|
|
|
|
Questions on Realism: 1. The Age of Realism sees literature shift its focus from the aristocracy to the middle and lower classes. This change towards greater democracy is also reflected in education as more children gain access to schools. More people could better themselves and change their identity; in effect get control over their lives. Do you think this trend is continuing today? 2. Narrative knowledge builds communities, and creates cohesion and social bonds. George Steiner talks about confronting different characters in literature in an intimate way which is not permissable in real society. In coming to understand people from all walks of life, they are no longer "other". We are able to find parts of ourselves in other people due to the universal nature of what it means to be human. When we understand what it is to be other, we become "other". What do you think? Coleridge takes the other view: that being exposed to suffering in literature and in the theatre makes us deaf to the man in the street. We've also heard that children who watch violence on television and in film become insensitive to other people's pain. How do you respond to this? 3. Many authors, like Charles Dickens, write about the hardship of children in difficult circumstances. Paolo Freire speaks of dehumanization and the pedagogy of the oppressed. When someone's humanity is stolen, there is a culture of silence. Can you see different ways that teachers could use literature to bring up these ideas in the classroom? |