The Language of Interpretation: Patterns of Discourse in Discussions of Literature
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 3i4 466 CS 214 548 AUTHOR Marshall, James D.; And Others TITLE The Language of Interpretation: Patterns of Discourse in Discussions of Literature. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-2709-6; ISSN-0085-3739; NCTE-RR-27 PUB DATE 95 NOTE 164p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 27096-3050: $14.95 members, $19.95 nonmembers). PUB TYPE Books (010) Reports Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE HF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adults; Discourse Analysis; *Discussion (Teaching Technique); *Literary Criticism; *Reader Response; Secondary Education; Teacher Behavior IDENTIFIERS Book Clubs; Interpretive Research; *Response to Literature ABSTRACT Drawing on interviews and on the actual language that readers (students, teachers, and adults) use to interpret and respond to literary texts, this book examines the conventions that shape talk about literature in large groups, small groups, and adult book clubs. By looking across contexts, the four separate but related studies in the book raise questions about the usual ways of talking and thinking about literature and suggest alternatives based on new theories of literary understanding. After an introduction, sections of the book are entitled:(1) A Description of the Project;(2) Studies of Large-Group Discussions of Literature;(3) Small-Group Discussions: Alternatives to and Extensions of Teacher-Led Discussions;(4) Adult Book-Club Discussions: Toward an Understanding of the Culture of Practice;(5) Reading and Talking Together: Responses of Adolescents to Two Short Stories; and (6) Summary and Conclusions. Contains 92 references. An appendix provides excerpts that illustrate the application of the coding system. (RS) ******************************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 10 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Rosparcn and inprovornent EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) fiTnIS document has been reproduced as received from the person or organi7alion tr. * originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction qualih Points of view or opinions stated in this S door ment do not ner essaritV represent official OERI position or polity THE I GUAGE of P,RPRETATION: PATTERNS of DISCOURSE in DISCUSSIONS of LITERATURE JAMES D. MARSHALL, PETER SMAGORINSKY, and MICIIAELW. SMITH BEST COPY AVAILABLE 0 "..-111.11111C- =1.7- NCTE Standing Committee on Research James D. Marshall, Chair, University of Iowa Jo Beth Allen, University of Georgia James A. Berlin, Purdue University Linda Flower. Carnegie-Mellon University Yetta Goodman, University of Arizona Robert Gundlach, Northwestern University John R. Hayes. Carnegie-Mellon University Susan Hynds, Syracuse University Elizabeth Kahn. James B. Conant High School, Hoffman Estates, Illinois Gesa Kirsch, Wayne State University Judith A. Langer, SUNY at Albany Luis C. Moll, University of Arizona Ina V. S. Mullis, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey Sandra Murphy, University of Clifornia. Davis George E. Newell, The Ohio State University Michael W. Smith, Rutgers University, New Brunswick William L. Smith, University of Pittsburgh C. Jan Swearingen, University of Texas, Arlington Richard E. Young, Carnegie-Mellon University Sarah Freedman.ex officio,Center for the Study of Writing, University of California at Berkeley Richard Lloyd-Jones,e.v officio,University of Iowa Jerome Harste, Liason to NCRE, Indiana University Miriam Chaplin, Executive Committee Liaison, Rutgers University. Camden Miles Myers, NCTE Staff Liaison NCTE Research Report No. 27 The Language of Interpretation Patterns of Discourse in Discussions of Literature James D. Marshall University of Iowa Peter Smagorinsky University of Oklahoma Michael W. Smith Rutgers University In collaboation with Helen Dale, Richard H. Fehlman,Pamela K. Fly, Ruth A. Frawley, Suzanne E. Gitomer, MaryBeth Hines, David E. Wilson National Council of Teachers of English I 1 11 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana,Illinois 61801-1096 4 NCTE Editorial Board: Hazel Davis, Keith Gilyard,Ronald Jobe, Joyce Kinkead, Louise W. Phelps, Charles Suhor, chair,ex officio,Michael Spooner,ex officio Staff Editors: Sheila A. Ryan and David Hamburg Interior Book Design: Torn Kovacs for TGK Design NCTE Stock Number: 27096-3050 0 1995 by the National Council of Teachers ofEnglish. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and otherpublications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning thecontent and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded toany particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board ofDirectors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where suchendorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Marshall, James D., 195c}- The language of intermetation : patterns of discoursein discussions of literature / James D. Marshall, PeterSmagorinsky, Michael W. Smith, in co!laboration with Helen Dale... let al.]. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8141-2709-6 1. Discourse analysis. 2. LiteratureStudy andteaching. 1. Smagorinsky, Peter.11. Smith, Michael W. (Michael William), 1954 . III. Title. P302.M3771995 809'.0071dc 20 94-26194 CIP Contents Acknowledgments vii 1. Introduction 1 2. A Description of the Project 8 3. Studies of Large-Group Discussionsof Literature 14 4. Small-Group Discussions: Alternatives toand Extensions of Teacher-Led Discussions 58 5. Adult Book-Club Discussions: Toward an Understanding of the Culture of Practice 100 6. Reading and Talking Together: Responsesof Adolescents to Two Short Stories 121 7. Summary and Conclusions 128 Appendix 137 References 141 Index 147 Authors 155 Collaborators 157 6 Acknowledgments We would like to thank a number of people who have beeninstrumental in the development of this project. First of all, we would like to thank the many teachers, students, and adult readers who so generously allowed usinto their classrooms and homes to collect the data analyzed in thesestudies. Their cooperation and the risks they took in allowing their discussions tobe ana- lyzed so critically have earned from us our greatest respect,admiration, and appreciation. We would especially like to thank the teacher-researcherswho inter- viewed their colleagues, transcribed many of our videotapedlarge-group discussions, and helped us think through the issues we were exploring.These included Susan Burke, Ann Connolly, John Danaher, RoseanneDeFabio, Carol Forman-Pemberton, Tricia Hansbury, David Marhafer,and Doris Quick. We would also like to acknowledge several funding sources for support- ing this work. The research reported in Chapter 3 wassupported by grants from the Research Foundation of the National Councilof Teachers of English, from the U.S. Department of Education. Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement, and from the National Endowment for the Artsand was con- ducted in conjunction with the Center for the Learning andTeaching of Literature. The research reported in Chapter 4 was supportedwith resources provided by the Department of Instructional Leadership andAcademic Cur- riculum and the Information Processing Service at theUniversity of Okla- homa. The research reported in Chapters 5 and 6 wassupported with a Graduate School Summer Grant from the University ofWisconsinMadison. We would like to thank our former and present graduatestudents who assisted with the data collection and analysis: RichardFehlman, Mary Beth Hines, and David Wilson for Chapter 3; Pam Fly for Chapter4; Helen Dale for Chapters 5 and 6; and Ruth Frawley and SuKanne Gitomerfor Chapter 6. We would also like to thank the colleagues whohave us valuable feedback on the manuscript: Helen Dale, Anne DiPardo, Pam Fly. SteveGevinson, Mary Beth Hines, and Blian White. Thanks go as well to the outsidereviewers and Editorial Board of NCTE for their careful reading of the textand to Michael Spooner for his sterling work in coordinating the wholeeffort. We greatly appreciate their contributions to the final shape of this monograph. vii viii Acknowledgments Finally, we would like to thank our families for their support during the development of this project. We dedicate this book to them with great love and appreciation for their contributions to our work and with our most sincere thanks for their tolerance of our working. 1 Introduction A teacher and her ninth-grade students have for several days been discussing Dickens's Great Expectations. The discussion has been slow and sometimes tedious; the students are quite clearly bored. Hoping to find a new way to approach the discussion, the teacher takes a moment to ask her students how they feel about the way things have been going: Teacher: . .. So let's take a moment to talk about how our discussions have been working lately. Terry: I don't know how anybody else feels, but I do not like picking apart a book. We could spend an entire period on just one page. It just makes the book a lot less enjoyable. Jenny: Yeah, this isn't a lab or something. Teacher: Putting it under the microscope. Brian: Yeah, that's