UNIVERSITATEA TEFAN CEL MARE SUCEAVA

LUCRARE METODICO-STIINTIFICA USING LITERATURE IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM

NDRUMTOR TIINIFIC, Conf. univ. dr. LUMINIA-ELENA TURCU CANDIDAT, PAULA MIHAELA STOLERU
2011-2013

ON READING BOOKS

Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . . If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can! J.R.R. Tolkien

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT I. DEFINING CONCEPTS I.1 What is Literature? I.2 Why Literary Texts? I.3 Literature Across the Curriculum II. LITERATURE IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM II.1. Generalities II.2. Literature in the Language Classroom II.3. Teaching Literature: why, what and how II.4. Exploiting highlights III. ALICE IN THE SECONDARY LANGUAGE CLASSROOM III.1. Play on words and vocabulary III.2. Symbolism and realism III.3. Dreamworld in fiction and reality in dreams 5 7 7 12 16 20 20 21 28 34 38 38 43 51

IV. DRAMA IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM IV.1. Drama in the ESL Classroom IV.2. Original views on Alice IV.2.1. Alices Journey IV.2.2. Retracing Alices Journey IV.2.3. Alice in Theatres and Movies IV.3. Who Stole the Tarts? practical applications and personal interpretations. IV.3.1. An Overview IV.3.2. Practical Applications IV.3.3. Personal Interpretations IV.4. Worksheet samples and drama scripts. IV.4.1 Drama script IV.4.2. Worksheet Samples IV.4.2.1. Worksheet Sample 1 IV.4.2.2. Worksheet Sample 2 IV.4.2.3. Worksheet Sample 1 IV.4.2.4. Worksheet Sample 1 V. CONCLUSIONS VI. ANNEXES BIBLIOGRAPHY

59 59 62 62 65 69 73 73 77 92 94 94 100 101 103 105 107 110 114

I.1. WHAT IS LITERATURE?

According to Ezra Pound Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree
the art of written works
Literature

Literature

a way of understanding human nature appeals to our most profound inner feelings

Literature

I.2. WHY LITERARY TEXTS

Literature is important for students development and can be successfully introduced even during grammar or vocabulary classes. Professionals highlight a series of advantages:

Linguistic Students are exposed to real authentic usage of language

Methodological Texts are open to various interpretations and, therefore ,set the grounds for debates and interaction in a language class

Motivational Literary texts are the product of the writers particular feeling and intake on certain aspects of life

I.3. LITERATURE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

Why integrate? By integrating English into their everyday school life we push students towards communicating more in the target language. The smallest pieces of information, such as geographical names, historical or cultural figures, presented in English build on their pre-existing vocabulary and prepare the way for the acquisition of more important ones. The world of literature is the world of words put into action which forces cognitive processes to happen and enables students and teachers to work together in finding each others personal view on the matter.

II.2 LITERATURE IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

authenticity derives from the authors personal feelings and perceptions of their immediate reality

AUTHENTICITY

MOTIVATION

ADVANTAGES

motivation is closely linked to authenticity; if motivated students can easily learn new patterns and structures which might otherwise be difficult for them

CULTURAL AWARENESS

universal concepts such as love, hatred, devotion, nature, and so on, make the reader more aware of the specific and common literature of the world

II. 3 TEACHING LITERATURE: WHY, WHAT AND HOW THE WHY

appreciation and enjoyment of literature the refinement of language skills the stimulation of more advanced learning

a stimulus for advanced discussion

personal growth

[Sage,

Howard Incorporating Literature in ESL Instruction, Prentice

Hall Inc., 1987, page 69].

THE WHAT

What

texts should appeal to students texts should be able to stimulate involvement

personal

to

learners must feel at ease with the texts presented multilevel comprehension must be sought

Remember! There is a co-dependence between choosing and preparing materials to bring to class in Choose? order to ease the work for both students and teachers.

THE HOW

Group work

Pair work

Intensive and extensive reading techniques

Role plays Debates Questionnaires

Classroom activities

II.4 EXPLOITING HIGHLIGTS

Literature in the Language Classroom presents us with a series of activities to be used as exploiting highlights techniques. The authors group them into three categories writing techniques, listening and reading activities and oral activities with the mention that oral activities can be used as a separate group or as an inherent part of the other two. [Collie, Joane
and Slater, Stephen Literature in the Langauge Classroom, Cambridge University Press, 1987, pages 57-79

III. ALICE IN THE SECONDARY LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
(Alices Adventures in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll)

III.1. PLAY ON WORDS AND VOCABULARY

Carrolls use of mathematical logic and grammar and language knowledge has as direct consequence many non-sensical and playful language instances. Puns and word games are so frequent throughout the story that we can see even how well some of them fit into the subtypes encountered when talking about puns.

LITERARY TERMS
Homonymy Homophony Homographs Paronymy Polysemy Also, Malapropism - a substitution of fancy words with more mundane ones, obviously wrong, [Cuddon, J.A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Penguin Book LTD, 1999, page 489] Similes - comparisons of two unlike things using like or as, and which are also, at least from a semantic point of view, incorrect

III.2. SYMBOLISM AND REALISM

MATHEMATICAL

Hookah Temper Principle of continuity

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Loss of childhood Life as a puzzle Death as constant threat

POLITICAL

Dry speeches Caucus race Beheadings Surreal trials

III.3. DREAMWORLD IN FICTION AND REALITY IN DREAMS

Alice as frame tale dreamers dream and are correspondingly dreamt.
Times refusal to pass White Rabbit Erratic female characters

Alices refusal to grow up Lewis Carroll Alices fears of adolescence

IV. DRAMA IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I dont much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesnt matter which way you go," said the Cat. (Alices Adventures in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll)

IV.1 DRAMA IN THE ESL CLASSROOM

Fields in which drama proves useful to both teachers and language learners: provides learners with a new experience of using the language for authentic communication; language becomes a motivating and active experience; students are helped to gain self-esteem; real world situations are brought into the classroom; the already acquired knowledge is reinforced; students intellect and imagination are stimulated students become more open emotionally-wise students improve their vocabulary, fluency and overall knowledge of the target language

IV.2 ORIGINAL VIEWS ON ALICE

Alices journey - The beginning of feminism; - Learning turns to discovering the world; - Perception about reality changes she grows up; - She turns from a typical Victorian child to a more open-minded human being;

RETRACING ALICES JOURNEY

Alices journey in nonsense is similar to her journey to adulthood. Even if full of nonsense Alice is surrounded by beings eager to protect and teach her, because in the end they are mere pets to ease her journey through the flood of emotions that adolescence is. Carrolls message to his young friend Alice Liddell.

ALICE IN THEATRES AND MOVIES

There are eighteen movie version, TV adaptation or miniseries and cartoon based on Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and countless plays all throughout the world The first movie adaptation of Alices Adventures in Wonderland is the 1903 silent version with its innovative use of special effects (shrinking or growing up to her original size when in the White Rabbits house)

ALICE IN THEATRES AND MOVIES

There are eighteen movie version, TV adaptation or miniseries and cartoon based on Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and countless plays all throughout the world The first movie adaptation of Alices Adventures in Wonderland is the 1903 silent version with its innovative use of special effects (shrinking or growing up to her original size when in the White Rabbits house)

IV. 3 WHO STOLE THE TARTS? PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS AND PERSONAL INTERPRETATIONS In the 2009/2010 I presented my students with Alice in the form of an optional course
We watched the movie (1961 version) Read the book Assignment drawing not to forget the story line Working with text read English excerpts and match translations Role-plays Quizzes and grammar

Who Stole the Tarts? the class script

Our play acting and analyzing the final products

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT

communication activities before and after the movies, the same also happens with literary texts as well; writing a group journal; mini-projects drafting and presenting them in front of the class; quizzes; drafting questionnaires for a similar age group class; group debates; argumentative communication; writing argumentative essays; age appropriate text analysis; applied research activities (Internet use); relating personal experiences to the ones identified in the book; others

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS THE OPTIONAL COURSE IS GRAMMAR THROUGH LITERATURE Each students received a course pack which included excerpts from the book, the script and a series of worksheets to support reading comprehension. The truth is that during the entire school year the focus was mainly on the literature part and less on the grammar issues to be revised because no new grammar was introduced.

OPTIONAL COURSE BREAKDOWN

First Semester (2009/2010) Unit
1. Having Fun with Alice - presentation of the optional course and of the course pack. 2. Viewing Alice - presenting an viewing the movie. 3. Reading Alice - presenting the book; - reading the selected excerpts; - identifying vocabulary issues from the suggested texts (reinforcing pre-existing vocabulary knowledge) 4. Understanding Alice - presenting the script 5. Who knows Alice? - quiz - presenting projects 6. Solving Alice - puns and word games - collocations - simple vs. progressive in grammar - The Knave of Hearts or the Knave of Clubs? Revision

Number of classes
1 2 4

Week
W1 W2 - W3 W4 W7

2 4

W8 W9 W10 W13

W14 W17

W18

Second Semester Unit

1. Having Fun with Alice - discussing themes from the previous semester 2. Being Alice - staging the Who Stole the Tarts? Scene 3. Breaking down Alice - discussion and analysis of the students performance 4. Who knows Alice? -presenting group journal/diaries 5. Solving Alice - puns and word games - collocations - present perfect simple vs. simple past - if vs. in case 6. Final revision

Number of classes
1 6 2 2 4

Week
W1 W2 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W15

W16 W17

IV.4. WORKSHEET SAMPLES AND DRAMA SCRIPTS

The drama script I used for my optional course is a very close version of Carrolls actual trial scene from the book studied together and it goes all the way till the end including also scenes from the Alices Evidence as well, but also with some features meant to amuse the students.

DRAMA SCRIPT
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

WHITE RABBIT (putting on his glasses) Where shall I begin? KING (rolls his eyes at the rabbit) Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end, then stop. WHITE RABBIT: Blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah/ Blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah/Blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah/ Blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah! KING: Thats the most important piece of evidence weve heard yet. So, now let the jury ... ALICE: If anyone can explain it, Ill give him sixpence. I dont believe theres an atom of meaning to it! ATTORNEY JULIA: The witness is obviously right. KING: If there is no meaning to it that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we neednt try to find any. And yet I dont know ... Why, there they are! (he points to the tarts on the table) Nothing can be clearer than that! Lets all enjoy these fine pastry! QUEEN: Splendid idea, my dear. Will you join us Alice? ALICE: Id love to. Im famished! ATTORNEY WILLIAM (put his head between his hands): Just one more day in the unjust legal system Attorney Julia hugs the Knave. ATTORNEY JULIA: Youre free! Everyone smiles and gathers around the tarts.

WORKSHEET SAMPLES
Tips: When worksheets are given to students certain steps must be followed: the lessons grammatical/literature/vocabulary concept must be explained to the class; time limit mentioned; explain the tasks; provide explanations for each answer corrected; worksheets should be kept in binder to give feed back

REVISION WORKSHEET
Revision Worksheet 1 A. Match the following characters with their description. _____ 1. Alice a. Hares friend, Hatters friend, sleepy _____ 2. Cheshire Cat b. Husband to the queen, not really a ruler, self-centered, stubborn _____ 3. White Rabbit c. Nervous, important in Wonderland, in a hurry _____ 4. Queen of Hearts d. Seven-year-old girl, active imagination, very smart, polite, kind, brave. _____ 5. King of Hearts e. Sells hats, stuck in tea-time, often impolite,confusing to people _____ 6. Duchess g. Mad Hatters friend, crazy, rude _____ 7. Mad Hatter f. Old woman, mistreats her baby, ugly, abused by her cook. _____ 8. March Hare h. Hookah-smoking, insect, gives Alice the mushroom, which helps her change her size, unfriendly, but helpful _____ 9. Dormouse i. Mean woman, orders everyones head to be cut off, but it never happens _____ 10. Caterpillar j. Grinning, appears and disappears, claims to be mad, listens to Alice, becomes her friend. B. Read each question carefully. Write the best answer on the line. 11.a. There are many examples of cause and effect in the story. List one example. 11.b. Tell how you think the story may have changed if this cause and effect had not happened. 12. Which character was your favourite? Why? Tell three attributes about this character, and how is this character similar to you. C. Circle the best answer. 13. Alice followed ____________ down the hole into Wonderland. a. Her cat, Dinah c. Dormouse b. White Rabbit d. A grasshopper 14. What happened to Alice when she drank the bottle that said, Drink Me? a. She became very small. b. She choked because it was poison. c. She became very thirsty. d. She became very sleepy.

V. CONCLUSIONS
The main reason for my choosing Alices Adventures in Wonderland as the startpoint of the optional course I designed is actually my fascination with Carrolls work, and also his genius, not just the abundance of vocabulary instances to present to my students. Carrolls Alice is like Velasquezs Las Meninas, a meta-dream which share many similarities with the meta-painting which could also have been an unconscious source of inspiration.

STUDENTS PROJECT/ART WORKS

STUDENTS HOMEWORK

STUDENTS WORKS

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!