults is one of the most challenging and enriching careers’ someone could have. Teachers must keep their students engaged while teaching them what they need to know all at the same time. A teacher is only successful in her job unless her students are successful in their studies. I want to teach my students what they need to know to be successful in life, but I also want to show my students how to become lifelong readers. In order to accomplish both goals I must use my teaching tools to provide students with an enriching classroom. Literature is open to interpretation, and I know that literature will speak differently to each and every student. All of my future students will come from different cultures, and they will use their unique backgrounds and prior experiences to make sense of the literature in front of them. This is transactional theory in that the reader will give to, and take from, the reading that which makes sense to him or herself. Louise M. Rosenblatt’s Transactional Theory says there are two modes of reading: efferent and aesthetic (Rosenblatt 35). Rosenblatt says, “Instead of thinking of the text as either literary or informational, efferent or aesthetic, we should think of it as written for a particular predominant attitude or stance, efferent or aesthetic on the part of the reader” (35). I believe that students approach and comprehend texts through efferent and aesthetic reading (Rosenblatt 35). Students who read for information that is required are reading through an efferent lens. For example students may read in an efferent stance when they study for exams or read non-fiction literature. Students may read aesthetically as well, when they are reading for the “pleasure and the rew... ... middle of paper ... ...est them. With the understanding of Rosenblatt’s Transactional Theory, I can mold myself into an educator that teaches for the students. I will accept and understand that each student will learn through different processes, at different levels, and by different texts. In my future classroom, I will strive towards creating and comforting environment in which students can enrich themselves in books that they have chosen. I will create a challenging curriculum that leaves room for student input and adaptations. Through mini-lessons I can teach important reading skills. With the flexibility of literature circle groups, students can practice their professional skills as well as their reading skills. Giving students choices in the classroom will invite intellectual growth and creativity. My ultimate goal for students is to leave with a desire to seek more information.
Prose has noticed through her experience that college students are unable to read even the basic pieces of literature. Some are also “incapable of doing the close line-by-line reading necessary to disclose the most basic information.” This is due to the little concentration and focus on the writing of a book. These students are also the ones who loathe literature. The students are quick to make judgements about books and their character because they have been taught that in high school. This is taught to them through reading questions asking about the student’s opinion on a certain character or even the author. This diverts their minds totally from learning about literature to learning about how to judge a character or story.
What goes through your mind when you read? Do you read deliberately, looking for certain aspects, or do you read as a blank slate? When reading, professors expect a deliberateness that will help you to uncover meanings that are not readily apparent. Thomas C. Foster in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” expands on this concept. He endeavors to instruct his readers in the way he believes they should read, in order to get the most out of each book. He concedes that, “When lay readers encounter a fictive text, they focus, as they should, on the story and the characters” but to truly read like a professor you must also divert a portion of your attention on “other elements of the novel” such as “memory… symbol… [And] pattern” (Foster, 15). Foster clarifies
Each year as I grow old, I tend to discover and learn new things about myself as a person as well as a reader, writer and a student as a whole. My educational journey so far has been pretty interesting and full of surprises. Back in Bangladesh where I studied until high school, my interest for learning, reading or writing was so very different compared to how it has become over the years. I could relate those learning days to Richard Rodriquez’s essay “The lonely Good Company of Books”. In the essay the author says, “Friends? Reading was, at best, only a chore.”(Rodriguez, page 294). During those days I sure did feel like reading was a chore for me and how I was unable to focus and I could never understand what all those jumbled up words ever meant. It was quite a struggle for me in class when the teachers used to assign us reading homework. I felt like reading a book was more difficult or painful than trying to move a mountain. Just like how moving a mountain is impossible, trying to find an interest in reading was
Literature is such a beautiful thing because it does not give us an answer to it's questions. There are so many iffy spots that leave us to develop our own thoughts and feelings toward the piece of work. This is an interesting factor because at many times it affects us in a different way and can develop us as an individual. When reading a piece of literature, one person can interpret it in different ways than another person reading the same piece of work. I remember analyzing poems with my English class in the previous years and when we were asked to interpret it, we all had different answers. Sometimes what I got out of the poem didnt even go close to the direction that my classmate was going in. However, when I saw it from her view I saw more of where they were coming from I learned more about them.
Donald M. Murray, in this article entitled “Reading as a Reader” is talking about how reading is an unique, an essential, and a necessary aptitude for human beings in their society. While illustrating his point of view, the author stresses on the idea that our attitudes towards reading is directly linked to the systematic approaches we have while facing a article or a book. In this article, he said that: “If we approach a text believing that we are not readers, or that we can’t read, that attitude may make it more difficult for us to understand the challenging text.”(Murray, 2). Throughout those words, Murray emphasizes that we should consider the process of reading as a learning process, and as a way of deepening the capacity we have as readers. We should have an open-mind while engaging with a reading, and understand that it may always not be our fault if it comes that the text we are reading is difficult. In clear, it is all part of the process of improving ourselves. Then, Murray, in his well structured writing, portrays differents types of reading and also gives us some tips on how to approach them.
Adolescent literature will always be challenged, as long as there are children in this world. This may be a hot topic to touch debate about whether which books are appropriate to be used in the academic environment. Though, the purpose of these debatable senses is to provide the best and proper education for young adults to maturity. Developing the best literature for young adults requires team work and trials that will improve the value of a text decided among parents, students, and teachers. Again, the selection of these adolescent literatures is to promote maturation that would prepare your kids and my kids for the reality and future situations in their lives.
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
People read literature an abundance of times, but yet many don’t actually undergo the appreciation of the novel. Some overlook pieces of the novel and consider it insignificant to the whole story because those readers are inexperienced. The book, How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, allows readers and students to fully comprehend the meaning behind the book, making them assured to read “like a professor”. Letting the reader to go further in depth surely helps their analytical thinking to flourish. Having no boundaries when analyzing, Foster sure provided plenty of creative imagination discussing about archetypes and how we should consider the character’s perspective.
Begrens, Laurence; Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 7th ed. New York, Longman, 2000. 320-322.
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Through Literature, we discover ourselves and world time and again.
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).
Literature has an enormous impact on a child’s development during the early years of his or her life. It is important for parents and teachers to instill a love of reading in children while they are still young and impressionable. They are very naive and trusting because they are just beginning to develop their own thoughts, so they will believe anything they read (Lesnik, 1998). This is why it is so important to give them literature that will have a positive impact. Literature can make children more loving, intelligent and open minded because reading books gives them a much wider perspective on the world. Through reading, children’s behavior can be changed, modified or extended, which is why books are so influential in children’s lives while they are young (Hunt, 1998). Literature has the power to affect many aspects of a child’s life and shapes their future adult life.