Multicultural Literature

In the words of the great author, George R.R Martin, “I have lived a thousand lives and I’ve loved a thousand loves. I’ve walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read.” In this same way, readers are invited to live through the eyes of the characters in books. Reading and analyzing multicultural literature is one way that teachers can give their students the gift of living multiple and varying lives. Literature is one art form that has the power to submerge readers into different lives, times, and places around the world and transform them into different people when they are done. Global literature blurs the lines of national identities and are texts that all readers can find a something to relate to or a common ground. The blurring of national boundaries is more represented in 20th-century literature because people were starting to leave their homes to start new lives in places all around the globe. Now, there is almost no place in the world where there is

The theme that can be emphasized from this selection of readings is connectedness. The title of this week’s topic is global literature and focuses on finding one’s identity within literature. The theme of connectedness is apparent in this topic’s readings because literature blurs the lines of national identity. For my readers who are teachers, using the theme of connectedness is a great way to teach students about global literature.  One activity you could have students do is to create a circle, give one student a ball of yarn, and have him/her share one of their favorite readings or texts that have been studied in the class or that they have read independently. After sharing their favorite, that student will through the yarn to another student and so on until all students have shared. The idea behind this activity is to show students that in the end, we are all connected and literature is one way that we are connected that does not rely on national identity or our race. I

Misguided Rage in Post-Holocaust Jewish Literature The theme of misguided rage is evident in this week’s readings. The main character in Borowski’s “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” worked at a labor camp where he found himself feeling more angry at the Jewish people he was sending to their deaths rather than the Nazis who had him working under strenuous conditions. Lispector’s “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman” gave readers an inside look into a the mind of a woman who was completely unsatisfied with her life and how she would take it out on her family and those around her. Celan and Amichai’s poems provide vivid imagery that paint pictures of death, anger, and confusion. The topic of Post-Holocaust Jewish literature can be taught through the theme of misguided rage. Despite it being Post-Holocaust literature, the painful scars of the past are still prominent in this week’s readings. Teaching students about the history behind the authors as well as

Choice in Latin American Literature The theme of choice is prominent in this week’s Latin American literature. The senator in Gabriel Garcia-Marquez’s “Death Constant Beyond Love” chooses to deceive his people into thinking that he will change the community for the better. Jorge Luis Borges writes about the power of choice in “The Garden of Forking Paths” and how every choice one makes forks out into two realities of how that decision plays out and so on. In Isabel Allende’s “And of Clay Are We Created” Rolf’s choice to stay by Azucena’s side despite putting himself in danger later went on to change his outlook on his own life.  One way to teach the theme of choice to high school students would be to have them create a map or flow chart. Students would write a decision that they have to make at the top and then stem off into the outcomes of both sides of that decision. Students can continue this chart or map and think about the implications that one decision c

The theme that is prominent in this week’s readings of African and African American literature is identity. Chinua Achebe’s “Chike’s School Days” and Bessie Head’s “The Deep River” portray to readers the significance of names and how identity and deeper meanings are conveyed through them. Senghor’s poems and James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” express to readers the internal battles of African Americans who felt confused on what their identities were. The topic of African and African American literature can be taught through the theme of identity and identity confusion. This week’s readings expressed feelings of confusion, anger, and excitement that were directly tied to the character’s search for their identities. White missionaries who came to Africa during the time that the stories, “Chike’s School Days” and “The Deep River”, were written in created a cultural divide amongst the African people. Some were excited to learn about the English customs and cult

S pirituality is a concept that may be both challenging and controversial to teach to high school students. Teachers can ask students what their definition of spirituality is and then have them compare it to the different kinds of spirituality from the readings. For example, students can be taught about different Native American tribes view spirituality. Moctezuma’s spirituality lied in his belief of the gods that he felt he was working for. The Navajos’ “Night Chant” spirituality lied in their deep belief in nature and its restorative powers. The “Yellow Woman’s” spirituality was in the stories of ancestral spirits her grandfather used to tell. Asking students to reflect on their own cultures’ beliefs would be a great way to teach them about spirituality. An element of popular culture that can be used to teach students about spirituality can be to show them different video clips of what spirituality is to people from different cultures.

Elements of popular culture that teachers can use to teach students about image could be looking through social media platforms. Teachers can tell their students how social media does not tell the truth, but portrays what people want others to think of them much like in “Man of La Mancha”. Students can look through their old posts or social media accounts and reflect on themselves and what image they show to the world. The common theme that is emphasized in this selection of readings is image. This theme is evident in “Sealed Off” by Zhang Ailing as it focuses on different people who are all on the same tram car that was blocked from going into Shanghai due to an air raid alarm. The story weaves through the tramcar describing to the reader what they may see on the outside and then describing the characters’ innermost thoughts. “Diary of a Madman” by Lu Xun reflects the theme of image because the main character is paranoid that everyone around him is plotting to kill and eat him.

The common theme that is emphasized in this selection of readings is change and growth. Change and growth were exhibited in the “Classics of Poetry” in each poem as they changed from the first stanza to the last in an almost anecdotal manner.  Zhang showed growth in Yuan Zhen’s “Story of Yingying” when he chose to move on from Yingying and her manipulative and childish ways. In Confucius’ Book One from his “Analects” the Master said, “Not to be upset when one’s merits are ignored: is this not the mark of gentleman?” Zhang chose to be a gentleman as described in Confucius’ “Analects” when he responded to Yingying’s poem at the end of the story by saying that the past cannot be fixed and that Yingying should focus on being happy with her husband. Teaching the topic of growth to high school students may be difficult because of how abstract the concept is. That being said, teachers could ask students to write down everything about themselves when they were thirteen (or any other age).

There is a common theme of the power or powerlessness of choice in the readings “Faust” by Goethe, “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, “The Guest” by Camus, and “Requiem” by Akhmatova. Goethe’s “Faust” is about a man who makes a deal with the devil that leads him down a path where he learns he is no longer in control of his own life. In “Metamorphosis”, the protagonist Gregor was transformed into a large insect and was powerless to the ways that he was treated by his family and others around him. “The Guest” emphasizes the power, and lack of power, of choice when Daru gives the Arab a choice to flee or to go to prison for a murder he committed. The Arab chooses to continue his path to prison, leaving Daru feeling powerless in his attempt to help the Arab to safety. Akhmatova’s “Requiem” focuses more on the theme of powerlessness and the toll that that can take on a person. As teachers, the theme of power and powerlessness of choice can be taught to high school students in a variety of way