Question: How can you be
sure that students read the assigned work?
How to Make Sure
the Students Read the Literary Work
In
my classes, no matter how the literature program is organized, when discussion
of a literary work is called for, the students pose questions about what they
do not understand and these questions are the focus of the discussion. Poems
are usually short enough—and puzzling enough—that no preview is needed to
generate questions. With short stories and novels, students’ previews lead to
students’ question and students’ involvement in the discussion.
How to Preview
Short Stories
The
students read one paragraph a page or column. When they finish reading one
paragraph a page or a column, they will have plenty of questions. First, I ask
them what they have learned from their one-paragraph-per-page or column preview
and then I ask them what they want to know, their questions. I record the
questions on the board by using key words. I re-organize the questions
according to questions of fact, interpretation and judgment. And now the
students read to answer the questions.
How to Preview
Novels
The
students read for ten minutes somewhere
in the beginning of the novel, summarize what they have read and raise
questions to which they want answers. Since they have read different pages near
the beginning, their summaries will be somewhat different. I put key words for
the questions on the board.
Next,
they read in the middle of the novel, starting on different pages near the middle. Again, they read for
ten minutes, summarize and raise questions. I add key words to the questions
already asked.
This
time, they read three-fourths through
the novel for ten minutes, summarize and raise questions.
Finally,
they read near the end, but not the
end, summarize and again raise questions. I arrange the questions in the
following manner: questions of fact, interpretation and judgment.
The
students gain a knowledge of the author’s style. Oddly, sampling as they have,
they do not have a clear understanding of the plot. In fact, they raise more
questions than answers as a result of the sampling. Try it. It works.
Next Blog: Starting
Literary Discussions with Students’ Questions
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