More information about the Questioning the Text assignment

A number of you have been emailing me about more clarification on this assignment. Since this is the first time I've taught this course, I'm not quite sure what these papers will look like. So, I've cut and pasted some suggestions/tips/advice that former TE 448 instructors have given to their students. I hope it helps!

The goal of the assignment
-Intended to ask you to question the literature, as a piece of diverse literature. -We’ve been readings from scholars such as Harris, Reese, and Sims-Bishop. We can consider them as participating in an ongoing conversation around issues of diverse literature. These are for you to join in the conversation. How does this particular text fit in to the conversation?

To prepare for coming up with your question:
-Read articles, etc., then read novel with concepts in mind, return to articles OR read novel, read articles w/novel in mind, and then return to novel
-Use post it notes, highlighting, notes in margins to keep track of your thoughts as you read

In writing the paper:
-You should NOT summarize the book.
-You should NOT answer your question.
-You should NOT speculate on how children might respond to the book.
-You should NOT describe how you would use the book.

Reread the assignment guidelines and ask yourself if the question you want to pose can be answered by analyzing the text and engages in a discussion of the work as a piece of diverse literature.

Some sample questions
* In what ways does XXX function as a generalization or stereotype in XXX?
* Who seems to be the implied audience for the text? (i.e. What textual clues signal who the author assumes you'll identify with or what knowledge the reader does or does not bring to the text)
* How does the [genre/style/plot/or any other literary feature] position readers to think about XXXs XXX say about the relationship between XXX and members of the dominant culture?
* How is humor/tragedy/etc. used to...?
* How does XXX and XXX work to unravel the dichotomy of…
* What did [plot twist, particular character/etc.] add to the text?
* How does the text challenge ideas about [choose any dichotomy: modernity/tradition, gender, etc.]
* Using XXX’s framework, how would you characterize XXX?
* What does the title of the book…

Remember this is a conversation! Post your questions, thoughts, etc.

General ideas of how to unpack/elaborate on your question:
-A scene that we could consider in order to discuss this question is… (page number). I’ve chosen this scene because… (Or, this scene is puzzling because…)
-Asking this question is important because it will help us explore the differences between stereotype and generalization.