Culturally Responsive Reading: Teaching Literature for Social Justice

Help students to explore the intertextuality of literature and to think more deeply and compassionately about the world. This book shows high school teachers and college instructors how to foreground a work's cultural context, recognizing that every culture has its own narrative tradition of oral and written classics that inform its literature. The author introduces readers to the LIST Paradigm, a guided approach to culturally responsive reading that encourages readers to access and analyze a text by asking significant questions designed to foster close, critical reading. By combining aspects of both literary analysis (exploring the elements of fiction such as plot, setting, and character) and literary criticism (exploring works from multiple perspectives such as historical, psychological, and archetypal), the LIST Paradigm helps educators "unlock" literature with four keys to culture: Language, Identity, Space, and Time. In Culturally Responsive Reading, Washington exposes cultural myths, reveals racist and culturally biased language, dismantles stereotypes, and prevents the egregious misreading of works written by people of color. Book Features: Describes a unique approach to culturally responsive reading, including specific teaching strategies and rich classroom examples. Explores numerous texts by writers of color that are rarely included as required reading in literature courses. Provides examples and illustrations of innovative ways to incorporate multicultural texts into an introductory literature course. Incorporates epigraphs and questions that highlight each component of the LIST approach. Includes a critical essay that guides teachers through the process of teaching a complex postmodern novel (Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao).

Table of Contents:
Contents (Tentative) Foreword Acknowledgments Preface: "Why Are We Reading This?" The Tar Baby Incident The LIST Paradigm: A Guided Approach to Teaching Literature Creating the LIST Paradigm Introduction: "Culturally Responsive Reading: What It Is and Why It Matters" "Moving Out Beyond Yourself": Coping With Culture Shock Defining "American Literature": Reading Western "Classics" Exploring Postcolonial Literature: Telling Our Own Stories Achieving Agency: Rejecting "The White Criterion" Misreading Multicultural Texts Challenging Censorship PART I: The LIST Paradigm: A Guide to Culturally Responsive Reading 1. Culture in the Classroom: Introducing the LIST Paradigm Teaching at the Academy Exploring Cultural Myths Exploring Definitions of "Culture" Teaching Values Introducing the LIST Paradigm Literary Analysis Literary Criticism List Paradigm Exercises Teaching Through the Lens of Culture 2. Telling Our Stories: Exploring the Power of Narrative Defining "Story" Bibliotherapy Mindful Reading Types of Stories 3. Readers, Reading, and the Reading Process Why We Read What We Read How We Read 4. "Interrogating the Text": Asking Significant Questions Conflicting Views on Reading Literature Engaging Questions From Other Disciplines Who Is "Qualified" to Speak? Questions for Writers Questions for Students Exploring "Subversive" Texts PART II: Exploring the LIST Paradigm: Four "Keys to Culture" Chapter 5: Language: "How Does the Author Contextualize Linguistic Signs and Symbols?" Language as Resistance Language in Postcolonial Studies Reading Ousamne Sembène's Niiwam Language Creation: Code-Switching and Code-Meshing Language Validation: Standard English and Vernacular Language Use: "The Transforming Power of Language" Significant Questions—General Significant Questions—Music 6. Identity: "Who Are These People and What Do They Want?" Identity Politics (Race, Racism, and Colorism) Literary Archetypes Cultural Stereotypes Significant Questions 7. Space: "How Do Characters Negotiate the Text's Physical, Psychological, and Cultural Landscapes?" Physical Space Domestic Space ("Home") Racialized Space Counterspaces (Third Space Theory) Psychological Space The Subaltern Cultural Landscapes: The Slave Ships Narrative Space Significant Questions 8. Time: "How Does an Author Manipulate Time" Exploring Time in Contemporary Fiction Cultural Perceptions of Time Historiography Historicity Time in A Lesson Before Dying Significant Questions PART III: Exploring the LIST Paradigm: Unlocking the Text 9. Cultural Contexts for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Reading Oscar Wao Language in Oscar Wao History: The Parsley Massacre Major Influences Author Background 10. Exploring the LIST Paradigm© : Reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Introducing the Novel Narrative Structure Language: "How Does the Author Contextualize Linguistic Signs and Symbols?" Identity: "Who Are These People and What Do They Want" Space: "How Do Characters Negotiate the Text's Physical, Psychological, and Cultural Landscapes?" Time: "How Does the Author Manipulate Time?" Coda Appendix A.1: Exploring the LIST Paradigm: A Reader's Guide Appendix A.2: LIST Worksheet Appendix B: Defining Elements of Morrison's Fiction Appendix C: Notes on Narrative Structure Appendix D: Suggestions for Pairing Texts References Index About the Author