We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Presenting Mystery, Mayhem, and Madness: Getting Students to Read and Respond to Crazy American Literary Texts.
- Authors
West, Patricia A.
- Abstract
"Presenting Mystery, Mayhem, and Madness: Getting Students to Read and Respond to Crazy American Literary Texts," discusses methods to select texts, emphasizes the importance of having a sense of student audience, and prioritizing author diversity in terms of race, gender, and other identities in course design. For this special themed edition, essential and critical questions are addressed: What is American? What is horror? What is weird? The article further asserts the benefits of Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of literature as still relevant to 21st century teaching to stimulate critical and creative responses to literature. It offers the suggestion that interpretation of horror can range from the humorous and ridiculous to the more serious representations of horror and terror in texts narrating slavery and racial violence. Finally, the article cites specific examples of texts and authors from classroom experience and ends with a brief sample of students writing about the dead.
- Subjects
LITERARY theory; GENDER; STUDENTS; TWENTY-first century; HORROR
- Publication
Teaching American Literature, 2020, Vol 11, Issue 2, p46
- ISSN
2150-3974
- Publication type
Article