Week 2

MAJOR 17 – TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT

Ave Maria College
OF LITERATURE STUDIES
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077
____________________________________________________________________________________
MAJOR 17 – TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF LITERATURE
STUDIES
To my students Major 17 – Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies:

You are now on the 2nd week of this course. Before you start working on the lessons for this
week make sure that you have submitted to your course facilitator the requirements of Week 1.
Read the learning materials below then answer the Weekly Exam and do the Activity.

At the end of weekly lesson, you should be able to:

a. Answer correctly at least 85% of the questions in the Weekly Exam and;
b. Complete the lesson plot with specific literary pieces, teaching strategy and assessment tool.

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 18

LESSON 2:
The Teaching of Literature

A. Teaching Poetry
Teaching poetry offers the literature instructor some of the most fundamental, immediate, active,
even physical ways to engage students in learning. According to Hudson, ‘Poetry is made out of life,
belong to life and exist for life.’
In the old times teaching poetry considered to be the sacred thing but with new teaching methods
and stylistic approaches to language, teaching literature is put at backstage. Teaching poetry now days
posing a lot of problems. It is taught and learnt as a job or uninteresting work. Poetic theories from Plato
to modern times are same
i) Mimetic or Imitative which pay attention to the relationship between the text and the world it
represent.
ii) Pragmatic theories aiming to have some effects on the readers
iii) Expensive theories in which the poet moves into the centre of the scheme and himself
becomes the prime generator of the subject matter attributes and values of a poem
iv) Objective theories which focuses attention on the text itself minimizing or excluding the
other three dimensions.

Methods and Techniques of Teaching Poetry

1. Subject-Centered Methods
a. Poetics. It refers to the science of poetry. Poetry is recognized by its specialized technical
language. It is also says that ordinary becomes special and special ordinary in poetry. It deviates
the normal usage of language as an art form that foregrounds language. In poetry everything is
related to everything. Jonathan Arc (1994) believes that without attention to prosody, poetry
may seem like arbitrary magic rather than a codified technology of verbal power. Poetry often
carries rich insights as its language directs its readers to be able to react the nuances of meaning
that poetic texts have to offer. Lyric, Satire, Ballads and Sonnets are to be coursed to show
students how poetic language is working. Teacher has the challenge of poetics that to bring alive
the idea that poetry exists in the abstract before it births in particular. It is the most exciting
moment when students get that. Poetry has the syllables with sonic and auditory relationships. It
is not meant to be read but meant to be sung. Musicality differentiates it from other genres.
b. Metaphors. This is most teachers’ fond method to use metaphors and themes for organizing the
reading of poetry. Metaphor is a connection or comparison made between things which are
usually considered to be unlike each other. It evokes curiosity of learner. It enriches the use of
language. Metaphors make the poetic language special. For e.g. we compare the flower of local
area with the flowers lily that are to our study. Our teaching helps to get grasp and
understanding of poetry. Using metaphor makes our teaching accessible to our students. Teacher
can divide his class into two groups and may ask his students to write down their association
similar with the things as mentioned metaphor in teaching. He would also ask single student to
predict or write what the words above meant. Teacher would also ask students to read the poem
and ask questions as what metaphorical or symbolic meaning they find in all the mentioned
words. Are there other words in the poem which seem connected with this cluster.
c. Genres. It is older types of approach to teaching literature but it is very useful in teaching
poetry. It divides the study course according to the genre. If we teach the poetry of particular
genre, it will help students for understanding from cultural, historical, sociological point of
view. It enhances student’s appreciation about understanding poetry. Knowledge of literary
genre for undergraduates has always been a problem for understanding. If we relate these forms
to popular and social forms it would work. Stephen Regan suggests that: courses with a strong
generic emphasis can be powerfully effective in opening up discussion of poem in history. A
carefully structured course on the sonnet can amply demonstrate the close relationship between

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 eloquence and power… and it can also show how the sonnet flexibly accommodates a range of
very difference voices over several centuries… the radical, republican voices of John Milton and
Tony Harrison, the anguished confessional voices of John Milton and Gerard Manley Hopkins,
the intimate amatory voices of Elizabeth Barret Browning and Christiana Rossetti. This method
of genres effectively provides the knowledge of background study and enhances the learning
experience of students. Courses can be prepared on elegies, sonnets, ballads etc. Even short
courses based on these forms also valuable and give pace to the study of poetry. Genre
developes a compelling object of study. It describes a strong historical background of the poetry.
It also draws attention on the issues of gender, institutions, politics, print and religions (Regan
Poetry).
d. Background. Students need supplementary reading or background reading to understand the
theme or intensity of thoughts. This is student centered activity that encourages students to
participate in the appreciation process. The epic poems like Paradise Lost can’t be studied
without the knowledge through supplementary reading. It could be vard to understand the tone
of issues, biblical creation sources, gender dialogue and genre with reference to specific passage
and lines. Why a poet write a poem or the conditions that disturb his mind are necessary to
understand before understanding the poem. Even for partial understanding of poem, theological,
historical, mythological, social and psychological information or understanding is necessary. It
can be provided through this method. Students could read or listen to the text which illustrates
historical, cultural time of the poem. Author’s life also deepening the understanding of themes
of poem. Teacher or student could read text focusing on author’s life. Students could be given
information about genre or movement of literature to which the author belongs before to start
the actual poem. Teacher could provide students opportunity to discuss the behavioral pattern or
feeling of organic society of the poems respective period.

2. Teacher-Centered Methods
a. Aloud Reading. It is very effective method of teaching poetry. Reading provides physical
involvement of students and offers poems physical properties. Reading aloud makes students
active and teaches about utterances, stress, intonation, rhyme and rhythmical qualities of the
poem. At the same time, reading provides pleasure which stimulates to the study of the poem.
Teacher would ask students to read the poem before his actual reading. Teacher would ask two
groups of students to read the poem as they generally read. Here, teacher also do the activity as
first read the poem with proper seriousness and provide good example of reading and later on
ask students to read with the feelings and emotions contained in the recited ones. Musical
quality of poem provides a good way of presentation of a poem. A good teacher always first
makes aloud reading to start to teach
b. Using Lectures. This method is very important to unfold technique, emotions and trope. It is
an effort to make the text choices illustrative of the way that emotional and cultural intelligence
is transmitted in the poem. Lectures provide opportunity to give information of style,
background and dramatic techniques. Teacher can divide his poems teaching on various aspects
of poem and could tell the students through the series of four to five lectures. Teacher can ask
even students to speak for 5 minutes on the background genre or any relevant aspect of the
poem. Through lecturing, teacher could make comment on beginning or ending of the poem.
Explanation or illustration of major ideas or themes of the poem are given through lecturing.

3. Student-Centered Methods
Poetry is well-suited to the active classroom. Poetry has many shades of interpretation. Even
silence and breaks in the poem provide multiple interpretations. The potential power of teaching poetry
depends on the active and lively participation of students in the classroom.
a. Memorizing. This is the oldest pedagogical method of teaching poetry. In old times, knowing
poems by heart is a matter of pride and sign of educated person. But today, this skill has been
disappeared not only in students but from teachers too. But this method is suitable for both

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 20

 professors and school teachers. Its first significance is that it develops an interest, change
students attitude towards learning poems. Both poets and distinguished teachers also
recommend memorization of poetry is a useful pedagogical tool. This is the step towards
reading. Silent intensive re-readings of a shorter poem leads towards recitation and signs to
show that you are in the possession of the poem. It is also called as possession-by-memory.
Memorization gives access to the poems related brevity and its internal mnemonic devices.
Poem has the capacity to induce a sense of transcendence in the reader who recites it when once
fit in the memory. Quinn explains - “memorizing allows you experience language to experience
privacy. When you are memorizing poems, you are in an intimate connection with the person
who made them. It is a profound source of spiritual nourishment.” (2001 2) Teacher can ask
students to memorize the poem before to start teach. Memorizing gives them a great sense of
how the thing is made, the sounds, how the words are chiming, a great sense of the current of
the thought and the beautiful poems achieve. Memorization always leads to positive sharing of
students. Memorization makes and gives physical shape to what we memorize and turned it into
a companion. It can make effective tool of teachers teaching. In every poem, familiar features
are there rhyme, metre, repletion, alliteration and nemonic devices tricks to facilitate the storage
and retrieval of information. It means that poetry is meant to sing. It has every feature to keep
with us. Hence, teacher can ask students to memorize few lines of every poem. Students can
also be motivating to present the memorized poems relevant to the theme of the poem.
b. Recitation. Previously singing was considered an essential part of teaching of poetry and it was
an assumption that a successful teacher is one who can recite the poetry in the decent way. In
reading the poem correctly synthetically enjambment is important. Students can interpret the
poem. They need to show the melody fall of emotional and poetic stresses while reading.
Because of recitation, students discovered uncanny power and humour in the text which seems
previously meaningless. This method can be introduced by teachers first reading of poem with
proper stress and rhythm and then to ask students to read or recite it with proper care. This helps
for better dialogue than to see the students lines of poetry as mute. Recitation should be done for
three to four times that makes it better. Students are also asked to recite the poems in their mean
time as an activity.
c. Asking to Keep Anthology. This is also effective way to arouse interest regarding teaching
poems. Canon formation will be lively classroom topic. Many teachers require their students to
keep anthologies so that they can record their favourite lines with necessary explanation.
Teacher could ask students to keep their handwritten commonplace books in which they may
include their meditations, verse and illustrations as well as passages they found memorable in
their reading. Now, technology can be useful to create such anthology. Teacher can recommend
students to form anthology with the recommend help of web. It poses them activities like
arranging these anthologies, juxtaposing it, throwing in significant visual material, retitaling
poems, writing short linking commentaries or fictional biographical vignettes and so on.
d. Creation of Poems. Writing poetry is a creative art. Creative writing poetry programs are
flourished everywhere. The art of composing poetry is very useful for student’s active
involvement and learning of poetry. It is believed that students who writes poetry, whatever
their performance, but they understand more about poetry and literature than others. Writing
poetry can be memorable part of one’s hands-on. Teacher would encourage students to write
about various types of poems and read it in the class to encourage others. Writing poetry
assignment can also be worked as stimulating to others. Parody is an excellent way of teaching
poetry. For example, before teaching Rape of the Hock, teacher would ask students to come up
with their own mock epics having divine machinery and name of muse whom they would like to
invoke. Teacher would also place some questions to arouse interest. Videos, clips of parody or
other forms of students writing also contributes to the creation of teaching poems.
e. Making Portfolio. This is the best method to have direct participation of students in active
classroom. Teacher would ask students to keep portfolio of their writing that could help less
experienced readers to develop a method of first noticing and exploring poetic language. This

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 21

 portfolio keeping practice also provides background information of genre. It all greatly benefit
students in providing a concrete place in which they can see their own work grow. Students
could gather many poems, all produced by their own hands. But the more important thing is the
sense about poetry that students review their work, they are surprised to see their sophisticated
way of thinking.
f. Comparative Study. Comparison always helps for more understanding. Teacher could use it
effectively by asking students to compare the poem with other having similar themes. Teacher
might take a short poem and put it alongside with a suggestive poem and elucidate each other.
Poetic structure can be best taught with this tool. Teacher could compare poets like
Wordsworth, Johnson, and any other, may be of India. It would open to discussion and would
ask questions as which would you think memorial for yourself? Teacher can also provide Emily
Dickenson’s poems of two versions with their idiosyncrasies of diction, imagery and
punctuation edited out. Here are two versions of two stanzas:

The Chariot
“We passed the school where children We passed the school where children
played, strove,
We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun. We passed the setting sun.”
(Because I Could Not Stop For Death Owlcation, 2017 )

After noticing the difference between two versions, teacher would ask students to account which
way good to understand Dickenson’s uniqueness. He could further ask how that uniqueness violated
expectations of women poetic compositions. Such exercises would provide opportunities for argument
about taste and value. There is a set of activities with which teacher can also help to appreciate lyrical,
melodramatic quality as well as metaphorical richness of poems study.

g. Warm up. The class is asked to recall any songs or nursery rhymes they liked as children.
Teacher could recite any songs or poems that remember with pleasure or favorite rhymes or
songs compare. Students are encouraged to recite it in their own languages. Teacher would also
ask class to point out any similarities or differences. In feedback session usually includes
features as repetition of key phrases, strong rhythms, simple rhymes, recurring references,
precious things. It would be followed by reading once or twice and with students asking to place
a little mark followed by brainstorming exercise in which odd or unusual explanations are
welcomed. Teacher would then ask about concrete images.
h. Reading the poem. Teacher reads once or twice the whole poem and compares them. One
nominated student would write on board. Teacher distributes the text or displays it on the
overhead projector. Students in groups read the poem and overall interpretation of poem is
done.
i. Follow-up. Teacher would take the follow-up of learned things. Various questions are asked to
checkout understanding level of students. Teacher would encourage students to point out
imagery, symbols and difficult words etc. He would ask to interpret the poem. Students are also
expected to write short note for the learned poem. Use different images to describe their
descriptions. With the above methods and techniques, teacher can make his class active and
lively one. Best course to teach class in to make class active. All these methods certainly
provide some help or direction about teaching poetry to teacher. In this sense, it is teacher who
decides which would set good for his class.

B. Teaching of Fiction

Methods and Techniques of Teaching Fiction

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 Fiction can be as short as a few lines or as long as a novel. It can be fantastic or realistic.
Whatever, its size or shape, there are some essential parts essential to it. Fiction is the classification or
type of any imaginary story. Fiction can be expressed in a variety of formats, including writing, live
performance, films, televisions programmes etc. A work of fiction is an act of creative imagination.
Novel and short stories are very important as they mainly give pleasure as well as teaching of
complexity, characterization and increase students imaginative creativity. Short story demonstrates
students to tell a story in concentrated way. It sharpens the logical power.

1. Starting of a Fiction. Fiction is an important genre of literature. Starting a fiction is a

problem. A novel has no specific or trendy methodology likewise poetry or drama.
Beginning of the novel can be done through different ways as some teachers begin with the
author’s biography or historical background. But it is always good to start with the cover
page, style or characters and so on. As there is more number of characters, teacher has to
describe and play various activities to solve this kind of complexity.
2. Reading and Writing. As novel is an important genre of literature in size, characters, and
complexities and in language, students get confused while relating the story in the class. This
complexity is problematic for understanding the novel. It is advisable to have experience of
writing a novel. Caoolun (1988 114) under the name Amanda Gross believes - “the best for
teaching fiction is writing it and the process of writing the novel would help a teacher
understand the significance of the craft and market. All teachers of literature are expected to
have written and published a work of fiction to understand fundamental about fiction
(Caoolun 114)”.
3. Familiarity. It is this quality of fiction that makes it accessible to everybody. Most people
like novels because of its lively presentation in the form of words, unlike poetry and drama.
Novels are not self-consciously reflexive or experimental. It is the free atmosphere of the
novel that makes the undergraduates to approach novel with pleasure and enjoyment. It helps
in the increase of familiarity. In the novels, we find that themes like love, dispute, good-bad
struggle, struggle with the characters and situations and displays universal emotions and
feelings. That’s why many people find the narrative familiar and like it. In this method, one
shortcoming is there that only pleasure may not develop critical ability among students. But
it is very effective method of teaching literature.
4. Length. The length of the novel is a major structural obstacle that a teacher is facing while
completing his teaching. It is this length of novel that distracts students interest from study of
the novel Teacher generally prefer novel with short length to teach. Students show their
reluctance and this is discouraging element for student’s interest and curiosity. This problem
became grave as students have off campus jobs or other works and personal distractions. A
teacher can also give his students reading assignments to overcome this problem. He could
ask students to read certain number of pages by the given date. He would also take a midterm
reading check with other students asking questions about the text and is about emphatic about
student’s attendance.
5. Background and Literary Tradition. There are certain elements in which teachers find
difficulty to teach novel such as background tradition, influences and intertextuality. These
things are needed to be considered. The novels like Mrs. Dalloway or 1984 need to tell from
intertextuality context. Secondly, to introduce effectively all these things, teacher can provide
some supplementary information regarding these segments of studies. Close reading provide
vistas for students vision into the new areas of study. Another problem is usually faced by
teachers while teaching is of suspense of novel or short story. Teacher is always in dilemma
whether to tell the ending first or reveal it at the end. In this sense, teacher would have to
decide whatever decision he/she takes may not spoil the pleasure of students.
6. Thematic Teaching. This is also an effective way of teaching literature in the classroom. It
moves teaching of novel from individual authors to thematic courses. Nowadays, teaching of
fiction has changed structurally over the years. It moved from individual authors because

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 23

 teaching of individual authors would not make students to go deep in their learning. But
teaching the thematic pattern of each period would be helpful for teachers. Every period has
its own characteristics which is expected to be known and teacher with this method can
impart effectively all these thematic understanding to his students.
7. Close Reading. This method is useful in arousing student’s interest about fiction. Teacher
would ask his students different questions to each of the students that provide students a
chance to make comparison and deep investigation of the text. Close reading always effects
teaching plan. If students make close reading, teacher can start the fiction without providing
background and others information. Asking of close reading activity would motivate students
for better understanding of the novel and it develops the reading ability of students. It gives
confidence and maintains psychology for further study of the fiction. To the beginners, this
activity offers a certain aesthetic satisfaction, a sense of the whole that provides the student
with some control over a major work of art and a sense that there are still dimensions to
investigate.
8. Dramatizing and Active Learning. Teachers teaching fiction should have a good
knowledge of dramatization ways and solid various fictional themes. This method focuses on
the various ways of dramatization with which teacher can boost his class with healthy
participation. One of the ways that teacher could ask students to read the novel for ten
minutes by candle light and then write by candle light for ten minutes. It would be followed
by discussion on what they learnt from the experiment. Second activity is that teacher could
arrange the seats in the class as per the scene of the topic. In this connection Gleson argues
that since best sellers are about reading, we need to look at the movements when acts of
reading are staged (Gleson 2000). Teacher could point out various themes on the blackboard
and invite students to point out the possible themes that emerge from the details of the
blackboard. It would be also followed by teacher asking students what best themes they
would like
9. Teacher’s Narrative Role and Its Perspectives. This activity is most valuable and
reflexive element in teaching fiction. Novel is essentially a complex phenomenon, having
variety and subtlety, the unpredictability and the mobility of its uses of perspectives. In this
sense, the role of teacher is as classroom narrator. Narratives of fiction can bridge the gap
between experience and fiction. It would serve as examples and illustrates for students of the
ways of narrative works and the unconscious assumptions that made about it as readers.
Narration is an art which can be achieved through hard practice. It focuses on the clear cut
idea of the work and involves other in the process of understanding. The role of narrator is
that of explainer, introducer and facilitator, which is very important for students. This is very
different from traditional classroom where teacher is expected to have answers and
authoritative voices. In a novel or course of novel, these psychological parallels become
available for most imaginative, explicit, intellectual deployment. Every literary technique can
be adopted into a pedagogical technique. Every literary tradition of narrative structure can be
turned into a narrative practice. Pedagogy itself can be used as a mirror of laboratory.
Teacher would also use different techniques for understanding of fiction. Teacher should take
care about the levels of information and students understanding. Teacher also can distribute
handout and record students responses. Thirdly teacher is able to see how it operates in the
classroom and to imagine in finding out alternative ways to represent it. Teacher can choose
various techniques to teach various fictions of different times. Certain techniques as
filmstrips, video-clips, pictures, images, cartoon pictures etc. would be used by teacher for
effective narration in the classroom. Voice-recorder, flashbacks, cards; cartoons can be useful
for straight narrative. However, teachers handling of all these instruments decide its
effectiveness and success of narration.
10. Teaching of Contemporary Fiction. Contemporary fiction covers a vast area such as
modernism, post-modernism, magic realism, fairy tales, fables and so on. It is teachers’
responsibility to adapt such ways and techniques that enables students for better

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 24

 understanding and enjoyment. Contemporary fiction is the product of complex and modern
life. It saws a lot of change at the level of writing style, technique, language etc. Today’s
time is of globalization. Some people saw this period as the death of literature.
Intertextuality, web, Amazon.com, E-books, E-libraries, bookstores, coffee shops, celebrity
author books, tours, cyber house, reading clubs and other phenomenon affect the ways of
living of us. Impact of movies, media also affects the reading habit of literature. What’s app,
facebook, twitter replaced the place of reading habit. In this period every teacher can post
comment on and responds to your reading every week on the electronic discussion. With the
help of all these new sources, teacher could update and evaluate the techniques of
contemporary writers use in their fiction: to locate how works within a historical contexts and
aesthetic tradition. He would also ask for to do close reading of passages from a novel and
show their relation to the whole, to analyze a writer’s style, to compare novels and their
adaptations for media in terms of the narrative conventions of each medium, to form and
defend critical judgments about new writings and to analyze the relationship between the
business of publishing and the development of fiction in a contemporary context.
11. Incorporation of Various Elements. A teacher could incorporate various elements of
narrative into teaching process. This activity would help a teacher to effectify his teaching.
Firstly, teacher would ask students how these elements operate to define experience as story
or fiction. Secondly, he could compare lecturing to narration and encourage students to think
of how it might be done. Thirdly, teacher also compares narration conventions of temporality
beginning middle and the end. Introduction, continuity, complication and closure have
obvious similarities to the rhythms of stories or novels. Classes can be organized by teachers
as beginners, middles and endings. Each stage teacher could begin with different subject
matter, film and video-clips may be used to illustrate cinematic conventions or beginnings
from Disney cartoons to realism to the avantgarde.
12. Assignments. These are very influential in checking the meaning and spelling of new words,
translating passages, understanding of idioms and phrases. This activity usually involves in
the middle of the course which are different for each group of novel. Teacher can circulate
handout to different group in the classroom asking them first to read out and then to write the
percept of read part. Close reading would be considered as the key place in the total scheme
of teaching literature. It promotes self-education. It helps in knowing world’s new and
important information. Close reading is a slow reading. It pays attention to imagery, allusion,
intertextuality, syntax and so on. It is a process of a form of defamiliarisation that is used to
break through our habitual and casual reading practices. It forces to be active consumers of
the text. In close reading, we look at the text as the whole. It gives answers of the questions
as why does the author use particular words, images, grammatical constructions. Teacher can
give another assignment practice as conversation practice. It helps to take a passage from the
novel with strong style or to apply a technique of a story or novel to another experience.
Conversational discussion always helps to create a familiar atmosphere in the classroom.
And once the students habituated it, they would converse themselves without asking teachers.
This is another benefit of conversational experience. Thirdly, teacher would also ask for
writing assignment in which students are asked to write about the theme of novel, its
language, its plot, characterization and etc. After close reading, students would find it
comfortable about writing the studied work. Another activity which proves in this sense
effective is that teacher would at the end of semester, make a lively discussion of the
syllabus. He would ask questions that focus on major concepts of the study. It would
certainly developed eagerness among students. For more, teacher could bring the novels
prescribed for next semester in order to keep students attention.
13. In-the Mood. Finally, there are lots of activities that a teacher could use to make his/her
class alive. Warm up activities are there that are effective in building familiarity with the
setting of the novel prior to reading and preferably before the texts are distributed to the
students. Teacher asks the students to close their eyes and imagine the content of the text.

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 25

 Thus, with the help of all these methods, activities and techniques teacher can make his
teaching of fiction class effective and influential. Retrospective learning also helps students
to reconstruct the events which happened just before the opening of the novel.

C. Teaching Drama

Methods and Techniques of Teaching Drama

1. Asking about Keys. This activity leads to the exposure of students to drama. Teacher can
provide keys such as reading any number of essays or teacher could ask his students to give
key of some content of the teaching.
2. Performance Studies. This is an important method as it establishes the connections between
text and stage. Contextualization of drama can be taken with this performance method. This
approach pedagogically became dominant in teaching as performance activity by 1990. It is
highly initiated by 1960’s to teach Shakespeare’s dramas by Homer (Murph) Swander who
organized a radical and influential MLA session on teaching through acting workshops and
developed through the work of such scholars as Berrard Beckermann who taught at NEH
summer institute at Fotger Library in 1982 on teaching drama through performance. It is
believed that classroom as theatrical place containing actual participation of students. It
establishes complex interaction of text, action and audience.
3. Acting Approach. This approach leads focus on the need of active workshops for teaching
drama with its great use in class. Now it is recognized as most interactive approach in
teaching literature because: a) it gets total involvement of students in activity; b) it makes
students to act, to speak, to talk and to perform scene on their level; and c) it is the best way
to bring drama to life.
4. Workshops on Reading and Writing. It is the new way of voluntary supplement in
teaching. It incorporates the aspects of lectures and it could be performed by acting as well as
soliloque or other dialogues that are famous and asking students to act in the class. Teacher
could also ask to students to read aloud the said soliloque or dialogue. This process opens up
the classroom in live stage.
5. Video-clips. These are very useful strategies for students’ quick attention in the class. It is an
effective way. Teacher would show one or other scene from the learning drama and invite for
discussion. Teacher must aware about that instead of their interpretations; students may fall
to readymade interpretation. Teacher must be aware of students passive seeing. This can be
solved by teachers asking to the class to experience the play scene with the ways of playing
with that scene. Discussion with video-playing may be the best mixture of classroom
experience.
6. Dramatic Class Staging. This way helps to introduce students about the idea of Elizabethan
stage and other stages. Teacher could ask students to enter in the classroom in the manner the
people and courtier used to enter during Elizabethan or any other’s time. It would make them
familiar with the physical arrangement of that time or period. Teacher could also view the
class in different ways to make them familiar with that period. It would appeal them and re-
create a venue that helps to create active involvement of whole class. Here, teacher could
also discuss about the performance of different character via video-clip. Tracking the stage
history is also influential element in encouraging about students curiosity. Elizabethan,
Restoration and different stages history would certainly help teacher to impress his teaching.
Teacher’s lectures also have the power to transform class from text to stage. Teacher and
students as performer and audience make exchange in their roles. Even lecturing about the
performance is a double reinforcement for student.
7. Stressing of Performance. This method looks at inculcation among students about live
participation in the class. In the classroom, text is a record of performance and teacher’s job
is how to make it or transfer it from text to act. The knowledge and experience of live theatre

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 26

 could be useful for teachers and students. Many people believe that literature pleasures can
be taught and conveyed when students know about the context of the play. The play becomes
richer and intelligible with live participation. Male Cadden points out that plays are not
meant to be read, a teacher is to bring out what’s on the page and help them to set up and
provide that per formative supplement for themselves (Godden 2005).
8. Modeling. It is a method that makes teachers’ role as a performer in the classroom. This
method effectively makes possible students participation in the learning activity. It needed
certain degrees of modeling both in lecture and small groups. Reading activity can be
modeled by teachers with proper care and then would be asked to students to read it from the
same point of view. Modeling presents model before students and expected to follow it.
Teacher can provide a number of activities that could be treated as model and encouraging
students in classroom participation. Acting, walking or any scene from the drama could be
modeled by the teacher. How to use a particular piece of equipment appropriately and
actively, how to record data, how to evaluate an investigation, how to plan a more complex
investigation, how to draw a particular representation etc. can be modeled by teacher.
9. Role Playing Methods. Role playing allows students to play a character in real or imaginary
situation. It includes activities like-
a. Reenactment. Students perform scenes from a historical time or period or a scene in a
story. It encourages students to interact with a text and challenges them to take on the
perspectives of a character.
b. Extended Role Play. Students may create the scene that takes place before or after a
story or scene. It helps students to predict and theorize about cause and effect.
c. Hot seat. Students are interviewed in character. By putting the character from a drama or
story, they explore their understanding of the content. Other students, encourage to
prepare questions that explore the characters and their conflicts.
d. Expert Panel. Students become expert and observe the actions of the performing
students. It would be followed by comments and discussions.
e. Writing-in Role. Teacher may ask students to write in character. They are generally
asked to imagine themselves as real or fictitious character in a particular situation. It is
expected to focus on exploration of characters and their interaction with events.
f. Improvisation. This is the practice of acting and reacting, of making and creating, in the
moment and in response to the stimulus of one’s immediate environment. It can be a
great introduction to role playing. Students focus on position, expression and creativity in
their impromptu skills. Following are certain activities and techniques that can be used
frequently by teachers to make their classroom alive-
 Teacher can follow performance and close reading by selecting some segments of
the play and perform it, asking students to perform it with close reading of it.
 He could also use technique of stylized dialogue in which he would exchange and
change dialogue of some scene from male to female and vice-versa.
 Teacher would also prefer detailed reading of the play as part of activity. It offers
minute details as well imaginary freedom.
 By analyzing the side text of the play or scene including stage directions, titles,
names of characters, non-verbal elements like knocking scene of the gate in
Mcbeth, teacher could introduce his teaching.
 Self-reflective toning or comments can also be useful for active participation of
the students. It is witty and provocative.
 Classroom ending dramatically also provides extra space for enhancement of
learning. Anything drama, novels, stories, poems or prose, students can end every
class with dramatic presentation of any segment is a powerful teaching technique.
 Wordplay, visual or language snowball activities teacher can give to have
student’s interest.

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 27

  Different questionnaires can be given to students to understand the language of
the play. Teacher could give group discussion to students followed by a task in
groups or write a very short sketch of some situation in their real life.
 Teacher would ask students to tell about the play they might know or memorizing
famous dialogue or students are asked to work together on the mini production of
the play.
 Some activities regarding the student’s performance teacher can do are related to
gesture, movements, sets, lighting and costumes e.g., by showing different
costumes, teacher would ask students to think about the costume of actor and
actresses.
 By bringing something in the class, teacher would ask questions what contained
in it. Followed by questions to content.
 Teacher can give situations or outlines the political, historical or talk about
literary genre.
 Activities related to language awareness can a teacher use as students are asked to
compare two different texts and highlight the differences in grammar, vocabulary
or compare text from their own languages with translations.
 Oral activities can be done by marking out of word stress, reading aloud with
emotional meaning. Students annotate the different lines with how text should be
said. Students discuss about characters and their likes. The above mentioned
activities and techniques, methods are very useful in one or other way for
effective classroom teaching. As these methods, techniques and activities are for
improvisation and transforming, understanding of students. It would be wrong to
say what is right or wrong but it is right to leave it to teachers to decide what is
right for his/her class.

D. Teaching Prose

Method and Technique of Teaching Prose

In prose literature teaching two types are involved i) Detailed prose lesson ii) Non- detailed
prose lesson. In detailed prose lesson, the text book is read thoroughly word to word. Students are
expected to read it not only in parts but with grasping the meaning of the text. In non- detailed prose
lesson, teacher read the text book only in parts having the aim of giving content and major ideas of the
lesson.
1. Aims and Objectives of Teaching Prose. There are certain aims and objectives that are very
important while teaching prose literature. The first aim of teaching prose is for language
development and literary development. At UG level, prose is studied from both perspectives.
In this sense, Thompson and Wyatt point out that to aim at literature is to miss the way to
literature. Prose develops both types of reading i.e. the intensive reading skill and the
extensive reading skill. The intensive reading skill is cultivated through the detailed textbook
while the extensive reading skill is practiced through supplementary readers. Reading
comprehension involves understanding the subject matter of the lesson including the
important ideas in it and the sequencing and relationship of these ideas to one another. It also
involves understanding the meaning of new words and grammatical structures. Teaching
prose enables the students to understand the passage, to read fluently, to enrich their
vocabulary and to enjoy reading and writing. It enables the learners to extend their
knowledge of vocabulary and structures and to become more proficient in the language skills.

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 28

 The main aim of teaching prose is to develop language ability and to give literary content
with it there are following general aims of teaching literature: a) To enable students to
understand passage by silent reading; b) To grasp meaning; c) To express the ideas of the
passage orally and in writing; d) To develop students imagination; and e) To read with
correct pronunciation, stress, intonation and pause.
With these, at UG level different types of prose lessons have different objectives. In
descriptive prose the main aim is developing students imagination quality and making
students acquaint with writers style. Story has the objectives of describing certain facts and
lessons, shaping the students characters and developing interest about story telling. In essay,
the objectives are enabling students about the essay writing style and building habit of
arranging ideas in a systematic order. Plays build conversational ability with students
encouragement to play different roles. It also aims to build students characters. In biography,
students would become aware of great personality. It also enables to inculcate in them
desirable sentiments and emotions. In biographies, students would have an opportunity to see
the path of character building.
2. Procedure of Teaching Prose Lesson.
In the teaching of prose lessons, there are four steps: a) preparation b) presentation c)
Recapitulation d) Home assignment.
a. Preparation
While teaching prose, proper presentation is required to motivate the students. In it, certain things
should be discussed by teacher as general aims, specific aims etc. Teacher would also use proper audio-
visual aids to evoke student’s previous knowledge and to link it with the hand in teaching topic.
b. Introduction
It makes students to learn and prepare about the main theme of the prose. It has two purposes-
one is to bring the previous knowledge to the consciousness and secondly, the previous knowledge to
the new knowledge. Teacher can use various techniques to introduce the topic as telling story, asking
questions, discussions, using images, playing audios and so on. Then, teacher would tell students about
the statement of aim.
c. Presentation
This is the major part of teaching. It has sub-steps reading aloud, pronunciation, exposition of
new words/phrases, silent reading and comprehension questions.
 Reading Aloud - It is also called as model reading. Teacher reads the selected text with
proper stress and intonation with normal speed. This activity also makes aware of
students attention on the content of teaching.
 Pronunciation – Teacher selects words that are difficult to pronounce, mispronouncing,
silent words pronunciation made correct by the teacher. It teaches students the way of
pronunciation words with proper care and frequency.
 Reading Aloud by the students – It is also called as imitation reading where students
perform model reading as followed by teachers.
 Exposition of New Words/Phrases- Teacher would introduce new words to students. He
would use different techniques for it as showing object model, picture, using word in the
sentence, giving synonym/antonym or showing action.
 Silent Reading – Teacher asks the students to read passage silently which helps to rapid
reading, grasping of the meaning.
 Comprehension Questions- Teacher would ask evaluative questions to check out the
comprehension of students. Teacher may ask many questions related to the meaning of
the text, different forms and phrases of the passage.
 Recapitulation or Application Test This step involves the object to evaluate the
objectives of the lesson. Teacher would ask questions based on the comprehension of the
text. Teacher may play various techniques or effective ways for this translation,

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 29

 describing main incidents, explaining of passages, filling the blanks, brief summary of
the passages or text and so on.
 Home Assignment This step involves questions based on teaching content. Teacher
assigns some task and students are expected to do it at home. It keeps students
involvement in the study. It also develops students cultivation of extra reading activity
related to the topic.
3. Effective Teaching Strategies of Teaching Prose
It is the teacher who plays different techniques for teaching prose. His/her ability to establish
connection with the students will decide effectiveness of teaching.

a. Making Small Sentences. Teacher could break long passage into small pieces that help students
to provide thinking opportunities. Repeated reading would help students to build comprehension
possibility. To ask questions is also a good practice to open students in the class-room activity.
b. Classroom Discussion. It provides students to share their thought as well as puts the learning
back opportunities to students. Teacher can break the class into small groups and start discussion.
He/she would end this conversation with pointed conclusions and students feedback from other
class.
c. Encourage Creativity. To do this, teacher would ask students to create poems, to highlight
words and meaningful phrases of the passage. It would be followed by activity of asking students
to re-read the selected list. To encourage student’s imagination and creativity, teacher would ask
them to create poems out of these chosen words.
d. The Five- S Strategy. This is another activity to analyze prose. After giving students a prose
passage, offer them a graphic organizer with the headings, speaker, situation, sentences, shifts,
syntax etc. Walk among students through the process of recording observations and
interpretations for each reading of the graphic organizer using evidence from the prose for
support. For e.g. in the syntax section, students would record examples from the reading in
which the word order seemed interesting. After then urge students to comment on the overall
meaning of the text. By using various theories, methods, approaches and techniques, teacher can
make his classroom teaching effective. Prose teaching not only gives class a conversational feed
up but makes active, dynamic and interesting. Whether, it is a story or prose, students learn
literature oriented as well as language oriented objectives. Now days, it is found that teachers are
giving more emphasis on communicative and translation activity or grammatical element that
harms the content analysis of teaching prose.

Keep in Mind:
In teaching literature, it is the role of the teacher to think of appropriate methods and techniques to
employ in the teaching-learning process. The application of methods and techniques will depend to
the kind of literature that teachers will discuss because it varies in terms of structure and elements.

References:
PDF File:
Teaching Literature: Theories, Approaches, Methods and Techniques (Prose, Poetry, Drama and
Fiction) retrieved from
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/jspui/bitstream/10603/229088/10/10_chapter%25202.pwdf on
July 20, 2020
Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 30
UH Ikonne (2016). The Teaching of Literature: Approaches and Methods. Retrieved from:
https://iiardpub.org/get/IJEE/VOL.%202%20NO.%205%202016/THE%20TEACHING%20OF
%20LITERATURE.pdf on July 20, 2020

Ave Maria College

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: __________________

Course & Year: ______________________________________ Rating: _________________

WEEKLY EXAM 2 – Knowledge Application

I. TRUE or FALSE.
Instruction: Write TRUE if the statement is true. If false, underline the word/phrase that makes the
statement false and write the correct answer on the space provided before each number.

________________ 1. Prose refers to the science of poetry.

________________ 2. Lyric, satire, ballads and sonnets are samples of songs – a type of poetry.
________________ 3. Musicality differentiates poetry from other literature genres.
________________ 4. Metaphor is a connection or comparison made between things which are
usually considered to be unlike each other.
________________ 5. Even for partial understanding of poem, theological, historical, mythological,
social and psychological information or understanding is necessary.
________________

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 31

 ________________ 6. Lecture is the oldest pedagogical method of teaching poetry.
________________ 7. Fiction is the classification or type of any imaginary story
8. The length of the novel is a major structural obstacle that a teacher is facing
________________ while completing his teaching.
9. Contemporary fiction covers a vast area such as modernism, post-modernism,
________________ magic realism, fairy tales, and fables.
10. Retrospective learning also helps students to reconstruct the events which
________________ happened just before the opening of the novel.
11. Acting approach leads focus on the need of active workshops for teaching
________________ drama with its great use in class.
12. Modeling is a method that makes teachers’ role as a performer in the
________________ classroom.
13. Reenactment means students perform scenes from a historical time or period
or a scene in a story.
________________ 14. Memorizing allows students to play a character in real or imaginary situation.
________________
15. In detailed prose lesson, students are expected to read it not only in parts but
with grasping the meaning of the text.
________________
16. In non- detailed prose lesson, teacher read the text book only in parts having
the aim of giving content and major ideas of the lesson.
________________
17. The main aim of teaching prose is to develop language ability and to give
literary content.
________________
18. Comprehension Questions allow the teacher to ask evaluative questions to
________________ check out the comprehension of students.
19. In descriptive prose the main aim is developing students’ imagination quality
________________ and making students acquaint with writers style.
20. In prose teaching, particularly biographies, students would have an
opportunity to see the path of character building.

II. DISCUSSION.
Instruction: Discuss briefly but concisely the following questions:

1. Mention one particular teaching strategy in teaching the enumerated literature genres below, and
how this strategies are helpful to both students and teacher?
a. Poetry
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

b. Fiction
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 32

 c. Drama
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

d. Prose
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. How should a teacher of literature choose a literary piece to teach? How about the teaching
strategy?
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 33

 Ave Maria College
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: __________________

Course & Year: ______________________________________ Rating: _________________

Activity 2 – Plotting a Lesson

Instruction: Using what you’ve learned from the weekly lesson, complete the matrix below by searching
for particular literary piece for each genre identified below, after which do the following:

a. Identify the Grade level to which this particular literary piece is taught to;
b. Identify one general objective you want the student to achieve at the end of teaching the literary
piece;
c. Specify at least one teaching strategy you can use in teaching each of the literary piece and
describe how it will be applied in teaching in detailed manner; and
d. Mention one type of assessment tool you can use in order to assess students’ learning, not that it
should match the set objective.
e. Use extra sheets of short bond paper for your output following the given matrix below.

Literary Literary Piece Grade Level General Teaching Assessment

Genre Objective Strategy Tool
a. Poetry

b. Fiction

c. Drama

d. Prose Thank You 9 Appreciate the Encourage Making a

Ma’am lesson of the Creativity poem
story through
writing a song

REMINDER:

Keep all your outputs in your Portfolio and then submit them to your course facilitator on
Week 3.

Keep going.

End of Week 2

Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies 34