What is Literature?
Smells Like: Literature
My students might be surprised to know that using English literature as a focus of instruction is a relatively new concept. In England and America prior to the 20th century, literature classes were mostly about studying the Bible or reading Latin and Greek texts. Believe it or not, it was India, under the British empire, that was the first country to have English literature instruction.
Today, most students think that literature is old, stuffy poems and stories found in school literature textbooks. They may never consider the fact that literature can come from the most surprising places, and that even stoned-out headbangers are quite skilled at reciting long English Romantic poems and never missing a beat or a word. See YouTube video.
Over the weekend, I want my seniors to think about what literature is exactly. How do they define it? And how do they think our concept of literature is changing?
By Tom Fasano on September 3, 2009 – 10:12 pm
Posted in Literature, This Day in History | 2 Comments »
By
Linda Hanson on Sep 4, 2009 | Reply
What a great site you have here! As a new teacher, I am thrilled to read blogs like this!
By the way, how do you get around the general ban on YouTube in the schools? Is there anything that can be done to change the way things are when it comes to using the Internet to the benefit of the students?
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Tom Fasano on Sep 4, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for your kind words. As far as the YouTube ban, what I do is download the Flash video from YouTube and them play it on my site with a WordPress plugin. It’s a little technical . . . and slightly amazing that a Luddite like me figured it out.