Having been an AP student in high school, Nancy Barile's blog entry, "The Art of Literary Criticism" peaked my interest because it was about how she taught her students the tools to close reading. She started by providing her students with examples of literary criticisms about a story they had to read. After doing this several times for different readings, she asks them to write an essay based on the prompt she gives them that focuses on aspects of literary criticism. Then at the end of the year she asks them to write a literary criticism of a novel without giving them any prompts.
Barile also asks the students to keep journals as they read in order to keep track of the plot and their own thoughts.
The way Barile breaks down the process sheds light on the way all lessons should be broken down, which is thoughtfully. I know I can write a literary criticism without hesitation, but that is only because the concept is engrained in my memory. Teaching literary criticism to someone who has no idea what it is, would be difficult, but the way Barile breaks down the concept makes things more understandable.
website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2011/04/art-literary-criticism
No comments:
Post a Comment