Week Five

As I was exploring the Literature Network Forum this week, I came across an interesting discussion thread about literature and education. The initial question posted in this thread was this: “Teachers, is it still essential to teach the classics or should we be designing curriculum around more modern literature that may be more relatable to students?” I found this question to be both alarming and bias. The forum member who posted this question seems to be attempting to justify teaching modern literature in place of classics, which have earned a place in the literary cannon based on their merit and timeless themes. I was more alarmed by the number of forum members who were validating the notion to teach modern novels and non-fiction in place of classic literature. After reading through the responses in this thread, I decided that this would be where I would make my second post.

            I came across a response posted by a 12^th grade English teacher, who stated the following: “Over the years I have found that I have to present my content matter to students in such a way that they care about it. My 12^th graders would zone out reading Hamlet or Heart of Darkness so I decided to stop teaching these works. This year I have had students reading novels like Life of Pi and Looking for Alaska. They have found these stories much easier to relate to and their engagement level has been much higher…” This teacher went on to state his or her thoughts about the way education is changing and that because education is changing, curriculum should be adjusted to better meet the needs o students. I wanted my response to be simply, while still expressing my strong feelings of disagreement with what this teacher had said. I responded with the following: “I also teach 12^th grade English and I totally agree that half the battle is engaging students in the content. While I love reading more contemporary novels in my free time, I do not feel that they belong in the classroom in place of classic literature. Using modern writing as a supplement to a unit is one thing, but to completely replace the classics with literature from the 21^st century seems irresponsible. Eliminating the classics from curriculum communicates to students that classic literature is not important. There may be some classics that students just don’t like, and that’s okay. I think part of being a teacher is teaching students that sometimes we have to do things, or in this case read things, that we don’t like.” I posted this response on Saturday afternoon. I have not had any feedback to my response at this point, but I am anticipating responses in the near future. For the most part, the digital citizenship throughout this thread has been positive, with members agreeing or disagreeing with one another in a respectable manner. I am hoping that any responses to my post will be the same. 

Week Four

Over the course of this week, I have continued to explore communities within the Literature Network forum. I spent some time reading through threads pertaining specifically to authors who wrote during the Italian and British Renaissances. I spent the majority of my time reading through posts about the works of Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare. Members posed some very thoughtful questions concerning the works of these famous Renaissances authors.

As I was reading through the threads concerning the works of Shakespeare, I decided to respond to the following question: “What is the most prevalent theme used by Shakespeare?” When I responded, a few members had already weighed in with their opinions. I attempted to keep my response rather simple. This was my response: “In my opinion, Shakespeare’s most dominant theme is that of appearance vs. reality. This theme is evident in Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and many of his other works. It seems that Shakespeare utilizes this theme to comment on specific elements of English society, during the Elizabethan era, such as the relationship between men and women, the division of social classes, and the consequences of mans pride.” I posted this reply on Wednesday and have not received any responses so far, not even from the member who initial posted the question, which surprised me.

Reading through the responses posted before mine, the digital citizenship appeared to be pretty positive. What I noticed was that posts seem to get a good deal of initial feedback, but after a few days the responses seemed to dwindle. I am wondering if this is true of all posts or only posts that do not raise controversy. My goal over the next week is going to be to find a post that appears to be controversial and observe the dialogue that is taking place in the thread. I am hoping to find some interesting digital citizenship and a lengthier discussion. 

Week Three

As I have continued to explore the Literature Network Forum, I have been intentionally observing the digital citizenship that is taking place within this online community. This week I spent a good amount of time reading through discussion threads dedicated to specific authors. I spent a good amount of time reading through threads specifically related to the works of Shakespeare. What I noticed was that digital citizenship was pretty positive. For the most part, discussions consisted of members answering questions posed by others or affirming the interpretations of others. I was pleased to see that the discussions surrounding Shakespeare had sparked such positive responses.

After reading through numerous Shakespeare threads, I decided to explore the discussion of other well-known authors. Though I do not teach American Literature, I greatly appreciate many of the authors whose works have influenced this literary compilation. For this reason, I decided to read through some threads dedicated to one of my favorite American authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald. I stumbled upon an interesting discussion surrounding the teaching of The Great Gatsby. A high school English teacher posed this question: “Do you believe that allowing students to watch a film version of The Great Gatsby, either while reading the novel, or after finishing the novel, is beneficial for comprehension? If so, which version do you recommend?” Another English teacher responded to the post and expressed that they felt it did help students better understand the text and that they are excited to show their students the new film version this year. In response to this post, yet another high school English teacher chimed in and gave a rather longwinded response sharing their thoughts on the matter. Before sating their opinion, they made sure to cite their educational and professional credentials in an effort to justify their response. This Stanford graduate, with twenty-three years of teaching experience, expressed that a “good” teacher would not need to show a film version in order for their students to understand the novel and that anyone who thought that Luhrmann’s adaptation of the novel was worth watching should not be permitted to teach English. This response also included some inappropriate language that I felt revealed the immaturity of the forum member. Though it was disappointing to read this response, I was pleased to read further and see that the forum member who had posted this question replied to the post in a very dignified manner and expressed that they felt the response was a bit harsh.

As an English teacher myself, it was fascinating to read the dialogue of other professionals. I was most surprised at the fact that a simple question sparked such a heated response. Despite this instance of poor digital citizenship, the literature forum seems to be a pretty safe place to share opinions. I am looking forward to getting involved in conversations taking place in this community. 

Week Two

I have spent the past week continuing to explore different elements of the Literature forum. I am really enjoying the content and structure of this forum because it allows members to engage in meaningful dialogue about literature, authors, and specific literary periods that they are interested in. I am currently teaching 10th and 12th grade English so I spend a good amount of time researching authors and literary movements that have had an impact on the trends and focal points of World Literature and British Literature. For this reason, I have been observing activity in forums centered around World Literature or British Literature.

I really appreciate that there are conversations sorted by literary period and genres. I love Medieval Literature (I know I am a total nerd) so finding and entire forum dedicated to authors of Medieval Literature was like heaven. I just finished teaching The Canterbury Tales in my 12th grade English class so I decided to spend some time reading threads about elements of The Canterbury Tales and Chaucer. During my time as undergraduate at APU, I was able to take an entire class on the works of Chaucer so I found these conversations to be fascinating. I especially enjoyed a thread in which members were debating the function of the retraction of The Canterbury Tales. Members seemed to have strong opinions, but expressed them in a respectful manner. For the most part, I have observed  positive digital citizenship in conversations taking place on in this forum. Members seem to be thoughtful and intentional in their postings.

Another aspect of this forum that I am really enjoying is called "A Sonnet a Day," which is an optional email list that I signed up to be a part of. As a member of this list, I receive a daily email with one of Shakespeare's sonnets. Shakespeare wrote 150 sonnets so I have already encountered a few that I had never read. Because I teach British Literature, I have been able to use a few of the sonnets as warm up activities in my 12th grade class. I have had students annotate the sonnet and identify literary devices in it. It has been a really beneficial activity for my students that I wouldn't have thought of if I had not been exposed to this literature forum. I am excited to continue exploring this forum and further observing the digital citizenship taking place.

Week One

The forum that I registered for is called Literature Network, which is an online community where members discuss different aspects of literature. Discussions are categorized into various sub topics such as reading, writing, and authors. There are currently 67,652 members in this forum. Part of the registration process of this forum was answering a few basic questions regarding famous pieces of literature. One of the questions was, “What is the last name of the author of Hamlet?” I thought it was hilarious that questions like this were included as part of the registration process. I chose this forum because I love reading and am passionate about literature and the way it influences society.

From what I have observed so far, the digital citizenship seems to be pretty positive. Questions or statements are posed concerning a specific aspect of literature and member respond with their opinions in a cordial manner. There seems to be a clear sense of community within this forum. I am excited to spend more time in this forum and contribute to dialogue surrounding literature. 

The Literature Network Forum: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/forum.php