Fisher, Douglas. 2006. Responding to Students Who Disclose the Violence in Their Lives.
The English Journal
95 (6):65–70.
Fisher explores the ways in which teachers respond to students who open up about violence at home or in their communities and advocates for a sensible response.
Miller, Stacy. 2005. Shattering Images of Violence in Young Adult Literature: Strategies for the Classroom.
The English Journal
94 (5):87–93.
Miller's article is an overview of a similar unit in a high school AP class, focused on one violent young adult novel. While many of the activities are elevated for a middle school classroom, I highly recommend her article for high school teachers who may be looking to teach a similar, but more complex unit.
Moletsane, Relebohile. 2000. Talking Back to the Masters: Girls' Writing about Experiences of Violence.
Agenda
(46):59–70.
Molestane's case study is an interesting exploration of one situation in which young girls wrote about the violence in their lives for catharsis and growth. Although her study is based in South Africa, I think it is a useful model for the benefits of this unit.
Paye, Rita E. (1994) "Adults React When Students Write About Violence,"
Language Arts Journal of Michigan:
Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 3.
White, Brian F. 1995. Effects of Autobiographical Writing before Reading on Students' Responses to Short Stories.
The Journal of Educational Research
88 (3):173–184.
White's article is helpful in rationalizing how writing, especially pre–writing, can help students connect to the texts they read.
