My AP Language class is currently reading Their Eyes Were Watching God and I was trying to find some pieces of writing that would accompany it really well. I thought about how we've talked about bringing in non-fiction work to go along with fiction that students are reading. My host teacher suggested "Professions of Women," by Virgina Woolf. I read it and decided instantly it would go along with TEWWG really well. So, I assigned it to be read for homework one night after the class had gotten about halfway through the Hurston novel. The next day in class we started to discuss Woolf's essay before we even began a discussion about the novel. Half way through the discussion of the essay a student asked, "Mr. Cruce did you assign this essay because it speaks about the same kind of conflict Janie is having in the novel?" BINGO. It was really cool to actually see a student "get it" and understand what I was trying to do. The essay really does speak about the same conflict Janie encounters in the novel. I then divided the class into groups and assigned them questions that compared the essay to the novel. You could really tell by their discussions that the novel helped bring to life the issue of identity in the novel and the complications that gender prompted in the novel.
A few days later, I gave the students song lyrics from Peter Gabriel, Faith Hill, and Tupac. All of the songs talked about women finding their "voice." Again, the students were like "Wait, this is the same thing that is happening in the book!" Yeah...duh. I didn't say that to them, but it reinforced the idea of mixing different types of literature that speak the same purpose. It was really exciting for the students too because they couldn't believe they actually got to read Tupac lyrics at school. I love introducing the best poet of all time with the saltiest language of all time, to students. Right, Josh? Overall, I think I'm certainly sold on bringing in other works and types of literature to strengthen the meaning of whatever primary work of literature students are reading.
