VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 12:10:44 04/14/07 Sat
Author: Marianna Muzzi
Subject: Re: Task One Group Four
In reply to: Guilherme Castro Jr 's message, "Re: Task One Group Four" on 07:35:13 04/11/07 Wed

Literature is one of the most important tools teachers can use to teach a language. It provides the student a STRONG (Bw – come into contact with?? Or close contact??) contact with the culture and the way of thinking THAT EXISTS AROUND A LANGUAGE (R). IN A LITERARY WORK YOU HAVE A MOMENT OF THE LANGUAGE FROZEN (R), ready to be studied, analysed and comprehended. At first sight you cannot see all that on the paper; ITS NOT JUST TO READ, BUT TO READ IN A PROPER WAY (R). So, (P) students must learn how to read. The role of the teacher is to teach students HOW (X) to read IT (X) critically, FOR THIS IS THE WAY TO USE LITERATURE TO TEACH A LANGUAGE (??). Teaching critical reading ON LITERATURE IN CLASS (R – in literature classes) increases students interest (V – on what??), improves their (V – critical thinking??) thinking and BETTER (Q) their discussion and writing skills. In this essay, I will use three critical approaches on reading literature to exemplify THAT (??).
ONCE (Bw – if you use the word once it means that it is this way anymore. Because of that I suggest changing the word.) the major trend in literary studies, formalist criticism is still used nowadays, (P) FOR (Ww) it provides a very simple way of reading A TEXT (texts) critically. IT IS SIMPLE BECAUSE ALL YOU MUST KNOW TO READ THAT TEXT IN THIS APPROACH IS INSIDE THE TEXT. (??) AS WE WILL SEE LATER ON (Be – too informal), (P) some approaches are concerned with extrinsic elements of A (Ww) text. (V – on the other had) Formalist criticism is concerned with the intrinsic elements of A (Ww) text. It is focused on the MORE (X) formal elements ON (Ww) a literary work. Here, (P) language, structure, tone are important aspects. This approach sees literature as pure art. IT (?? – literature or the approach??) IS A CLOSE READING (R), THAT (Bw) calls the ATTENTIONS (Q) STRICTLY (X) to the formal aspects of the language. This approach is more used to read poetry, BECAUSE OF THE "BREVITY" THAT "ALLOWS FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS OF NEARLY ALL ITS WORDS AND HOW THEY ACHIEVE THEIR EFFECTS" (MEYER, BEDFORD INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE, P. 2098). (R – quotation is not correct) But it is also used to analyse fiction and drama as well.
Another very useful approach to critical reading is the Biographical approach. Here you have extrinsic elements THAT (Bw) (V) MAKES (Q) (V) difference ON (Ww) analysing the text. AS THE NAME SHOWS US (Be), (P) the biographical approach uses the author´s life facts to achieve a better understanding of the work. "Events in a work might follow actual events in a writer´s life just as characters might be based on people known by the author" (idem, p. 2097). IT (??) is the kind of information that broadens our understanding of a work. To use THIS TOOL (??) one must be careful, FOR IF IT IS NOT WELL USED (R – because if it is not well used), it COULD (Wvf) complicate A (Ww) reading. A (Ww) student should use it PARCIMONIOUSLY (SP). Yet, (P) when the reader KNOWS WELL EITHER THE WORK THAN THE AUTHOR´S LIFE (R/Be – has a good knowledge of the author’s life and the work itself), THIS IS A GOOD WAY OF READING A TEXT CRITICALLY (?? – do you mean – I might help understanding??).
The last, BUT NOT LEAST (X – too informal) way of reading critically IT WILL BE EXEMPLIFIED HERE (X) is: (P) the psychological approach. Here, again, (P) extrinsic elements, EXISTING INSIDEN BUT ALSO BEYOND THE TEXT, (??) ENTERS (Bw) the interpretation. Sigmund Freud´s ideas are important ONES ON (X – include TO) this approach, since some of them are very ACUTE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WAY HUMANS BEHAVE (??). In this kind of reading, (p) psychological concepts are used to analyse a text. IT (Ww) IS AN (X) approach (V) concerned with the idea of an unconscious state of mind (??) -"those impulses, desires, and feelings that a person is unaware of but that influence emotions and behavior" (ibdem, p.2100). Here you have concepts like "Oedipus Complex", "Electra Complex" and others (?? – I think you should either live the terms out or explain them. You should always debate your ideas!), from Freud´s and others theories, (P) contributing to the analysis (a term that fits well here! – INTERPRETATION??) of a LITEARY (SP) work.
These three approaches are only few of the VARIOUS (Bw) possibilities of critical reading APPROACHES (X). These approaches contribute for a better understanding A STUDENT CAN ACHIEVE (X) of a text and, consequently, (P) a better understanding of the language. It catches the student´s attention more strongly (?? – to what?? Critical elements??), (V) INCREASING (Wvf) the student´s commitment (?? To what?? To class, to reading??) and (V) INTEREST (Ww) IN (X) the process of learning A LANGUAGE (X). FOR EXAMPLE, IF A STUDENT IS VERY ATTACHED TO ARTS, USING THE FORMALIST APPROACH WILL CERTAINLY PROVOKE A GROWING INTEREST OF HIM. THE SAME WAY, IF A STUDENT LIKES TO KNOW THE BIOGRAPHIES OF FAMOUS PERSONS, ANALYSING THEIR WORKS CONCOMITANTLY USING THEIR LIFE FACTS WILL MAKE THE STUDENT MORE ATTEMPTIVE TO THE VALUE OF LITERATURE. (X) And if FREUD IS SOME STUDENT´S HERE, LETS USE IT TO TEACH HIM LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE! (??) And you have many other approaches: historical, canonical, marxist, cultural, gender, etc, a full range of useful tools to teach language through the critical reading of literature. (X) (NO NEW IDEAS)

Comments:
Introduction – what is your thesis statement? The general statement LITERATURE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOLS TEACHERS CAN USE TO TEACH A LANGUAGE, doesn’t mention the students difficulty with reading and understanding! Thesis statement should be more specific.
Development – 1st paragraph – should contain one idea only!! You shouldn’t mention the other approaches now.
2nd paragraph – check quotation rules! Avoid repeating “work”. Stick to one idea only!
3RD paragraph – check quotation rules!
Conclusion – it can’t contain new ideas!! You didn’t write a conclusion to your text.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

  • Re: Task One Group Four -- Arlete Silva da Costa, 08:01:00 04/16/07 Mon
    [ Contact Forum Admin ]

    Forum timezone: GMT-8
    VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
    Before posting please read our privacy policy.
    VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
    Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.