From this week’s readings, I learned the importance of connecting literature to students’ lives. The article, “Texts, Troubled Teens, and Troubling Times,” examines the practice of giving students a choice in the manner of what they want to read. Through their use of choice, students can better connect to the issues and themes brought up in the text and apply this lense to similar problems we see in the world at large. The article then goes into the role of the educator to preserve the literary canon and the literature that students want to read and enjoy. By having choice in the matter, students can select topics they will enjoy and be more passionate about when analyzing the material for class assignments. The power of the lesson is not directly found in the literature but instead in the classroom discussion that is derived from the text and its context. The three Rs of English, recovery, reconciliation, and resilience, are needed helping students understand how literature connects to the outside world. Teens need texts that will add meaning to their school as well as their out-of-school experience. Toward the end of the article, the ultimate question was: “How can we engage teens with texts that allow them to navigate their times, some more troubling than others?” This issue is one that has many layers to it as each student connects to a text differently. Based on a case-by-case basis, an educator needs to highlight key elements that as a group the overall class can understand and then give homework assignments that can lead students in connecting to the book on a deeper level. By following this practice, teachers are able to address the overarching themes of the text and also allow students the opportunity the connect to the literature on an individual level and relate it to their own lives.
The article, “Superman is Dead: How We Help Students Make Sense of Literary Characters,” discusses how teachers can motivate students to understand literature by creating a support system that harnesses student passion through the power of student choice. Here students can pick literature about topics they are enthusiastic about and want to discuss with others. Educators can utilize assignments that revolve around these texts, such as graphic organizers that help students formulate the ways the text can be effectively used to show literary devices and terms. Through these types of assignments, teachers can successfully incorporate literature that students like and also avoid ruining it for their students with everyday lessons in class. Meanwhile take home assignments allow students the chance to use their own time and creativity to answer the assignment based on their own independent interpretations of the texts. By breaking down the reason they enjoy the characters and using their way to connect themselves to the novel, students can then gain skills to understand one another by analyzing the characters. By relating to them, students gain their own insight to the story as well as to the outside world away from the classroom. Through well-established characters and projects, students can gain the social, emotional, and literacy development they need to learn and successfully function in society. For example, studying the foundations of a character shows the basis of a human filled with frailty and its own contradiction. This understanding of certain types of people teaches students about people in the real world. The goal of having students decide what they want to read can ultimately teach them how to connect to others and the world.
Overall, both readings showed me the importance of students’ interaction with the text and connecting it to students and the world around them. Without students’ cooperation and passion driving them forward, they will not fully understand the literature or even the class. With a will to learn, they will accomplish the assignments and leave the class with essential life skills.