Teaching literature

+

ETD 2012 Teaching Literature C. Pierson, A-M. Reuter

+Aims and Objectives

n Sharing ideas and experiences around using literature in the English classroom

n Exploring different ways to approach literature

+Workshop outline

1.  Sound and poetry

2.  Literature and art

3.  Literature – a thematic approach

4. Ways to organise the reading of longer novels

+Sound & Poetry: Lewis Carroll: Jabberwocky

n  Youtube: illustrated version : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNFmHyXdJJ8

+Sound & Poetry: Lewis Carroll: Jabberwocky

n  Youtube: illustrated version : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNFmHyXdJJ8

•  Play sound only or read to class

•  Show pictures without sound

•  Play sound with pictures

n → L imagine story / L act out

•  Read and give meaning to nonsense words

•  L write their own nonsense word story and get class to guess

n → raise awareness to English sounds

+Sound & Poetry: Benjamin Zephania r’

I love me mudder and me mudder love me

we come so far from over de sea

we heard dat de streets were paved with gold

sometime it hot sometime it cold,

I love me mudder and me mudder love me

we try fe live in harmony

you might know her as Valerie

but to me she is mummy.

She shouts at me daddy so loud some time

she stays fit and she don’t drink wine

she always do the best she can

she work damn hard ina England,

+Sound & Poetry: Benjamin Zephania

n ‘I Luv Me Mudder’

n http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vJmLcU4FYY

n → explore sound, rhythm, non-standard English

n → get L to write standard English text

n → explore theme of immigration, racial conflicts, tolerance ... B. Zephania’s novel Refugee Boy

n → get L to write a poem ‘I love my ... and my ... loves me’

n → poem ‘dialogues’: in groups of 4, L listen to poem, take notes and try to recreate lines

+Benjamin Zephania

n Other poems: ‘Terrible World’ (variation on Louis Armstrong’s’ Wonderful World’)

n → Listen to Armstrong’s song and read Zephania’s poem, note differences

n →line: ‘I’ve seen ... the killer who’s the hero’ read article / view video: ‘New York City police shoot knife-wielding man near Times Square’ (12th August 2012)

n http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/aug/12/nypd-shoot-man-times-square-video

+John Agard: listen Mr Oxford Don

me not no oxford don me a simple immigrant from clapham common i didnt graduate i immigrate But listen mr oxford don i'm a man on de run and a man on de run is a dangerous one i ent have no gun i ent have no knife but mugging the queen's english is the story of my life i dont need no ax to split/ up yu syntax i dont need no hammer to mash/ up yu grammer

i warning you mr oxford don i'm a wanted man and a wanted man is a dangerous one

dem accuse me of asault on de oxford dictionary/ imagine a concise peaceful man like me/ dem want me serve time for inciting rhym to riot but i tekking it quiet down here in clapham common i'm not a violent man mr oxford don i only armed wit mih human breath but human breath is a dangerous weapon so mek them send one big word after me i ent serving no jail sentence i slashing suffix in self-defence i bashing future wit present tense and if neccesary i making de queen's english accessory/ to my offence.... ‘Listen Mr Oxford Don’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywy-Tthdg7w&feature=related

+John Agard: listen Mr Oxford Don

+Sound & Poetry: John Agard n  John Agard

•  ‘Poetry Jump-up’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9gA8hzmsbo

•  ‘Listen Mr Oxford Don’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywy-Tthdg7w&feature=related

n → explore sound, rhythm, dialect, non-standard English

n → get L to write standard English text

n → explore themes of immigration, cultural diversity, prejudice, stereotype

+Ernest Hemingway: The Killers


•  Reading comprehension / writing tasks write / draw a WANTED poster for killers

•  Drama: act out scene; add scenes (killers before / after this scene; diner employees before / after… )

+Ernest Hemingway Film: The Killers

n Film noir ‘The Killers’ (1946) (directed by Robert Siodmak) (available on youtube)

•  pre-reading activity: silent viewing: anticipation / dialogue writing / scene setting

•  post-reading activity: compare film version to short story

•  wanted: killer profile

+Film: The Killers


•  Edward Hopper, ‘NIGHTHAWKS’

+ Nighthawks n  Speaking practice / preparation for oral exams:

speculate on relationships between people; what happened before, will happen next;

n  Write speech/

thought bubbles;

give alternative title

+ Nighthawks

n Writing: write dialogue; write story before / after; write character description / profile

n Drama: act out scene

+Edward Hopper: other paintings •  Project: write a short story / dialogue / character profile

based on other Hopper paintings

•  Drama: act out scene

•  Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road (& film based on novel)

+Hemingway / Hopper

n Project work: do research on literature inspired by art / art inspired by literature

+The Lady of Shalott n  Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

n  Song by Loreena McKennit

n  Painting by John Williams Waterhouse

+ The Highwayman n  Poem by Alfred Noyes

n  Song by Loreena McKennit

n  Illustrations by Charles Keeping

+ Macbeth

n  Play by William Shakespeare

n  Paintings by John Henry Fuseli

n  Opera by Giuseppe Verdi

+ Hamlet n  Play by William Shakespeare

n  Opera by Ambroise Thomas

n  Ophelia painting by John Everett Millais

+Jan Vermeer / Tracy Chevalier

Girl with the Pearl Earring

+W.H. Auden: Musée des Beaux-Arts

Pieter Brueghel The Fall of Icarus & The Numbering at Bethlehem

+W.H. Auden: Musée des Beaux-Arts

About suffering they were never wrong,

The Old Masters: how well they understood

Its human position: how it takes place

While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; [..]

In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,

But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone […]

+Pieter Brueghel: The Fall of Icarus Multi-sensory approach: What do you see, feel (touch & emotions), hear, smell, taste? What movement do you anticipate next?

+ The Fall of Icarus n  Other poems:

n  ‘Icarus’ by Edward Field

n  ‘To A Friend Whose Work Has Come To Triumph’ by Anne Sexton

n  ‘Icarus by Mobile’ by Gareth Owen

n  Project work: explore other myths in literature: the ODYSSEY ‘Ulysses’ , Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses , James Joyce The Road, Cormac McCarthy (novel & film) Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier ‘O brother, where art thou’ (film directed by Joel Coen)

n  PROMETHEUS Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

+ The Fall of Icarus / Contemporary analogy

+controversial 9/11 photo

n www.guardian.co.uk Friday 2nd September 2011 article: ‘the meaning of 9/11’s most controversial photo’

n Reading comprehension

n Speaking practice / oral exam preparation

n Debating: Should this photo be published in a book commemorating 9/11?

n TBL: write a blog comment

n Five Minds for the Future / the ethical mind (Howard Gardner)

+ The ethical mind

n  How to act in the face of human misery?

n  Young Lebanese drive down a street in southern Beirut bombed by Israel (August 2006) (World Press Photo 07)

+ 9/11 and its legacy n  Project work: 9/11 and its aftermath (surveillance society;

war on terror; persecution of Muslims; George W. Bush’s 9/11 address: ‘you are either with us or against us’ echoing ‘you are either with the court or against it’ in The Crucible)

n  9/11 reading

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Froer

The Terrorist, John Updike Falling Man, Don De Lillo

Saturday, Ian McEwan

n  British film ‘Yasmine’

+ Love - Fanaticism

+n  Level: 3e (summer term); 2e

n  Project length: 3-12 weeks depending on which and how many texts are dealt with.

n  Texts:

Oscar Wilde,’ The Happy Prince’

Hanif Kureishi, ‘My Son the Fanatic’

Robert Cormier, After the First Death

Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

John Updike, The Terrorist

+ Aims and Objectives

n  discuss and explore the mechanisms of love turning into fanaticism;

n  evaluate the concepts of martyrdom and sacrifice;

n  explore how strong convictions can lead to glorious or disastrous developments;

n  explore the spirit that pushes idealists, radicals, rebels, fanatics

+ Moving towards the literary text: speaking, reading and listening activities

Warm-up:

n Brainstorm on different types of love and different ways of showing love.

n Try to define ‘love’. Compare your definition to that of OCD.

+ OCD: love

An intense feeling of deep affection or fondness for a person or a thing; great liking

+ Discuss: Children’s definitions of love

n  ‘Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.’ (Karl, aged 5)

n  ‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’ (Terry, 4)

n  ‘Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it every day.’ (Noelle, 7)

n  ‘If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.’ (Nikka, 6)

n  ‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.’ (Chrissy, 6)

Source: www.WebEnglishteacher.com

+ Read the following text: Some people, it seems, would do just anything for their loved one…

Roberto Filippi, a 27-year-old Italian man, became obsessed by a girl he saw in the Milan metro. Everyday as he took the 8.23 train to the Duomo, Roberto watched his loved one from a distance, until one day he found the courage to present her with some flowers on the return train back to the suburbs. She appreciated the gesture and they were soon going out together. It wasn’t long before she, Lorella moved town, and of course Roberto had to give up his job to follow her. Then it was election time, and Lorella managed to peruade Roberto, a lifelong communist, to vote against his instincts, for a neo-Fascist party. Soon after that, Lorella was arrested for a suspected racial attack, but she got Roberto to swear in court that she had in fact been with him on the night in question. A few months later, to escape another prosecution, Lorella left for the United States, and naturally Roberto followed her. In America, Lorella quickly became involved in a satanic cult. When Lorella asked Roberto if he’d be prepared to act as a human sacrifice, for the first time in their relationship he managed to say ‘no’.

(from A. Wallwork, Discussions A-Z)

+ After reading

n Identify the different steps Robert takes in his love for Lorella; evaluate the concessions Roberto makes and discuss how far you would have gone.

OR

n Tick the items 1-7 that you yourself would do for love. (cf. handout)

+So what would you do for your loved one? Would you:

n  Change your religion?

n  Give up your career?

n  Emigrate?

n  Tell a lie to the police to protect him/her?

n  Give up your friends?

n  Break all ties with your family?

n  Vote against your conscience in a political election?

+

n  Discuss the different concessions in groups and report back to the plenary their thoughts.

n  Alternatives: Songs (Meat Loaf: I would do anything for love; 2Pac: Do for Love; Kevin Hammond: What would you do for love)

+ Lexical fields to be explored

n Expressing opinions & beliefs

n Raising doubts & objections

n Compromise & concession

n Agreement & disagreement

Other uses of the discussion around love

n O. Henry, ‘The Christmas Presents’

n Any work that deals with love (Auden, ‘O tell me the truth about love’)

+Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince

Themes to be covered:

n The swallow’s sacrifice (love? madness?)

n The prince’s blindness

n The town’s indifference regarding poverty

n The end of the story (melodramatic? bitter? cynical?)

n The fairy tale elements

+Love! – Love? n Write a passage on what you feel the story’s main

idea is.

n Transition to fanaticism:

Do the prince and the swallow go too far?

+ Definitions

n Define ‘belief’

n Define ‘fanatic’

n Define ‘fanaticism’

+ OCD definitions

n Belief:

a person’s religion, religious conviction, a firm opinion

n Fanatic:

a person filled with excessive and often misguided enthusiasm for something

n Fanaticism:

excessive and often misguided enthusiasm for something (originally in the religious sense, from ‘fanum’, temple)

+ Hanif Kureishi, ‘My Son the Fanatic’ from Love in a Blue Time (collection of short stories)

Themes to be covered:

1. The son’s attitude to life

2. The father’s attitude to life

3. Who is the fanatic? Son? Father?

4. What causes fanaticism?

+‘My Son the Fanatic’ - extended n Connection to 9/11 and the US invasion of Iraq

n Film: ‘The Innocence of Muslims’

n Charlie Hebdo caricatures

n Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

n John Updike, The Terrorist

n Robert Cormier, After the First Death

+Lexis to be explored n isms: Which of the following isms express some

kind of belief?

n Divide up the isms into 3 categories of your choice

altruism, atheism, cannibalism, capitalism, communism, exorcism, fanaticism, fatalism, fascism, feminism, hedonism, hypnotism, imperialism, materialism, nationalism, optimism, pacifism, racism, sexism, snobbism, terrorism, tourism, vandalism, chauvinism, consumerism, criticism, cynicism, escapism, humanism, euphemism, journalism, socialism…

+Ways of reading

n Book club discussion – team reading

(role cards: summarizer, clarifier, questioner, predictor…) (cf. handout)

+ •  Plot-oriented reading (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Wolfgang Hallet)

1.  Entire class reads chapters 2 and 59

2.  Entire class processes fundamental information via the Herringbone technique (cf. handout)

3.  1st half of the class:

concentrate on the detective plot (chpts. 11,31,53,79,127 ,149,157,167); summaries

4. 2nd half of the class:

concentrate on the quest plot (chpts. 149,157,167,179, 211, 227,233); summaries

5. The findings of the two groups are added to posters and discussed in class

+ Co-operative reading (Vikas Swarups Q&A) (Daniel Knippertz)

n Reading stations for each of the twelve questions of the Quizz show

n Pre-reading activities for every station dealing with the question and the particular field of knowledge it opens up to concerning life in India

for example: the station dealing with the question on religion will focus on texts and worksheets about religion; the station dealing with the history of India will provide material on the topic

n Students are divided into groups, explore 3 stations and report to the class

+Final suggestions n  Literature and current events

n  Literature and art / photography / music / film (Cinémathèque…)

n  Literature and drama (Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg …)

n  Literature and mythology

n  Literature and project work / thematic approach / TBL / MI

n  Literature and exhibitions (Villa Vauban, Mudam …)

n  Literature and language learning / the four skills

n  Literature and the 5 Minds for the Future

+Thank you for

+For further questions or information or for suggestions:

[email protected]

[email protected]

+W.H. Auden: Funeral Blues n Film extract ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’

n Pick any novel where a character dies (f.ex. the priest in Across the Barricades and ask pupils to write their ‘funeral blues’ / a eulogy

n TBL: / research project: Read obituaries (Steve Jobs, Amy Winehouse; Kim Jong Il; Muammar Gaddafi) (google obituaries; many available on www.guardian.co.uk; www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries) and explore language used. Ask class to write obituary of a fictional character or on an artist / politician / athlete / scientist / novelist etc long dead

n Research project: explore funeral rites / mourning in different cultures

+Dr. Seuss: Fox in Sox

n Beginner classes: raise awareness to rhyme

n Read and get L to anticipate

Education

Teaching literature