Historical Fiction in the Classroom
My initial reaction to the list of Historical Fiction confirmed what I already knew; I am not reading enough historical fiction. I read a lot of YA literature. Probably more than any other one genre, but I rarely find myself picking up historical fiction. Ironically enough, of the four books on the list of 140 that I have read, two are in my top ten favorite YA novels of all time, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and The Rock and The River, and if you haven't read them, do yourself and your students a favor and get your hands on both of them now.
In the prompt, Dr. Kajder mentioned how historical fiction can be a tough sell for students because the line between history and fiction is often blurred. This stuck out to me because one thing I've learned about teenagers over the past two years in the classroom that baffles me is that even though they live their lives in grey areas, they see everything black and white. They have a very strong sense of right and wrong and good and bad even if they don't always follow it. They don't like blurred lines. They hate Baz Luhrnmann's Romeo + Juliet because the language and the setting don't match. They're uncomfortable when something isn't what they expect it to be, and the melding of these two subject areas could definitely be a source of discomfort for students.
Another problem is that their knowledge of history is vague and incomplete at best. Besides the obvious problems of the white washing and jingoist curriculum in social studies courses across this country, students still aren't retaining the way we assume they are. I've had countless students tell me that slavery occurred during the 1930's, they don't know the difference between WWI and WWII, and for the most part they cannot tell you what a Jim Crow law is. This is not to demonize social studies teachers. I've also had kids ask me what an adjective and a contraction are. The point is that students aren't engaged in history, so they aren't going to pick up more in the form of a historical fiction novel. Historical fiction has the opportunity to bridge the gap between history and English courses, and can provide teachers with the opportunity to plan across the curriculum so that what they're learning in one class supports the other.
I think English teachers can use historical fiction to engage reluctant readers of fiction who are interested in the factual aspects of history. Conversely, I think we can use historical fiction to ensure avid readers of fiction are pursuing interests in other subject areas.
In the author's note of Out of Darkness, Perez explains how her novel attempts to include experiences that have been left out of the history we are taught in schools, and I think exposing our students to the horrors of our nation's history is as important if not more important than exposing them to our triumphs. I think historical fiction, even when author's take many liberties with the factual events, can be a window for students and can help to fill in the gaps left from school. Unfortunately, this also means that teachers must be vigilant in encouraging students to research on their own and to not take fiction as fact either. Teachers can use historical fiction as a catalyst to engage students in history and vice versa, but we also must ensure our students know the difference between the two.
In the prompt, Dr. Kajder mentioned how historical fiction can be a tough sell for students because the line between history and fiction is often blurred. This stuck out to me because one thing I've learned about teenagers over the past two years in the classroom that baffles me is that even though they live their lives in grey areas, they see everything black and white. They have a very strong sense of right and wrong and good and bad even if they don't always follow it. They don't like blurred lines. They hate Baz Luhrnmann's Romeo + Juliet because the language and the setting don't match. They're uncomfortable when something isn't what they expect it to be, and the melding of these two subject areas could definitely be a source of discomfort for students.
Another problem is that their knowledge of history is vague and incomplete at best. Besides the obvious problems of the white washing and jingoist curriculum in social studies courses across this country, students still aren't retaining the way we assume they are. I've had countless students tell me that slavery occurred during the 1930's, they don't know the difference between WWI and WWII, and for the most part they cannot tell you what a Jim Crow law is. This is not to demonize social studies teachers. I've also had kids ask me what an adjective and a contraction are. The point is that students aren't engaged in history, so they aren't going to pick up more in the form of a historical fiction novel. Historical fiction has the opportunity to bridge the gap between history and English courses, and can provide teachers with the opportunity to plan across the curriculum so that what they're learning in one class supports the other.
I think English teachers can use historical fiction to engage reluctant readers of fiction who are interested in the factual aspects of history. Conversely, I think we can use historical fiction to ensure avid readers of fiction are pursuing interests in other subject areas.
In the author's note of Out of Darkness, Perez explains how her novel attempts to include experiences that have been left out of the history we are taught in schools, and I think exposing our students to the horrors of our nation's history is as important if not more important than exposing them to our triumphs. I think historical fiction, even when author's take many liberties with the factual events, can be a window for students and can help to fill in the gaps left from school. Unfortunately, this also means that teachers must be vigilant in encouraging students to research on their own and to not take fiction as fact either. Teachers can use historical fiction as a catalyst to engage students in history and vice versa, but we also must ensure our students know the difference between the two.
Comments
Post a Comment