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Working-Class Literature: Pedagogy and a Course Design

Received: 1 July 2014     Accepted: 11 July 2014     Published: 20 July 2014
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Abstract

Many working students have some skepticism about the worth of studying literature in the university classroom. They assume that the subject matter of literature taught to them doesn’t help them, in a certain manner, to connect more to their real life working situations. Compared to their practical way of life, the educational experience of literature in the classroom seems foreign to the experiences of many of them. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for teaching a literature course for the working-class students. The paper also recommends a course design that involves the working culture in the material taught in the classroom. The suggested syllabus includes a number of particular texts to be taught in a literature course for working students.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14
Page(s) 104-109
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Working-Class Literature, Teaching Literature, Class, Gender, Race

References
[1] Bell, Thomas. Out of This Furnace. 1st ed. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1941.
[2] Bressler, Charles. Literary Criticism; an Introduction to Theory and Practice. New York: Prentice Hall, 1994.
[3] Coles, Nicholas. "Democratizing Literature: Issues in Teaching Working-Class Literature." College English 48 (1986): 664-80.
[4] Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 30th anniversary ed. New York: Continuum Publishing Company, 2005.
[5] Green, Ann. "Writing the Personal: Narrative, Social Class, and Feminist Pedagogy." Teaching Working Class. Amherst: Uiversity of Massachusetts Press, 1999. 15-27.
[6] Hapke, Laura. "A Wealth of Possibilities: Workers, Texts, and Reforming the English Department." Women's Studies Quarterly 23 1-2 (1995): 142-54.
[7] Heathcott, Joseph. "What Kind of Tools: Teaching Critical Analysis and Writing to Working-Class Students." Teaching Working Class. New York: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.
[8] Lauter, Paul. "Working-class Women's Literature: An Introduction." Radical Teacher 15 (1980): 16-26.
[9] Linkon, Sherry. "Introduction." Teaching Working Class. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999. 1-11.
[10] Mark, Nancy. "Ethical Representation of Working-Class Lives: Multiple Genres, Voices, and Identities." Pedagogy 6 1 (2006): 53-78.
[11] Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Authorized Acting ed: Dramatists Play Service Inc, 1998.
[12] Osborne, John. Look Back in Anger. Faber & Faber, 1978.
[13] Rankin, Cherie. "Working It Through: Women's Working-Class Literature, the Working-Woman's Body." Illinois State University, 2007.
[14] Rosenberg, Ingrid. "Militancy, Anger, Resignation: Alternative Moods in the Working-class Novel of the 50s and Early 60s." The Socialist Novel in Britain. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982.
[15] Shor, Ira. Critical Teaching and Everyday Life. Chicago: Univ Of Chicago Press, 1987.
[16] Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Reissue ed: Penguin Books, 1993.
[17] Turner, Steve. Night Shift in a Pickle Factory. Singlejack Books, 1980.
[18] Twain, Mark. The Prince and the Pauper. English Language edition ed: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004.
[19] Wayman, Tom, ed. Going for Coffee: Poetry on the Job. Harbour Publishing, 1981.
[20] Whelchel, Marianne. "Transforming the Canon with Nontraditional Literature by Women." College English 43 (1984): 587-97.
[21] Zandy, Janet. What We Hold in Common: An Introduction to Working-Class Studies. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 2001.
[22] Zweig, Michael. The Working Class Majority: A Historical and Critical Survey, from the Greeks to the Present. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2000.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ayman Hassan Elhallaq. (2014). Working-Class Literature: Pedagogy and a Course Design. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 2(4), 104-109. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14

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    ACS Style

    Ayman Hassan Elhallaq. Working-Class Literature: Pedagogy and a Course Design. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2014, 2(4), 104-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14

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    AMA Style

    Ayman Hassan Elhallaq. Working-Class Literature: Pedagogy and a Course Design. Int J Lit Arts. 2014;2(4):104-109. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14,
      author = {Ayman Hassan Elhallaq},
      title = {Working-Class Literature: Pedagogy and a Course Design},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {104-109},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20140204.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20140204.14},
      abstract = {Many working students have some skepticism about the worth of studying literature in the university classroom. They assume that the subject matter of literature taught to them doesn’t help them, in a certain manner, to connect more to their real life working situations. Compared to their practical way of life, the educational experience of literature in the classroom seems foreign to the experiences of many of them. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for teaching a literature course for the working-class students. The paper also recommends a course design that involves the working culture in the material taught in the classroom. The suggested syllabus includes a number of particular texts to be taught in a literature course for working students.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AB  - Many working students have some skepticism about the worth of studying literature in the university classroom. They assume that the subject matter of literature taught to them doesn’t help them, in a certain manner, to connect more to their real life working situations. Compared to their practical way of life, the educational experience of literature in the classroom seems foreign to the experiences of many of them. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for teaching a literature course for the working-class students. The paper also recommends a course design that involves the working culture in the material taught in the classroom. The suggested syllabus includes a number of particular texts to be taught in a literature course for working students.
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Author Information
  • Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine

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