Why Introduction to Literature?

Abstract

and theoretical discussion of the reading selections should come only after close attention to the text itself. Reading passages, poems and scenes aloud in class and asking for the exact analysis of words, lines and sentences can serve to not only promote an awareness 24 of form and style but also to bring closer to the student. The realization that a work of is not a remote collection of lofty ideas but, like every work of art, is constructed out of basic materials is one which can be beneficial to the continuing student. Conclusions: first and foremost, Introduction to Literature must be an alive and exciting learning experience. Is not the study of literature, after all, just that? The instructor here is faced with a twofold challenge. He has the opportunity of opening up for the student a vista upon a fascinating course of study; he can motivate the student towards an intellectual pursuit which should have nothing of the dry and fruitless striving of Goethe's Wagner about it. On a more concrete level, the instructor is faced with the task of teaching the use of those methodological tools which will enable the student to approach any work of German with confidence and the ability to intelligently react to it. If these two goals can even partially be met in a one semester course, Introduction to Literature can well become one of the most important offerings in any German program. * University of New Mexico 1 Van Horn Vail and Kimberly Sparks, Der Weg zum Lesen: A German Structural Reader (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967), p. vii. 2 Albert M. Reh, Continuing German (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970), p. v. 3 New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1972, p. vii. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.217 on Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:12:20 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 4 John J. Mulligan, Gestern, heute und morgen: Prosa aus unserem /ahrhundert fiOr die Mittelstufe (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968), pp. 111-116. s Troyanovich, p. viii. 6 New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1969. 7 New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969. 8 Gunter Grass, Katz und Maus, ed. Edgar Lohner (Waltham, Massachusetts: Blaisdell, 1969). A Solution to Boredom with Literature: Interpretation and Reading Gustave Bording Mathieu To besure, I am not the only teacher of German who has walked more than once into a class only to discover that half the students had not read the piece assigned for class discussion. I cannot blame students for not always finding the time, energy, or motivation. Reading silently from a book can be a very lonely job. It is also a very hard job, especially in a FL. Reading requires an immense effort at concentration, in patience, and in will power, especially for today's youth, spoiled as they are by the far more lively and therefore appealing literature presented on television. The printed page, however ar25 tistically, dramatically, or intellectually stimulating, has a very rough time competing for the attention of a generation raised in a time when the electronic media-radio, hi-fi, film, television-has mesmerized it into the effortless enjoyment of what passes for entertainment. After suffering several disappointments in trying to discuss in class works of that the students had not read, I decided to resolve this problem by simply reading the material with the students in class. Adapting a method long traditional in college drama departments to our needs, we established an upper division course German 390, Group Reading and Interpretation, 3 units, described as follows: Oral reading of Hbrspiele, dramatic and poetry in group sessions. Emphasis on the practice of reading aloud from the printed page with proper pronunciation and intonation with simultaneous discussion of surface, inner, and personal meaning of the literary work. Conducted in German. As texts we chose materials that would lend themselves to reading in class because of their shortness, preferably radio plays and poems.' (This summer we will, however, offer Group Reading of German Comedies. We will try to read six in the six-week session.) GUSTAVE BORDING MATHIEU, Professor of German at California State University, Fullerton, has written on Brecht, Kleist, FL methodology, and co-authored several texts with Guy Stern. He directed his university's overseas program in Germany and France for four years and taught at several NDEA summer institutes. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.217 on Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:12:20 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms