Tag: theory

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Project Prospectus

Theoretical Uptake of J.D Salinger’s _The Catcher in the Rye_

For this independent inquiry project, I hope to undertake a study of literary criticism focused on J.D Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. During the upcoming practicum, I will be teaching The Catcher in the Rye to two grade eleven classes, so this inquiry will directly support the unit I plan to teach. This study is rooted in a belief that secondary school teachers should be well versed in a wide range of theories and ways in which the text has been critically examined throughout the work’s history.
Since its publication, The Catcher in the Rye has been popular with adolescent readers due to themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, and rebellion. While it is a bestseller, it has also been challenged and noted as one of the most controversial books in education, mainly due to its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality. In this case, I think an exploration of literary criticism related to literature can be applied in a high school setting because it will help to unpack where the novel is situated within history and popular culture, as well as how it has been academically examined and taught. Further, having a greater understanding of how the novel has been interpreted will allow me to help students understand what it can mean to be literary critics themselves. By inquiring into how the novel has been analyzed, I will be able to think about the ways in which different theories can be presented in the classroom, and in turn, how these theories can help to engage students and encourage them to apart of this community of critics.

Works Consulted (or To Be Consulted)

Cui Wang, and Xiaofen Zhang. “Returning to Youth and Nature —The Catcher in the Rye in Ecocriticism.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 1.3 (2010): 269-73.

Draffan, Robert A. Novel Approaches: Teaching “the Catcher in the Rye”. 24 Vol. 1973.

Glasser, William. Reclaiming Literature: A Teacher’s Dilemma. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1994.

Lingdi Chen. “An Analysis of the Adolescent Problems in the Catcher in the Rye.” Asian Social Science 5.5 (2009).

Pinsker, Sanford, and Ann Pinsker. Understanding the Catcher in the Rye: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Privitera, Lisa. “Holden’s Irony in Salinger’s the Catcher in the RYE.” The Explicator 66.4 (2008): 203-6.

Salzberg, Joel. Critical Essays on Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall, 1990.

Salzman, Jack. New Essays on the Catcher in the Rye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Smith, Michael W. Understanding Reliable Narrators: Reading Between the Lines in the Literature Classroom. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1991.

Steed, J. P. The Catcher in the Rye: New Essays. New York: Peter Lang, 2002.

Steinle, Pamela Hunt. In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2000.

Tolchin, Karen R. Part Blood, Part Ketchup: Coming of Age in American Literature and Film. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.

Verde, Tom. Twentieth-Century Writers. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc1996.

Wilson, James R. Responses of College Freshmen to Three Novels. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 1966.

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Project Prospectus

Into the Wild: The merits of non-fiction in English classrooms

Project Prospectus:

For my individual inquiry, I have chosen to inquire into the topic of non-fiction novels with the focus on Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I am interested in finding out the usefulness of using a non-fiction novel in a high school English class to explore various topics such as coming of age, adventure, money/wealth, and reality. I believe that non-fiction is undervalued in the classroom setting, and that students, and perhaps especially boys, will benefit from the uses of non-fiction literature in the classroom as texts for study and discussion.

Furthermore, I think that Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is an especially useful text because of the debate and controversy around the main character, Chris McCandless (aka Alex Supertramp). While some consider him a hero, many argue that his trek into Alaska shows how ill-prepared and idealistic McCandless was, leading to his tragic death. Using this as a starting point, and only as one example of the usefulness of non-fiction in the classroom, students are able to use non-fiction texts to grapple with social issues and debates, and slowly become more and more involved, rationalizing their ideas and conclusions, in the real world that surrounds them.

For my inquiry, I will focus on research that examines the use of non-fiction in the classroom. I also hope to do some research myself into Chris McCandless, namely who he admired and how they affected his decision to trek into Alaska alone. Such authors include Jack London and Henry David Thoreau. I hope to look especially at how boys might especially benefit from studying non-fiction literature, and how teachers should take advantage of this fact if it is indeed true. I expect that throughout my research I will find much support for the use of non-fiction literature in the classroom, and that it does indeed allow students more opportunity to be involved in both past and contemporary real-world issues.

 

Works to be Consulted:

Artichuk, Francine et al. Echoes 12: Fiction, media, and non-fiction – Teacher’s resource. Don Mills, ON: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.

Hedrick, Joan D. Solitary comrade, Jack London and his work. Chapel Hill, NC: U of North Carolina P, 1982. Print.

Linda Rief. Vision & voice: Extending the literacy spectrum. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1999. Print.

Mallett, Margaret. Early years non-fiction: A guide to helping young researchers use and enjoy information texts. London, NY: RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. Web.

Ponech, Trevor. What is non-fiction cinema?: On the very idea of motion picture communication. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 1999. Print.

Raskin, Jonah. “Calls of the Wild on the Page and Screen: From Jack London and Gary Snyder to Jon Krakauer and Sean Penn.” American Literary Realism 43 (April 2011): 198-203. Web.

Read, Adam. Christopher McCandless aka Alex Supertramp. 2001. Web. http://www.christophermccandless.info/intothewildpictures.html. 4 Jan 2013.

Root, R. L. Teaching Creative Non-Fiction. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 4(2) (Spring 2004): 289-322. Web.

Wray, David & Lewis, Maureen. Extending literacy: Children reading and writing non-fiction. London, NY: Routledge, 1997. Web.

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Project Prospectus

Fahrenheit 451 and the Question of Censorship

Context:

Upon my return to Sentinel Secondary later this month, I will have the opportunity to lead a novel study of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 with two English 11 classes. In preparation for this unit, I plan to embark on an inquiry project that will give me insight into and knowledge about historical and modern cases of censorship – a theme that features prominently in the novel. I will use what I learn to enhance the study of the novel for my students by increasing my ability to answer their questions and finding connections I can make for students between Fahrenheit 451 and their own lives.

Research Question:

To state my proposed area of research more precisely, I plan to embark on this inquiry with the following two questions in mind: “what parallels can be drawn between the censorship in Ray Bradbury’s fictional world in Fahrenheit 451 and historical and modern instances of censorship?” and, “does having a better understanding of historical and modern censorship enhance the study of a highly censored fictional world?” Knowing the answers to  these questions will help me improve students’ understanding and enjoyment of the novel and – I think – enable me to provide a richer, more meaningful experience for my grade 11s this spring.

Note: As a supplementary source of information, I will review literary criticisms of Bradbury that delve into his extensive use of symbolism and figurative language. This could lead to a discussion with students about methods that have been used to publish subversive material in totalitarian regimes, and a continuation of discussion on a text they’re already connecting to Fahrenheit 451: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Resources to be consulted:

Baez, Fernando. A Universal History of the Destruction of Books. New York: Atlas, 2008.

“Bannings and Burnings in History.” Freedom to Read. Canada Council for the Arts. 2009. Web. 5 Jan. 2013.

Canada Council for the Arts. Challenged Books and Magazines List, February 2012. 2009. PDF. 5 Jan. 2013. <http://www.freedomtoread.ca/docs/challenged_books_and_magazines_february_2012.pdf>

Finklestein, David and Alistair McCleery. An Introduction to Book History. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Kreider, Tim. “Uncle Ray’s Dystopia.” The New York Times 8 June 2012. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/opinion/uncle-rays-dystopia.html>

Swaim, Don. Interview with Ray Bradbury. May 1992. MP3. <http://www.wiredforbooks.org/raybradbury/>

White, Harry. Anatomy of Censorship: Why the Censors Have it Wrong. Maryland: University Press of America, 1997.

 

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Project Prospectus

To Kill a Mockingbird: Criticism and Pedagogy

Ilana Finkleman

January 3 / 2013

Inquiry Seminar: Proposal

For my inquiry project, I plan to investigate literary criticism and pedagogy around Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. I will be teaching this novel to a class of 9/10s at my practicum school. They are an accelerated class and meet every day which gives me the opportunity to dig deeply into issues exposed in the novel.

The novel is rich with history and issues of morality that are very relevant to students’ experiences in contemporary Canada. Of particular interest to me is the notion of striated societies and how certain characters in the novel push past the boundaries that align and keep small-town society and ideology in line and functioning according to the status quo. Rebecca H. Best discusses the importance of boundaries and adhering to the strict patterns laid out by society in her article on Mockingbird. According to Best, Mockingbird demonstrates the structure of a society that is deeply regulated by the way people are expected to behave and act. Anyone who is outside this strict regiment is attacked or attemptively forced back into the mould that holds fast to the status quo; Best offers that society acts as its own Panopticon (Foucault’s term from Discipline and Punish) or watchdog of sorts and keeps itself in check. Certain characters in Mockingbird also exist outside the rule-bound and kept in-check operation of society in the novel – these characters are considered insane by the other characters – this being the only mechanism to which they can act outside the highly regimented social code that structures society in Maycomb (ex. Boo Radley, Dolphus Raymond). Such a theory on societal structure is translatable and potentially relevant to students’ own understanding of their own daily activity in microcosmic friend groups, their personal belief systems, or life in Vancouver/Canada, more generally. The importance of being a boundary-pusher and attempting to destabilize societal order in order to support what is morally the right thing to do is also a model students may be inspired by.

Also central to this novel are issues of prejudice and ideology. Understanding the effects of education, the historical context and mindset of the times, and the influence of the people you interact with on the way prejudice develops is also central to the novel and again applicable to students’ own experiences. I am awaiting the arrival of a book from the library which contextualizes the novel in the time it was written (the Civil Rights period) and also the time in which it took place (the Depression in the 30s). This book by Claudia Durst Johnson offers information about the trials of the Scottsboro boys – black boys accused of raping a black girl, and supposedly the story Lee based the trial of Tom Robinson on, the symbol of the pure and virginal white Southern woman and the threats posed to her purity, a history of lynching, etc. Having an awareness of the history that enrobes this historical fiction is necessary to breaking into its complexity. Also important is recognizing our own institutionalized prejudices and how these cloud the way we operate in our society.

Finally, pedagogical theory around this novel suggests utilizing role play – having students act out and decide on decisions around the difficult moral situations presented to characters in this novel as a tool for students to engage kinesthetically with the complex moral situations facing many of the characters who challenge the status quo. Also, paralleling and drawing connections between scenarios which challenge moral positioning from the novel with scenarios which are relevant to students’ current life experiences might be a useful angle of exploration of the moral complexities in the novel.

Works Consulted

Best, Rebecca H. “Panopticism and the Use of the Other in To Kill a Mockingbird.” Mississippi Quarterly 62.3 (2009): 541 – 560. Web.

Durst Johnson, Claudia. To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries.  New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1994. Print.

—.Understanding To Kill a Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1994. Print.

Gibbons, Louel C. To Kill a Mockingbird in the Classroom: Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes. Urbana: National Council of English Teachers, 2009. Print.

Peters, Mike. “Examining a Set Text – To Kill a Mockingbird Fifty Years on.” NATE CLASSROOM 12 (2010). 34. Web. Jan 4 2013.

Saney, Isaac. “The Case Against To Kill a Mockingbird.” Race & Class 45.1 (2003). 99-105. Web. Jan 4 2013.

Stiltner, Mitzi-Ann. “Don’t Put Your Shoes on the Bed: A Moral Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird.” MA Thesis, 2002. Web. Jan 4 2013.

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Project Prospectus

Much Ado About Nothing: A catalyst for the exploration of gender inequality

For my inquiry project, I will be exploring literary criticisms of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. I will focus on the central (and contemporary) issue of gender inequality in the play, and have already found a plethora of resources that provide excellent guidance.

I have decided to go this route because Much Ado about Nothing is what I will be teaching my grade 9 students, and I feel that issues of sexism and patriarchy will allow my students to see the universal and present day relevance of a play that was written hundreds of years ago. I also hope that through my research I will also be able to show my students, through my teaching, just how accessible Shakespearean literature can be. Furthermore, while some may argue that many Shakespearean characters are representations of weak women, I will argue that in Much Ado about Nothing, Shakespeare challenges the notion of societal produced gender roles through the characters of Hero and Beatrice.

As I have already mentioned, I have compiled a list of resources I will be using to aid my inquiry – the majority of which are scholarly journal articles. I will critically evaluate these documents and expect to conclude with the idea that Much Ado about Nothing is filled with copious examples of gender inequality, but that it is this sentiment that makes it an excellent illustration of a historical text that is very much relevant in modern-day society. I also hope to use my research towards modifying and perfecting my lessons for this play, with the end goal of having a well thought out and engaging unit plan.

*Works Cited attached in comments section*

 

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