Uniting Past and Present: New Historicism in the Secondary English Classroom
Major
Educational Studies
Submission Type
Poster
Area of Study or Work
Educational Studies, English-Literature, Humanities
Expected Graduation Date
2023
Location
SFH Lobby 1.6
Start Date
4-15-2023 9:00 AM
End Date
4-15-2023 10:00 AM
Abstract
According to Sullivan (2002), Appleman (2015), and Schade (1996), teaching literature through different lenses of literary theory can enhance student engagement in the secondary English classroom. Specifically, Stephen Greenblatt’s (1990)theory of New Historicismprovides students with the means to engage with literature through the text’s cultural context—literature is read and analyzed as an outgrowth of the society that produced it, and the society that reads it. The purpose of this research is to discover in what ways the cultural context of literature further engages students in their high school curriculums. Over the course of a unit on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, I conducted lessons centered around the historical and contemporary contexts of the play we read. At the end of the unit, students understood both the historical background of The Crucible and could apply its themes to modern society. I generally observed that New Historicism and literary theory at large provide students with various avenues to pursue further engagement with their assigned material in the high school English classroom.
Uniting Past and Present: New Historicism in the Secondary English Classroom
SFH Lobby 1.6
According to Sullivan (2002), Appleman (2015), and Schade (1996), teaching literature through different lenses of literary theory can enhance student engagement in the secondary English classroom. Specifically, Stephen Greenblatt’s (1990)theory of New Historicismprovides students with the means to engage with literature through the text’s cultural context—literature is read and analyzed as an outgrowth of the society that produced it, and the society that reads it. The purpose of this research is to discover in what ways the cultural context of literature further engages students in their high school curriculums. Over the course of a unit on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, I conducted lessons centered around the historical and contemporary contexts of the play we read. At the end of the unit, students understood both the historical background of The Crucible and could apply its themes to modern society. I generally observed that New Historicism and literary theory at large provide students with various avenues to pursue further engagement with their assigned material in the high school English classroom.