Teachers Guide For American Literature

Author : Jessica Rieskamp
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (143 download)

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Download or read book A Teacher’s Guide for Culturally Responsive Teaching in the American Literature Curriculum written by Jessica Rieskamp and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, John Steinbeck. These are some of the greats of American Literature. Most are household names, recognizable even to those who paid little attention in high school. All these authors have something in common; they are white. In high school American Literature classes, white authors come to the forefront. Their voices ring for generation upon generation to hear. These authors help students understand trends and attitudes of the American past. However, heavily presenting literature by white authors, therefore leaving out other racial voices, creates a narrow, unrealistic view of United States history. It takes out the unique attitudes of the ‘other,’ or the group of people who were not white. More specifically, the black voice is often skimmed over in American Literature classes. Students usually study Fredrick Douglas, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou. However, how many more black authors can most students name from their formal education? This leaning towards Eurocentric literature, rather than Afrocentric, is quite paradoxical, as American history relies on people of color, just as much as white people. Another paradox is the presentation of literature about black issues written by white authors; white authors write with second-hand knowledge of the black experience, therefore distorting it. By using culturally responsive pedagogy in American Literature classes, high school teachers can utilize literature such as Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and Kindred by Octavia Butler in their classrooms to widen students’ understanding of Rieskamp 2 American literary history, and therefore create a more balanced curriculum that has various points of view.