Teaching Fiction: Short Stories and Novels. INSTITUTION Arizona English Teachers Association,Tempe
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 090 576 CS 201 258 AUTHOR Donelson, Ken, Ed. TITLE Teaching Fiction: Short Stories and Novels. INSTITUTION Arizona English Teachers Association,Tempe. PUB DATE Apr 74 NOTE 149p. AVAILABLE FROM Ken Donelson, Ed., Arizona English Bulletin,English Department, Arizona State University,Tempe, Arizona 85281 ($1.50) JOURNAL CIT Arizona English Bulletin; v16 n3 EntireIssue April 1974 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$6.60 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Adolescent Literature; *Fiction; Films;*Literature Appreciation; Novels; *Reading Materials;Secondary Education; Short Stories; Teenagers ABSTRACT Focusing on the importance ofyoung people reading fiction for relaxation and delight,a sense of objectivity, the enjoyment of vicarious experiences,exposure to different ideas and practices, contact with words and theireffectiveness, and the discovery of the human world- -good andevil--this issue of the "Arizona English Bulletin" presents 26articles by teachers of literature. The usual bibliography("Current Reading") is not included in this issue, but reading listsare provided in many of the articles. Suggestions for further reading("Shoptalk") conclude the bulletin. (JM) U S OEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION WELFARE L.:- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEENREPRO OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVEDFROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATINO Ir POINTS OF VIEW OROPINIONS STATE0 DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTEOF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY T*ACtii$0,116nOtis SHOT iTORTi$'A$0, yOmme 16 Ni b;6 -1.97 ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN A Member of the NCTE Exchange Agreement The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN is a publication of the Arizona English Teachers Association, a non-profit state affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN exists to create effective statewide artic- ulation of English teachers at all levels, to increase awareness of new ideas, programs, and movements in English, and to improve instruction at every level. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN is published three times each year, in October, Feb- ruary, and April. Xt is supported and subsidized by the Arizona English Teachers, Association, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State University. Membership in the Arizona English Teachers Association (including subscription to the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN) is $4.00 the year (a three yearmem- bership is available for $10.00). Send applications for membership to Frank Dallas,AETA Treasurer Phoenix Union High School 512 E. Van Buren Phoenix, Arizona85004 Make checks payable to the AETA and include both school and home addresses, including zip codes. Subscriptions to the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN alone are $4.00 for the three issues. Individual issues are available as supply exists for $1.50 per issue (except for A, special issues). For subscriptions or individual copies, sand a check made payable to the ARLiZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN to Ken Donelson, Editor, ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN English Department Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85281 Note to contributors: The editor of the ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN welcomes all con- tributions related to the teaching of English and applicable to the theme of a forthcoming issue. Writers might find the following helpful in preparing manuscripts. 1. Papers should ordinarily run no more than 10-12 pages, typed, double - spaced. 2. Writers who wish to submit brief notes should consider them for the Shoptalk section of a particular issue. 3. Avoid footnotes, unless they are absolutely necessary. 4. The ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN exists to serve all teachers of English, but its primary allegiance is to the National Council of Teachers of English. Writers should attempt to make their articles as practical and 'Useful as possible to the classroom teacher-audience the BULLETIN serves. 5. The editor assumes the right to make small changes to fit the format and needs of the BULLETIN. Major surgery will be handled by correspondence. Subjects for the 1973-1974 Issues: October (Humor and Satire in the English Classroom); February (Rhetoric and Composition); and April (Teaching Fiction: Short Stories and Novels). PEPM6SION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPY RIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Arizona.English Bulletin__ . 10 ERIC AND ORGANIATiONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH ME NATIONALIN- STITUTE OF EDUCATIONFURTHER REPRO. DUCTION OUTSIDE THEEPIC SYSTEM PE OUIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER' MAY 1 19 74 ARIZONA ENGLISH BULLETIN Spring 1974 TEACHING FICTION: SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS Contents a Apollo on Mt. Lemon:The Novel in Arizona High Schools D.G. Kehl, Arizona State University 1 Read?Who Has Time? Donald R. Gallo, Central Connecticut State College, New Britain 7 The Short Story--A Mirror Constance Bateman, North High School, Phoenix 12 Picking the 'Right' Fiction for the Young Adult S. James Jakiel, State University College, Buffalo, New York 18 The Teaching of Literary Terms with Short Films Sandy Larsen, Fremont Junior High School, Mesa 21 Reading is Like a Bicycle . Paul B. Janeczko, Masconoment Regional H.S., Topsfield, Mass 24 Jane Sits Home While Tarzan Swings--Unrealism in Teenage Books Alleen Pace Nilsen, Books for Young Adults Review Editor, ENGLISH JOURNAL 29 A New Novel for the Classroom: How and Why I Would Vse It Lynne Brown, Arizona State University Student 34 Fiction in the Classroom and Library Elaine Martindell, Townsend Junior High School, Tucson 39 Using Old Radio Tapes to Teach Fiction 46 Of Short Stories, Celluloid, and Serendipity G. Lynn Nelson, Arizona State University 48 Teaching Literature Through Sociodrama John O. White, California State University, Fullerton 53 The Dream Device in the Short Story Eileen Lothamer, California State University at Long Beach 57 Analogy and Symbolism . Faith Harare, Rocky Mountain High, Fort Collins, Colorado 62 Crosswhen and Otherwhere Fictions or Breaking Down the Adolescent "I" Janet Froemke, Apollo High School, Glendale, Arizona 65 Symbol and IronyThroughFiction and Film Nancy Siefert Tempe 70 Liberating Literature: Bringing Women's Conclusions into the Classroom Jan Grover, Arizona State University 73 The Multiple Option Question: A Test for Fiction Dan Donlan, University of California, Riverside 79 Teaching Point of View with the Aid of Films Carol Arnett, formerly Wickenburg High School 82 African Fiction in English Lester S. Golub, Pennsylvania State University 84 Seven Eyerly Novels Duncan Brown, Arizona State University Student 92 Improvisation from the Short Story Richard R. Adler, University of Montana 97 Newspaper Clippings: Parallels to Short Stories , 101 Identifying Some Positive Feminine Images in Fiction Barbara Lakin and Rosemary Whitaker, Colorado State University, Fort Collins. 105 Updike and the Concerned Reader RObert A. Lucking, University of Nebraska 111 Teaching the Search for Identity Theme in S/DDHARTHA by a Triadic Analysis Jean S. Miller, Cedar Shoals High School, Athens, Georgia 118 I Like Counting Beans, Registering to Vote, and Making Miniature Collard Patches Thomas K. Birmingham, Carl Sandburg Jr. HS, Glendora, California 123 Some Thoughts on a Process of Individualizing Instruction in Teaching Fiction Tom Jennings, Arizona State University 126 E.M. Forster's "The Celestial Omnibus": All the Way for Boy and Teacher W.G. Baroody, Arizona State University 129 Using the Packaged Deal in Teaching Fiction Kathy Rowley, Apache Junction Junior High, Apache Junction 132 Visualizing Fiction Michael C. Flanigan, Indiana University 135 Shoptalk 140 Preface to the Issue TEACHING FICTION: SHORT STORIES AND NOVELS A couple of years ago, a friend and I wrote an article in which we briefly elab- orated on the six reasons why young people should read. Admittedly, we were interested in more than the reading of fiction, but I believe these six reasons are really why young people can benefit from reading fiction, short stories or novels. First, short stories or novels provide enjoyment and relaxation and delight for young people. Whether students read to confront reality or to escape resift}, fiction allows them to discover pretty much whatever they wish. Second, fiction allows young people to see themselves and their own problems perhaps a little more objectively. Through sympat- thizing or emphathizing with characters who have somewhat parallel problems, students may be able to understand themselves and their awn dilemmas a little better.Maybe, just maybe, they will be able to understand through reading fiction a little abaft the universality of man's moral dilemmas, and they may discover that their own personal problems are not unique. Third, reading fiction provides vicarious experiences beyond the possibilities of any one man's life, indeed beyond the possibilities of several life- times. Fiction frees students to meet other people in other places in other times, to see the similarities and differences of their problems and the problems today. In effect, students can "people their world" through fiction as they can in almost no o::her way. Fourth, fiction exposes young people to value systems and ideas and practices often at sharp variance with their own. The conflict of values and ideas and practices can lead to an assessment of both the students' values and those of other people. Fifth, fiction allows young people to see their language at work--to se) what different authors do with words and what effects their ways with words (or lack thereof) have on the work of fiction itself as well as on the reader. In an era when Orwell's "Newspeak"