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Rhetorical Narrative Theory Rhetorical Narrative Theory: An Interpretive Framework for Literary Analysis in the High School English Classroom DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Hilary Brewster Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Barbara Kiefer, Advisor Dr. Mollie Blackburn Dr. David Herman Copyright by Hilary Brewster 2013 Abstract This paper centers on a ten week teacher-research inquiry study in which I taught a high school English Children’s Literature elective course at a local independent school. Unlike most secondary English teachers, I made my theoretical framework explicit, and sought to scaffold the terms and concepts of rhetorical narrative theory with our classroom texts. Data are drawn from student journals, essays, and creative projects during this class, as well as my teacher-researcher journal. The research objective was to investigate what happens when secondary students engage with rhetorical narrative theory and use this approach to interpret literature. Data analysis indicates that students were able to translate and integrate this particular interpretive language, and that quite often, I as their teacher merely provided the vocabulary for their pre existing familiarity with the function and form of narrative. Additionally, the data suggest that using children’s literature in a secondary classroom allows for independent, deep, thematic textual analysis, which, in turn, is a space primed for narrative theory pedagogy. This study suggests that rhetorical narrative theory, at least when combined with children’s literature, is a symbiotic pedagogical and critical match for secondary English students. ii Dedication To all teachers— whose profession is maligned but essential; whose work is invisible but consequential; whose impact is ongoing and immeasurable. iii Acknowledgments This dissertation is my proverbial baby, and, like all children, it took a village to be raised well. The process of studying, researching, and writing was in no way a solo effort; intellectual inquiry and production relies upon numerous others in myriad ways, and for them I am deeply grateful. The staff at The Warrenton School welcomed me warmly, granted me academic freedom, and invited me into a vibrant learning community. I could not have completed any of this without your cooperation and excitement. To my students—you overwhelmed me with your intelligence, work ethic, creativity, enthusiasm, and kindness. Thank you for being patient with your guest. I would not be the teacher I am today, or continually yearn to be, without my colleagues at Great Valley. To Brittany, Jaki, Christina, and the rest of the English department: you are an inspiration, to me and your students, and work harder and are more passionate about your work than most people I know. To Jess, Fred, Joe, Lori, and Greg, and, by extension, Jay, Dawn, Miranda, and Ruth Ann: thank you for being my friends and colleagues on the “other end of the building.” I am proud to tell people “some of my best friends are math teachers!” You do great work—so great that sometimes I wanted to switch subject areas. All of you made me feel that GV (and PA) was still a home I could come back to, even if just to walk the halls and distract you from doing iv work a couple of times a year. Thankfully, it is so much more than that, and we all know it. I am beyond lucky to have had so many colleagues turn into lifelong friends. Of course, none of this would be possible without the guidance, insight, and expertise of my dissertation committee. To my first advisor, Dr. Anna Soter, who deserves every moment of retirement she is celebrating, I thank you for your continued involvement in my work and studies, informed opinions about everything from my research to the job market, and our more light-hearted conversations about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in and out of academia. To my second advisor, Dr. Barbara Kiefer, who graciously adopted me when Dr. Soter retired, your resources and easy-going nature made the entire experience of graduate school seem less frantic and more—dare I say?—fun. Dr. Mollie Blackburn, your work I admire deeply, and your sense of social justice teaching is what I aim to someday emulate. You are a bevy of knowledge about teaching, research, and the inner workings of the profession. I appreciated all of our accidental conversations about theory, classroom life, and pop culture. And to Dr. David Herman, thank you for agreeing to serve on my committee (outside of your academic wheelhouse, no less!) after only one quarter of having me in class. Your feedback on my work has been invaluable; you are an inimitable editor and scholar, a kind and brilliant man, and I wish you the best of luck on the next leg of your academic journey across the pond. To the non-grad school friends I’ve made here in Ohio—thank you for providing me with a social network that had absolutely nothing to do with academia. You give me balance in life, and I am so grateful. Sarah, Anne, Lizzie, Lindsay, and Matt, you welcomed me as an interloper into the English department and, quite frankly, provided v the basis for my research idea, without which this dissertation would look much different. You are great thinkers and writers, and I benefited greatly from your energy and ideas. I hope to see you all at Narrative in years to come, provided I can maintain the ruse of keeping up with you. To my fellow Mules, whom I met in my first foray into higher education: Ali, Jamie, Tara, Sari, Remy, Poag, Kent, Matt, and Steven, thank you for over a decade of friendship, supporting me through the trials and tribulations of life in general, especially my years of living in the Midwest. I always look forward to our visits and eagerly anticipate seeing how the rest of our lives turn out. To Kristen, Jennie, and Brittany—the last remaining members of the original Nerd Herd—how would I have any fun without you? Our reunions are too few and far between, but you are some of the greatest, funniest, most wonderful women in my life, even if we’re generally sharing it electronically. It has been years, but it never feels that way. I adore you all. Someday, ladies, our treehouse awaits—the clink of wineglasses always a motivation to keep typing. To the wonderful women of our cohort(ish), Anita, Sarah, Charline, Angel, Carrie, and Amy: what a gift it was to have met most of you in our 970 “trilogy.” Though we haven’t spent enough time together after surviving our first year as doctoral students (a shame, I say!), I know that we’ve been supportive of one another’s academic journeys and have developed much needed friendships outside the classroom, too. To my LYCA colleagues, Denise, Mary Catherine, Andrès, Leigh, Bianca, Tati, Enny, Wendy, and especially Lisa—thank you for rounding out the closest knit department in T&L. I have relied on all of you so much throughout this process, and only hope I have (and can vi continue to) returned the favor. To Bettie Parsons, Erin, and Sara, I appreciate your friendship and knowledge immensely and relish our not-frequent-enough girltime more than you know. I am so thankful we’ll have our careers to share with one another as the years go on. And to Kate—you have become the nearest thing I have to a sister. How could I have gotten through the last two years without you? We are something special. To Daniel, my HREMPartner in crime—I do still question whether you’re real and weren’t actually manufactured just for me in a laboratory, but either way, you are extraordinary. I’m glad we had our third date, even if it involved Nvivo. Thank you for choosing to live through the awful end of someone else’s doctoral process—it is because of you that I remained well rested, well fed, and generally well adjusted throughout. (Your coming back from overseas provided some much needed motivation during the final slog, too.) You encourage me to be smarter, more thoughtful, and more interesting. (Yes, I said interesting.) I love you enormously, embrace our “spirit of adventure,” and promise (if you do) never to point out the typos in each other’s dissertations. And last, but never, ever least, to my mom. I don’t think I have the words to accurately convey how much I love and appreciate you. Ever since I was little, I heard you say “I could go to school forever!” and clearly tried to live up to that on your behalf. (Gaga and Henny asking “Beezle—think you’ll ever amount to anything?” was also a motivator.) No matter my endeavors, you’ve fully supported me in my pursuit of them. I admire you and can only hope to be as neat of a woman as you are someday. Thank you for it all. vii Vita June 1997………………………………………………………...….. Hudson High School May 2001……………….....B.A. Psychology and Women’s Studies, Muhlenberg College May 2003…………... M.S.Ed. Secondary English Education, University of Pennsylvania August 2003 – June 2010………………….... English Teacher, Great Valley High School September 2010- June 2012…………Supervisor, Secondary English pre-service teachers Winter 2012-Spring 2013…………………………...…Instructor, Young Adult Literature Fields of Study Major Field: Education Cognate Areas: Literature for Children and Young Adults, Narrative theory, and Secondary English pedagogy and curriculum viii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv Vita ..................................................................................................................................
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