Why Do We Read Literature?

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one. George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

How to Read Novels Like a Professor The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, version of ourselves that we would never get to see, never permit ourselves to come, in places we can never go and might not care to, while assuring that we get to return home again. Thomas Foster

To Have a Window… Can you travel to all places? Can you have all experiences? Do we WANT all experiences?

To Have a Mirror… We can learn about ourselves through others’ Actions Successes Failures.

To Flex Our Brains… Research shows that our brains work in a certain way ONLY when reading! It’s like focusing on one muscle group in the weight room.

To Gain Empathy… This is like the mirror slide, but… What is it like to BE someone else? Race, gender, orientation, class? Univ. of Michigan study shows that college students today are 40% less empathetic than they were 30 years ago.

THEME! The author’s comment on the human condition. The LESSON the author wants to teach ALL of humanity. Universal lesson that is BIGGER than the novel itself. Theme is NOT a one word answer!

How Do We Get There? Must read at two levels… At the LITERAL level Word level Plot / story level “What does the author “SAY”? At the INTERPRETIVE level Symbolic level Theme level What does the author “MEAN”? LESSON

Two Levels? How do we find / understand potential THEMES? TWO ESSENTIAL STEPS Observe and track Think and formulate an opinion

What Do We Track? All those literary terms you’ve learned and will learn!

How Will We Do This? Whole-class novels or choice texts Focus on 1 or 2 strategies / devices each text Start slowly and build throughout the year Mix of IN and OUT of class reading

Opt-Out Protocol While some texts (novels, short stories, poems, films) may be taught, depending on the class, as a whole-class option, no text is required reading for any student.  Should any student desire to be assigned an alternate text to a whole-class text, he or she may request an alternate.  At that point, the teacher and student will work together to provide the "least restrictive environment" in which the student can learn the course curriculum whilst still reading the alternate text.