Studying Literature: Why & How

Why We Study Literature:

Reading fiction can teach us to new concepts, show us others' perspectives, and force us to consider difficult questions. According to an article in the Atlantic, "Researchers who have studied emotion and cognition extensively...suggest that literature can play a vital role in helping people understand the lives and minds of others, and that individuals and communities can benefit from that ability..." (Simmons, The Atlantic, 2016). 

Also, reading in an ELA class is often very different from reading in other content areas such as math, science, or even history. Studying literature can be challenging due to the fact that much of the material is not based in fact. It is a complex mixture of fictional characters, realistic plot, and very real emotions. Some readers face difficulty in processing these complex factors in order to pull meaning and understanding from the text. These obstacles can be overcome through the use of learning strategies that promote organization, vocabulary, activating prior knowledge, and increase motivation.

How We Study Literature

In this class, we'll be using the B-D-A framework to study our text. This framework organizes a novel study into three parts: before reading, during reading, and after reading. Each category has different activities to help motivate students, enhance comprehension, and engage students more deeply with the text. Before we begin with those activities though, we'll be spending some time on vocabulary in order to pre-teach important terms and concepts. This will be advantageous to students as you need to know 90% of the words in a passage to comprehend it.

Click Here: Vocabulary------------>