Laura Runge writes:
Creating a learning environment that covers a wide range of literature and topics is one of the key responsibilities of an English educator. I truly believe that a wide range of literature (varied forms, genres, time periods, authors, etc.) is more important than one focused "in-depth" course for the high school learning experience. It allows students to discover their likes and preferences-- guiding their college course choices.
- "As anyone who has tried to build a syllabus including women knows, the expansion of ‘the operative canon’ (Staves 2) raises prickly logistical problems for curricula: namely, Literature Compass 7 ⁄ 3 (2010): 145–159, 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2009.00692.x ª 2010 The Author Journal Compilation ª 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd what to leave in, what to leave out. Moreover, recent conversations on accountability in higher education suggest the need to be very thoughtful about the choices we make in the classroom. In February 2009, the MLA issued a white paper in response to the Teagle Foundation’s call for a report on the undergraduate major in language and literature; the MLA paper recommends that the teaching of literature develop four types of literacies that are key to students’ success in the 21st century: cross-cultural, technological, historical, and informational (MLA 2). In response to the perceived marginalization of humanities disciplines, the MLA paper argues forcefully for the meaningful integration of language and literature in post-secondary education. Eighteenth-century women writers offer as rich a potential for achieving these ends as any other literature, and perhaps more. Clearly, teaching 18th century women authors can foster students’ skills in cross-cultural and historical literacies, e.g. from the discourse on developing colonial relationships and expanded travel and travel writing to the growth pains of the early modern family."
- "Eighteenth-century women also now appear in multiple classroom editions. There are a number of publishers providing inexpensive, paperback editions with sufficient scholarly apparatus, such as Broadview Press, Penguin, Oxford University Press, and University Press of Kentucky. Susan Staves helpfully lists the recommended modern editions of 17th century women writers in the back of her Literary History, but these are not necessarily classroom, paperback editions. Moreover, new editions arrive continually. The instructor’s best friend for determining text options is Amazon.com. It has the most up-to-date information about books in print, a number of impressive features such as ‘look inside’, reviews, and related works, and it is extremely easy to navigate" (Runge 6).
- Kristen L. Hague writes in her chapter of "Teaching the Eighteenth Century" titled "Novel Approaches," for Cambridge, "When book order time comes around, poetry, prose, and drama readings can often be covered with one comprehensive anthology. Selecting novels, however, is another story, one that can easily be guided more by questions of “how many pages can I realistically cover this semester?” than by questions of “what would be a good set of novels to teach this semester?” Then there are all the other literary factors to consider: what we prefer ourselves in novels, how we personally understand the rise of the novel, our favorite scholarship, the way we were taught, our own changing understanding of the rise of the novel, and the background and context necessary for students unfamiliar with early fiction or the eighteenth century. Along with literary factors, the students themselves are often a challenge. Many undergraduates have little prior experience reading early fiction; they find it difficult to comprehend and (gasp) sometimes rather boring. Many of those same students, if we are honest, prefer studying contemporary fiction. A glance at enrollment records from my school of about 6,500 students certainly bears this out; typically, I’ll have anywhere from eight to twelve students in my class while my colleagues teaching contemporary literature will have full classes. The eighteenth century can be a hard sell, so asking how many pages you can realistically cover is necessary (Tom Jones, Cecilia, Pamela AND The Mysteries of Udolpho?) but also just one of several factors to consider" (pg 11).
Creating a learning environment that covers a wide range of literature and topics is one of the key responsibilities of an English educator. I truly believe that a wide range of literature (varied forms, genres, time periods, authors, etc.) is more important than one focused "in-depth" course for the high school learning experience. It allows students to discover their likes and preferences-- guiding their college course choices.