ERIC ED454522: Literature and Lives: A Response-Based, Cultural Studies Approach to Teaching English.

237 Pages·2001·2.9 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 454 522
CS 217 588
AUTHOR Carey-Webb, Allen
Literature and Lives: A Response-Based, Cultural Studies
TITLE
Approach to Teaching English.
National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL.
INSTITUTION
ISBN-0-8141-2964-1
ISBN
2001-00-00
PUB DATE
NOTE
236p.
AVAILABLE FROM
National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon
Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 29641: $21.95
members, $28.95 nonmembers). Tel: [phone] (Toll Free);
Web site http://www.ncte.org.
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PUB TYPE
Books (010)
Opinion
Non-Classroom (055)
Papers (120)
MF01/PC10 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
DESCRIPTORS
*Classics (Literature); *English Instruction; Higher
Education; *Literary Criticism; *Reader Response; Secondary
Education; Thematic Approach; *World Literature
Controversial Topics; *Cultural Studies; Multicultural
IDENTIFIERS
Literature; Response Centered Classroom; *Response to
Literature
ABSTRACT
Telling stories from secondary and college English
classrooms, this book explores the new possibilities for teaching and
learning generated by bringing together reader-response and cultural-studies
approaches. The book connects William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Mark
Twain, and other canonical figures to multicultural writers, popular culture,
film, testimonial, politics, history, and issues relevant to contemporary
youth. Each chapter contains brief explications of literary scholarship and
theory, and each is followed by extensive annotated bibliographies of
multicultural literature, approachable scholarship and theory, and relevant
Internet sites. Each chapter also contains descriptions of classroom units
and activities focusing on a particular theme, such as genocide,
homelessness, race, gender, youth violence, (post)colonialism, class
relations, and censorship; and discussion of ways in which students often
respond to such "hot-button" topics. Chapters in the book are:
(1) A Course
in Contemporary World Literature;
(2) Teaching about Homelessness;
(3)
Genderizing the Curriculum: A Personal Journey;
(4) Addressing the Youth
Violence Crisis;
(5) Shakespeare and the New Multicultural British and World
"Huckleberry Finn" and the Issue of Race in Today's
Literatures;
(6)
Classroom;
(7) Testimonial, Autoethnography, and the Future of English; and
(8) Conclusion. Contains approximately 350 references. Appendixes contain an
email exchange between the author and a first year, inner-city teacher; a
note to teachers on the truth of Rigoberta Menchu's testimonial; a brief
account of philology; a 13-item annotated bibliography of readings in
literary theory for English teachers; and lists of web sites exploring
literary theory and cultural studies, supporting literature teaching, and for
new teachers.
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2
Literature and Lives
NCTE Editorial Board: Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Willie Mae Crews,
Colleen Fairbanks, Andrea Lunsford, Gerald R. Oglan, Jackie Swensson, Gail
Wood, Paul Bodmer, Chair, ex officio, Peter Feely, ex officio
Literature and Lives
A Response-Based, Cultural Studies
Approach to Teaching English
Allen Carey-Webb
Western Michigan University
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096
Staff Editor: Tom Tiller
Interior Design: Doug Burnett
Cover Design: Barbara Yale-Read
NCTE Stock Number: 29641-3050
© 2001 by the National Council of Teachers of English.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the
copyright holder. Printed in the United States of America.
It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for
the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English
and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not
imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the
membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorse-
ment is clearly specified.
Although every attempt is made to ensure accuracy at the time of publication,
NCTE cannot guarantee that all published addresses for electronic mail or Web
sites are current.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carey-Webb, Allen, 1957
Literature and lives : a response-based, cultural studies approach to
teaching English/Allen Carey-Webb.
p.
cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8141-2964-1 (pbk.)
1. LiteratureStudy and teachingUnited States. 2. Pluralism (Social
sciences) in literatureStudy and teachingUnited States. 3. English
languageStudy and teachingSocial aspectsUnited States. 4. Reader-
response criticismUnited States.
I. Title.
LB1631 .C39 2000
dc21
00-053293
820'.71'073
Teaching is an act of love, and thus an act of courage.
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
vii
Contents
ix
Acknowledgments
Permissions
xi
Introduction
xii
1. A Course in Contemporary World Literature
1
Reader Response
6
Cultural Studies
8
Resources
9
2. Teaching about Homelessness
13
New Criticism
21
Historical Criticism
23
Resources
26
3. Genderizing the Curriculum: A Personal Journey
33
Women's and Gender Studies
38
Gay and Lesbian Studies
46
The Women's Literature Canon
48
Multicultural Additions to the Women's Literature Canon
49
Resources
50
4. Addressing the Youth Violence Crisis
53
Multicultural Studies
59
Media Studies
65
Resources
71
5. Shakespeare and the New Multicultural British and World Literatures
79
New Historicism
82
Postcolonial Studies
92
Resources
99
6. Huckleberry Finn and the Issue of Race in Today's Classroom
106
Censorship and Teacher Freedom
109
Canons
123
Resources
124
7. Testimonial, Autoethnography, and the Future of English
131
Poststructuralism
134
Deconstruction
138
Postmodernism
143
viii
Contents
Post-Marxism
150
Resources
152
8. Conclusion
158
Appendices
161
A. Letter Exchange with a First-Year Teacher
161
B. A Note to Teachers on the Truth of Rigoberta Menchti's
Testimonial
171
C. Philology
176
D. Readings in Literary Theory for English Teachers
178
E. Web Sites for Exploring Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
180
F Web Sites to Support Literature Teaching
181
G. Web Sites to Support New Teachers
184
References
185
Index
203
Author
219
ix
Acknowledgments
and my
This book emerges from twenty-five years of teaching and scholarship,
debts are great and to many people.
First, to those who guided me or collaborated with me in the teaching
described in these pagesDiana Golden, David Hartleroad, Andrea Doxtader,
Menchu,
Missy Deer, Tisha Pankop, Eva Kendrick, Melinda Dobson, Rigoberta
and Jackie Johnsonthank you for making this book possible.
I have learned so much from my high school and college students in
and over
Oregon and Michigan and have mentioned only a few by name. Yet over
again, all of my students have facilitated my growth as a person and as a teacher.
and
My thanks especially to students at Western Michigan University, aspiring
drafts
practicing English teachers themselves, who read and made suggestions on
of this manuscript; this would be a lesser book without their help.
So many of my teachers have shaped the ideas that guide this book. Robert
social
Beery and Gene Persha at Jefferson Junior High School in Minneapolis made
issues important to me. Laura Perko at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon,
and
inspired me to make literature part of my life. Harold Pagliaro, Susan Snyder,
Craig Williamson at Swarthmore College developed my passion for literary
scholarship. Ken Sharp, Chuck Beitz, and Linda Lim made political theory
meaningful. At Lewis and Clark College, Paul Magnussen taught me about writing
and helped me make it through student teaching. Vernon Jones and Dan Duke
sensitized me to classroom interactions. Susan Kirschner introduced me to
women's literature. Deborah Lockwood and Steve Beckham offered encourage-
been a professional
ment and directed me toward doctoral study. Rick Hardt has
supervised a
mentor for twenty-five years. At Lakeridge High School, Jo Wollen
rank beginner. At the University of Oregon, Steve Rendall introduced me to literary
theory, and Barbara Guetti, Irving Wolfarth, Wolf Solich, Linda Kintz, Elizabeth
Davis, and Tres Pyle deepened my understanding. Bill Strange directed me to
English education and modeled a Euro-American teacher who walked the walk in
I teach tells more than
how
minority literature. Suzanne Clark reminded me that
postcolonial
I teach. Alan Wolfe nurtured me, supported my interest in
what
literature, and offered a model of engaged thematic curriculumI miss him.
book,
I could not have survived in the teaching profession, or written this
without fine colleagues all along the way. At Swarthmore College, Jean Sternlight,
the West
Ari Gabinet, and Immanuel Jinich befriended and supported a kid from
Coast. At West Linn High School, fellow teachers Bob Hamm, Ward Lewis, Greg
Stephens, Dave Holmberg, Anna Druse, Pat Cole, and Larry Hunt helped me come
through the early years and, eventually, thrive in the classroom. At the University
of Oregon, fellow graduate students Yue Gang, Marilyn Miller, Lifongo Vitende,
remarkable
Anuncia Escala, Paul Semonin, Tugrul Ilter, and Ken Johnson created a
intellectual community. At Western Michigan University, John Cooley, Gwen
Raaberg, Ellen Brinkley, Connie Weaver, Jil Larson, Paul Farber, Gunilla Holm,
Susan Edgerton, Joe Kretovics, Peter Walker, Mike Jayne, and Debbie LaCroix
provided a personally and intellectually supportive environment in which to work
and learn. Mark Richardson, Jil Larson, Daneen Wardrop, Grace Tiffany, and Scott