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Teaching fiction using tangible questions.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Approaches to teaching fiction vary since instructors might disagree as to what and how exactly should be taught and later tested. I believe it is possible for students to discuss a literary text without prior knowledge of literary theory or cultural background. An attempt to answer basic Who? When? Where? Why? How? questions can provide the class with a thorough analysis of the text and develop critical thinking.

Introduction

Teaching literature as a university subject raises several controversies. What are the students actually required to know after the course completion? How are they to demonstrate their knowledge? Is historical background, such as the author's biography, necessary? The plot summary? The work's reception and its position within the literary cannon? To what extent are the students to be familiar with secondary sources? Should they be encouraged to analyze the values discussed in the literary work? Are they to see them from the point of view of both contemporary readers and original audiences? How much literary theory should the students use in order to discuss a given novel? How does teaching literature differ depending on who the students are: native speakers of the language or language learners, including future foreign language teachers? Various educational institutions and individual instructors answer these questions according to the character of the course and their personal beliefs.

Most English departments in non-English speaking countries put literature on their syllabi as it is perceived as an indispensable element of foreign language training. The assumption is that students' exposure to such an enormous linguistic corpus must automatically increase language proficiency. This approach has one major drawback: many texts contain vocabulary no longer used or employ structures or metaphors that deviate from ordinary usage. Jane Austen uses the word "fish" as a token in a card game, which is not a piece of information crucial to a contemporary language user. Moreover, in order to sustain students' interest, the discussed texts should be "meaningful and relevant to personal experience" (Carter and Long, vii). How to teach Samuel Richardson, then? Finally, contact with literature, apart from "enable[ing] students to understand and appreciate cultures and ideologies different from their own [...] and com[ing] to perceive tradition of thought, feeling and artistic form within the heritage the literature of such culture endows" (Carter and Long, 2), should also help them to "grow as individuals as well as in their relationships with the people and institutions around them"(Carter and Long, 3). Although the last assumption sounds fine, it is highly improbable. How can an instructor measure and evaluate personal growth, character enrichment, or level of enjoyment? The student might heartily oppose values George Eliot advocates, yet know them. On the other hand, somebody might enjoy reading Jane...