Teaching English Literature for junior high school

How to Teach High School Literature

The best teachers are the ones who not only push you to work harder, but also to think in radically new ways. In terms of literature, this requires not only asking difficult, compelling questions, but finding the kind of texts that will help shape a varied, constructive world view for your students.

We all know that analyzing literature probably will not be a "professional" skill, so for most people the value of reading good literature is more a course in human ideas and history than a practical education.
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions
1.
Remember that literature is first an art form and second an inclusive platform in which history, politics, philosophy, and any variant of humanistic or social-scientific thought can be engaged at a very high level. This means that you can not only use texts to talk about issues like character, plot and device (although these should come first), but also about how the text engages specific issues within its time of construction.
2.
For your reading list, don't just replicate the Norton Anthology. Pick authors of diverse backgrounds or whom haven't gained the popularity that others have. There is no doubt that Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great author and that he will find his way unto standardized tests, but consider other expatriates like Djuna Barnes or Gertrude Stein.
3. 3
Never just assume that high school kids won't benefit from reading something "difficult." For example, Frank O'Hara's poems are pretty challenging conceptually, but at first glance they are quite simple. In fact, his work can actually be a great way to talk about larger issues of "post-war" experience in America.
4.
Also, make sure you get a variety of forms: short stories, poetry, dramatic texts and novels. Each form has its own demands and its own way at working through literary and cultural problems. Try to get your students talking about the differences between genres (e.g., the difference between poetry and prose).
5.
When you are reading texts, don't forget to point out things like sarcasm and irony. Senses of humor may change, but there is usually a way to find a common ground with kids.
6.
When drawing up questions for papers or assignments, don't just reinforce the tired, formulaic gestures that reduce a book to a few basic components. In other words, don't just ask the students to select three "key passages" or ask them to identify who is the "main character." Good questions ask students to rationalize their decisions, and to ground their discussion of the book in specific examples within the text.
7.
Classes should be dominated by discussion, and you should resist the temptation to control it too much. In the beginning of the year this might be necessary, but kids get quite a thrill of feeling like their education is in their control, and that they have the freedom to explore the issues they won't to consider. Think of yourself as a facilitator nstead of an instructor.