Literature

Goals of Teaching Literature

 Develop and/or extend literary competence. Jonathan Culler defines literary
competence as the ability to internalize the grammar of literature which would
permit a reader to convert linguistic sequences into literary structures and
meaning.
 Develop and/or enhance learners imagination and creativity.
 Develop students character and emotional maturity.
 Develop creative thinking.
 Develop literary appreciation and refine ones reading taste.

Methods in Teaching Literature

 Lecture Methods : formal, informal, straight recitation
 Discussion Methods : pair work, buzz group, group work
 Public Speaking Methods : memorizing, interpretive reading (Readers
Theater, Chamber Theater), debate, panel forum
 Audio-Visual Methods : using slides, transparencies, film, vcd, dvd,
 Project Methods : scrapbook making, exhibit/diorama, dramatization, literary
map, time line, video/audio scriptwriting
 Field Research Methods : field trip, author interview
 Creative Writing Methods : journal writing, closure writing, team writing, writing
workshop

Some Strategies and Techniques in Teaching Literature

 Show and Tell and Blurb Writing using the title and cover design
 Movie Poster and Movie Trailer transforming a literary piece into film
 Writing Chapter Zero / Epilogue writing a prequel or sequel
 Mock Author Interview assigning a student to play the role of
the author Biographical Montage compiling authentic materials about the author
 Graphic Representations using sketching or other visual representations
 Sculpting making a tableau or montage
 Creative Conversation, Speech Balloons, or Thought Bubbles supplying
dialogues
 Worksheets completing grids or writing responses
 Transforms translating or turning a piece into another genre

Literary Criticism
Literary Criticism involves the reading, interpretation and commentary of a
specific text or texts which have been designated as literature.
Literary criticism is the application of a literary theory to specific texts.
Literary theory identifies what makes literary language literary and the function
of literary text in social and cultural terms.

 Classical Literary Theory

 Mimesis (Plato) literature is an imitation of life.
 Dulce et utile (Horace) function of literature is to entertain or to
teach/instruct
 Sublime (Longinus) style may be low, middle, high, or sublime
 Catharsis (Aristotle) purgation of negative emotions of fear and pity

 Historical Biographical and Moral Philosophical Approaches

 a. A literary work is a reflection of its authors life and times or the life and
times of the characters in the work.
 b. It emphasizes that literature functions to teach morality and to probe
philosophical issues.Romantic Theory. William Wordsworth articulated it in his
Preface to the Lyrical Ballads as literature whichshoulda. have a subject matter that
is ordinary and commonplace b. use simple language, even aspiring to the
language of prosec. make use of the imaginationd. convey a primal, simple,
uncomplicated feelinge. present similitude in dissimilitude (similarities in
differences) New Criticism believes that literature is an organic unity. To use
this theory, one proceeds by looking into thefollowing : the persona, the
addressee, the situation (where and when), what the persona says,
the centralmetaphor (tenor and vehicle), the central irony, the multiple
meaning of words.Psychoanalytical Theory – applies Freudian
psychoanalytic ideas to literature.a. It looks into the characters or authors
motivations, drives, fears, desires. b. It believes that creative writing is like
dreaming it disguises what cannot be confronted directly the criticmust
decode what is disguised.Mythological / Archetypal Approach is based
on Carl Jungs theory of collective unconscious.a. Repeated or dominant
images or patterns of human experience are identified in the text. b. It also
uses Northrop Fryes assertion that literature consists of variations on a
great mythic theme thatcontains the following : (1) the garden : the creation
of life in paradise, (2) alienation : displacement or banishment from paradise,
(3) journey : a time of trial and tribulation, (4) epiphany : a self-discovery as
aresult of struggle, (4) rebirth / resurrection : a return to paradise.Structuralist
Literary Theory comes from the linguistic theory of Ferdinand de Saussure
which recognizeslanguage as a system or structure. To Vladimir Propp and
Tzvetan Todorov , structuralism should identify thegeneral principles of
literary structure and not to provide interpretations of individual texts. Three
dimensionsin individual literary texts :a. the text as a particular system or
structure in itself (naturalization of a text) b. texts are unavoidably influenced
by other texts (intertextuality)c. the text is related to the culture as a whole
(binary oppositions)Deconstruction interrogates our common practices in
reading and exposes the gaps, incoherences, thecontradictions in a discourse
and how the text undermine itself or how a text contradicts itself.
Deconstructiondraws much from the works of Jacques Derrida. The process
involvesa. identifying the oppositions in the text b. determining which
member is favored/privileged and looking for evidence that contradicts itc.
exposing the texts indeterminancyRussian Formalism led by
Viktor Shklovsky aims to establish a science of literature and discover
theliterariness of a text by highlighting the devices and technical elements used by the
author. These elementsshould include : baring the device e.g. distorting time in
various ways foreshortening, skipping, expanding, transposing,reversing,
flashback, flashforward, etc.defamiliarization this means making strange and
using fresh ways of describing thingsretardation of the narrative the
technique of delaying and protracting actions by using
digressions,displacements, extended descriptions, etc.naturalization – refers
to how we endlessly become inventive in finding ways of making sense of
the mostrandom or chaotic utterances or discourse.carnivalization Mikhail
Bakhtin used this term to describe the shaping effect of carnival on literary
texts. Thefestivities associated with the carnival are collective and popular;
hierarchies are turned on their heads (fools become wise; kings become
beggars); opposites are mingled (fact and fantasy, heaven and hell); the
sacred is profaned; the rigid or serious is subverted, mocked or loosened.
Marxist Literary Theory. It aims to explain literature relation to society that literature
can only be properly understood within a largerframework of social reality. Marxist
literary critics would like to look at the structure of history and societyand then
investigate whether the literary work reflects or distorts this structure. They insist that
literature has asocial dimension it exists in time and space, in history and society.
Moreover, writers are constantly formed bytheir social contexts and social
class.Feminist Criticism. Branching out from Marxism, it is a political discourse; a
critical and theoretical practicecommitted to the struggle against patriarchy and
sexism.a. Feminism asks why women played a subordinate role to men in society.It
studies the male-dominated canon to understand how men have used culture to further
their domination ofwomen. b. It studies literature by women for how it addresses or
expresses the particularity of womens life andexperience. Feminist critics insist that
womens experience is different from mens.Postcolonial Criticism. Postcolonialism
refers to the independence enjoyed by Third World countries after thedecline of
colonial rule by imperialist powers. The many concerns of postcolonial criticism
includes thefollowing :a. attempt to resurrect their national culture and to combat the
misconceptions about their culture b. dramatize the colonial experience and their response
to itc. escape from the implicit body of assumptions to which the language of the
colonizing power, English, wasattached.d. study diasporic texts outside the usual
Western genres, especially works by aboriginal authors, marginalizedethnicities,
immigrants, and refugees.e. analyze nationality, ethnicity, and politics with
poststructuralist ideas of identity and indeterminacy, andhybrid constructions (Homi
K. Bhaba)Post Modern Literary Theory. Postmodern refers to the culture of advanced
capitalist societies, which hasundergone a profound shift in the structure of feeling.
Postmodern texts have the following features :a. fragmentation g. intertextuality b.
discontinuity h. decenteringc. indeterminacy i. dislocationd. plurality j. ludisme.
metafictionality k. parodyf. heterogeneity l. pasticheLinguistic Approaches to
Reading
Bloomfield Approach Leonard Bloomfield and Clarence Barnhart advocate that the child should be
acquaintedwith the letters of the alphabet at the very start. The child should begin with
capital letters and then go to smallletters.Fries Approach Charles Fries basic concept :
Learning to read in ones native language is learning to shift, totransfer, from auditory
signs for the language signals which the child has already learned to visual or
graphicsigns for the same signals for language perception. The aim is to develop high-
speed recognition responses toEnglish spelling patterns.Eclectic ApproachReading as
interest development of the recreational reading habit; the major approach
is personalized orindividualized reading.Reading as language processLanguage
Experience Approach a strategy which views reading as an extension of
speaking :thinking/experiencing, talking, writing, reading.Psycholinguistic Approach
view reading as an interaction of thought and language, a process of
combining psychology and linguistics. This approach advances that reading, like
listening, is a receptive process, used tounderstand a written message, that readers
reconstruct the authors meaning in their own words.Reading as culture focuses on the
relation between dialect differences and the written message as well as onones
cultural heritage. It makes instruction relevant to the pupils cultural
background.Reading as a learned process emphasizes on controlled development
of skills in a structured sequence progressing from simple to complexThe Basal
Textbook Approach follows this general format : scope-and-sequence or flow chart
for all an overallview of skills; kindergarten readiness workbooks; first grade, second
grade and above skillbooks; teachersguides and assessment tests. The standard basal
text lesson follows these steps: background or motivationvocal
development purposeful or guided silent readingdiscussion purposeful rereadingskill
instruction in word recognition, comprehension skill with the use of
workbooksenrichment activitiesThe Linguistic Approach look at reading as recognizing
and interpreting graphic symbols representing spokensounds which have meaning.
It stresses sound-symbol regularity and systematic exposure to frequently
usedsounding patterns.The Phonics Approach believes that the English spelling
system is essentially regular in its correspondence between letters and speech sounds
and that letter sounds can be blended together to form words. For secondlanguage
learners short phonics drills on crucial sounds like f, v, j, sh, th, z, a and the schwa are
needed.Programmed Instruction includes step-by-step learning, learning, immediate
feedback, regular and constantreview and individual progress through materials.The
Skills Monitoring Approach reading is analyzed in terms of skills arranged in
hierarchies. This approachentails(1) a scope and sequence chart of reading skills(2) a
battery of tests for preassessment of reading abilities(3) based on test results,
instruction to adjust to pupils interest, abilities, and needs(4) a continuous assessment
using both formative and summative tests(5) a corrective or remedial measures(6) an
adequate and challenging enrichment activities for the bright pupils.