Webb, Chapter 5 - Shakespeare and the New Multicultural Literacies

I like how this text introduces literary theory within the context of a larger discussion. In this chapter we are introduced to New Historicism and Postcolonial Studies, both theories I am in tune with philosophically, while at the same time feeling I haven't gotten my head completely around. The grey boxed sections are helpful in that regard. More than definitions of the theories, these inserts show us how to bring the theories into our classrooms.

Is everyone taking note of all the literature pairings and suggestions to be found in this text? If you take nothing else away from reading Literature and Lives, I hope you at least keep it as a resource. The suggested readings at the end of each chapter alone make this text a useful teaching tool. Personally, I am feeling guilty I haven't read the Howard Zinn text yet. This is not the first time his A People's History has popped up in my reading. I'll have to make it a priority.

When were the rest of you exposed to The Tempest and how did your instructor approach the text? My first read was as an undergrad. It was part of a Shakespeare class and was not paired with anything. I do remember a postcolonial discussion of the text, but it was delivered lecture style. There was no discovery on the part of the students. To be honest, I wasn't really buying what my professor was selling. I think I may have come to similar conclusions if I had been allowed to think through the process, but as it was, I felt I was force fed a theory that didn't quite fit the play.

Does everyone feel comfortable with introducing some historical texts prior to your students reading the literature itself? Does anyone feel they don't have a strong enough background in history to pull it off? While it is important for a teacher to enter the classroom with a certain level of expertise, do you feel it's ok to learn with your students?

Webb, Chapter - A Course in Contemporary World Literature

Literature and Lives: A Response-Based, Cultural Studies Approach to Teaching English
Allen Carey-Webb

I'm glad I'm reading this text again. It is answering a lot of questions I am having as I'm writing the prospectus to my dissertation and is clearing up some misconceptions I've had. I see now that the Cultural Studies approach to teaching literature is a missing component to my interest in student activism.

As we go out into the world as new teachers, it is too easy to fall back on how we were taught and forget about how we know we should teach. Those language arts textbooks suddenly seem a little too convenient to ignore. Plus many of us may have a prescribed curriculum we have to follow. Using a cultural studies approach may even seem at first to be a little too far removed from "real teaching" of literature.

We need to resist these urges to regress to traditional approaches and conquer our fears of the unknown. In fact, we should not consider cultural studies to be a new approach to teaching literature. Webb is not the first to document the positive affects this approach has had on students.

Why use cultural studies?

1. It fosters critical thinking and encourages activism (8)
2. It exposes students to the lives of people often ignored by the media and the educational system and absent from their daily lives.
3. It is by definition cross-curricular in nature.
4. It creates a stronger connection between students and the literature they are reading.
5. It immerses students in the worlds surrounding their texts.

I like Webb's take on combining the strengths of reader response and cultural studies. I've been struggling with the idea that educators need to remain politically neutral in the classroom in order for true growth to occur and to prevent silencing students who disagree with the teacher. By combining these two approaches, students will feel free to respond to texts, but will have the necessary background to responding intelligently and not out of ignorance.