In my language arts class we study the short story near the beginning of the school year. I begin with short stories in order to gradually introduce to students terms frequently used in literature discussions. Some of those terms which I will explain in greater detail include plot, character and conflict. Covering the short story thoroughly before dealing with novels is an efficient approach to teaching both the terms and concepts which middle school students need to move on to high school and the texts which are required by the city of New Haven.
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In this unit I explain the specific benefits and advantages to teaching components of the short story and other literary terms while using a selection of contemporary texts representing a wide variety of women writers. There are several advantages to benefit from by using this combination of material. Some side effects may seem apparent while others do not. Specific advantages lie in using short stories, contemporary literature, and the writing of women.
Why the Short Story?
When students are expected to read and comprehend longer texts, such as the novel, it can become difficult to grapple with the difficulties of sorting out the differences between terms such as “third person omniscient” and “first person limited” narrators for example. On the other hand, when students are given shorter texts and asked to focus on only a couple literary components at a time, their ability to comprehend and their capacity to retain are improved greatly. When students are allowed to fully comprehend components of literature in smaller, less intimidating chunks, they will feel more confident of their knowledge and more assured of their potential to understand the sometimes confusing world of literature. This is what we need to be focusing towards as educators, coaching our students to be confident participants in games of the intellect.
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As I suggested before, when reading short stories our students are confronted with a less daunting task to complete. I think all would agree that many adults remain today intimidated by the mere size of big thick books with hundreds of pages. Our students too are often intimidated by the size of many novels. When offered smaller less imposing stories or sets of stories to read, students will feel more that they already have the skill and time to handle the expectations. When they are given novels in September, many feel overwhelmed and quickly begin slipping behind. The short story offers us a genre that students perceive as accessible and compatible with their busy lives. After all, they can be read in a short time.
Why Contemporary Literature?
Contemporary literature is advantageous to use in the class, because it helps to catch and hold the attention of adolescent readers. Again, it is clear that this holds true for the majority of adults as well. When we as educators pick something to read, do we not choose what we are genuinely interested in? It may be mystery, newspapers, poetry or professional journals, but we read it, because we want to. And frequently, that which we are required to read or obligated to read, we read with disdain and less than our complete attention. If we want to engage our students as readers, we must do our best to find material that will entice their participation. Contemporary short stories can aid in this cause in a couple ways. One way they are helpful is in their language. The language used in most contemporary writing is more accessible to our students. Stories and poetry written in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries frequently contain vocabulary which our students will never use or hear in their daily environments. The old stories many adults loved as children do not speak in words that children today readily understand or appreciate. Another advantage they offer is their subject material. The majority of students would prefer to read tales about characters that are more like themselves and their friends. Once again, the classics of the past centuries rarely focus on characters which children today can readily identify with. They are more enthusiastic when they have the opportunity to read something that is more directly related to the reality of the world that they know and live in.
Why Women Writers?
Focusing on literature written by women is also beneficial. Among the short stories anthologized in our textbooks and the required fiction and non-fiction we have to cover, women writers, women characters, and women role models are underrepresented. By focusing a unit on short stories written by women, this imbalance can be amended to some degree. This is important, because we do not want our students to get the impression that men have a greater creative talent or authority in the realm or the arts. A result of using women’s literature will be the encouragement and inspiration which some of our students will receive through reading a variety of stories by women who have been successful in recent times. Perhaps most importantly, working with a wide selection of contemporary women authors will offer students the chance to dispel any assumptions or stereotypes they may hold regarding the type of writing women produce. The truth is, there are as many types of women’s writing as there are women writers. Though similarities may be found among products by different women, there still remains the fact that every woman, or any person for that matter, who writes, writes with an individual voice. Is that not why people write, to express themselves in their own words, however similar those words might look to another writer’s words written on paper at in different time? This also will further encourage our students to believe in their ability to write and the legitimacy of what they have to write.
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For these reasons I have chosen to produce a unit designed to teach the basic structural components of the short story using samples of contemporary writings by women of diverse cultures and styles. In the course of the unit, many literary terms will also be taught. A list of those terms and descriptions follows. Depending on grade level and skill, this list of terms can either be reduced or expanded. The stories which I have selected to use also can be altered or substituted to suit the needs of any particular class. What remains essential is to search out texts that will entice and engage the interest and participation of the students. Survey your students to keep track of what they are interested in. Ask them which stories they had fun reading, and reuse them; the ones they did not like, stop using. Also keep in mind that these components and terms need to be presented to students in a fashion that helps to ensure their success not only at the end of this unit, but at the end of this year and the end of their senior year as well.