The Stages of Literary Appreciation
My experience at school
I was unable to develop an appreciation for the novels that I did at secondary school. At school I was exposed to two adolescent literature novels namely ‘Harriet’s Daughter’ and ‘Green Days by the River’. These books were taught in a manner that did not encourage me or the other students to enjoy the books and develop a deep understanding and appreciation for them. Also, we were unable to make a connection between what were taught and relate it to ore everyday lives and experiences. What my teacher simply did was prepare us to write and pass CXC examination in that; she gave us the relevant content that was necessary to pass the exam. She simply did not have or did not apply the knowledge of the stages of literary appreciation.
What is literary appreciation?
It is one’s ability to enjoy what they read, to gain some form of understanding and to place value, admire and respect the material that they read. (Shirley Santiago de Jimenez)
What are the stages of literary appreciation?
There are 6 different levels of literary appreciation spanning from zero until death. However, two levels are most relevant to the teaching of adolescents they are level 4 (12 – 14 years) where students try to identify with the material based on their experiences and level of cognitive development. On the other hand, level 5 (15 – 18 years) focuses on the students reading beyond the text level where they begin to focus not on themselves but society and societal issues. (Shirley Santiago de Jimenez)
What if my teacher possessed knowledge of the stages of literary appreciation?
If my teacher had knowledge of these stages on literary appreciation learning would have been more meaningful and enjoyable. She would have engaged us in whole class, small group discussions and make use of response journals which would have been an excellent strategy in order to encourage us to respond to the books that we were reading. For example, in ‘Harriet’s Daughter’ we could have been asked to reflect on the roles of Margret and to put ourselves in her shoes and think of what we would do if we were her. In addition, she could have made use of role play in a effort to encourage us to relate our experiences. These activities would have encouraged us to think critically, enjoy what we read and appreciate the writer’s craft and relate the occurrences of the book in our everyday lives.
Not surprisingly I shared the same experience as you, where I was simply taught for CXC. My natural love for Literature however made my Literature classes bearable. When reading these adolescent texts, I was also able to lose myself in the plot, so engrossed was I in the story.
ReplyDeleteThis tells us that we must deviate from the way that we were taught if we want our students to gain the knowledge and experience that are necessary and that is in their stage of literary appreciation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. I have fallen into this trap where i taught my students based on the ways I was tuaght. This will definitely change when I am Through with teacher's college.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we are all beginning to refect on our own experiences. I know that we will all improve on how we teach our students now that we have gained an understanding of the stages of literary appreciation.
ReplyDelete