Connections+with+Literature+and+Literacy

**Connections with Literature and Literacy**  Literacy is the ability to decipher, analyze and comprehend the semiotics of a medium. Louise Rosenblatt's reader response theory describes the interaction between the reader and the text. In her // Literature as Exploration //, first published in 1938, Rosenblatt describes this reader response as an “event” and explains it thus: “The special meaning, and more particularly, the submerged associations that these words and images have for the individual reader will largely determine what the work communicates to him. The reader brings to the work personality traits, memories of past events, present needs and preoccupations, a particular mood of the moment, and a particular physical condition. These and many other elements in a never-to-be- duplicated combination determine his response to the peculiar contribution of the text.” (pp. 30-31) Literacy, then, also entails the individual experiences that the reader brings to a text and uses as a filter to make meaning from it. This concept of literacy is trans textual: beyond the printed page, it can also be applied to visual and aural media. Many of our students will be exposed to many more hours of literacy via technology than through the medium of print. Structures, terminology and codes which have been introduced and practiced within the realm of print media can be transposed to other forms of media.  As they enter the world of // Modern Family, // students construct and define a social world that might be vastly different from their own. The characters in this show reside in an affluent realm; some diversities (Hispanic, LGBT) are portrayed; others are rarely featured. Students will consider stereotypes, their promulgation or refutation, and perhaps confront their own prejudices. In the television characters, some students may recognize themselves or people they know, and this can bring a different perspective to their comprehension. They will also “interpret character's actions in terms of whether those actions are appropriate or inappropriate given rules or norms operating in (this) social world.” ( Appleman et. al., 2006, p. 135). Students may apply critical lenses such as feminist, cultural or Marxist to the story world of // Modern Family. //


 * Teaching Narrative**

A thirty minute television show presents an ideal way to teach and practice the narrative pattern that is based on the work of Aristotle. Because of commercials breaks, a thirty minute show is divided into three segments which are closely aligned with the division of dramatic narrative into three acts: Act One, the beginning; Act Two, the middle; and Act Three, the end:  Since this television show intertwines the stories of three connected households, //Modern Family// provides an entertaining twist on this basic plot structure. In the episode “Hawaii” for example, the overarching conflict is stress versus relaxation. This conflict is played out in each of the three families. Patriarch Jay Pritchett becomes concerned about his health when his brother reminds him that their father died at the age Jay has just attained. Phil fantasizes about providing a honeymoon experience for Claire who, in turn, is worried about their three children. In an homage to //The Odd Couple,// Gloria's fastidious son Manny has to room with the slovenly Luke. Mitchell is determined to pack a variety of adventures into his vacation while Cameron wants to relax by the pool. In groups, students could plot the narrative arcs of the three different families' stories and explain how the central conflict plays out in each arc.
 * Act One sets up the main character's dilemma, and commits them to resolving it.
 * Act Two develops the underlying conflict between the main character and whatever forces stand between her or him and the resolution.
 * Act Three resolves the conflict and shows us how the character has changed along the way, often hinting at the character's ultimate destiny. ([|www.socialsignal.com]).

The New London Group (1996) describes literacy this way: "one could say that its fundamental purpose is to ensure that all students benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate fully in public, community, and economic life." The following literacy practices, applied to //Modern// //Family,// are based upon this group's cyclical approaches to teaching multiliteracies:

**__Situated Practice__**  The premise of //Modern// //Family,// as described by thetvlegion.com is that: “Today’s American families come in all shapes and sizes. This comedy takes a modern look at the complications that come with being a family in 2009.” In groups, students examine this premise: they discuss various family shows and select one on which they will give a presentation to the class on the elements of plot: characters, setting, themes, and open narratives. Students contribute to a chart which compares and contrasts the plot elements of these various shows. __**Overt Instruction**__

A series of lessons would include instruction, scaffolding, analysis and application of designs of meaning such as Aristotle's narrative structure, Todorov's Theory, Freytag's Triangle, Barthes codes, open narratives of television as opposed to the closed narratives of film, short stories and novels, and the elements of drama and comedy as defined by Laurence Perrine in //Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense (1998)://

**Drama** Emphasis on Emotion and Character Characters have moral ambiguities and complexities More developed than stereotypes, these characters have ability to fail or make mistakes Drama raises more questions than it answers “How life really is.”

Similar to Drama in emphasis on Pathos, Emotion and Character Development Social Issues are inspected at close emotional distance Viewer is emotionally involved with characters through recognition
 * Comedy**

__**Critical Framing**__  To integrate visual literacy skills and initiate critical thinking processes, a few key questions are posed.In a Socratic seminar, students consider the function and purpose of this particular television show, as compared to television shows in general. Questions include:
 * What is the immediate function and purpose of the show?
 * What is it doing? To whom? For whom? By whom? Why?
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">What is the larger social and cultural context of the design?
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">How does //Modern Family// compare to older family shows or to more traditional family shows?
 * <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Could this show have been made five years ago or ten years ago? Why or why not?

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">__**Transformed Practice**__

Students practice transmedia literacy by transforming a scene from the television show into a print genre, such as a script, a magazine article, flash fiction, a storyboard, short story or a poem. In groups, students write, storyboard or script a scene from this show or write a pitch for their own family comedy show suggestion. Students could perform one of their scenes, or create an Xtranormal movie that involves two characters. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> // Moving Images in the Classroom (2000) // informs that the following are some of the key points and questions in media literacy that students should learn:
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Meaning can change when information is presented in different forms or transposed to another medium.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Each medium has its own language,conventions and genres.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Moving image is more appropriate for some kinds of content or structure, and print is more appropriate for others.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">What can you tell in print that you cannot tell or show in moving images?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">What can you tell or show in moving images that you cannot tell in print?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Which medium do you think is best for the story/information/ideas you are conveying?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Is a real ‘translation’ ever possible from one medium to another?

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> Using // Modern Family // as a teaching tool would be a springboard into a dialogue about non-traditional families, and LBGT literature. As Cortes writes in “ How the Media Teach”(2005), media disseminate values and provide models of behavior. These values include those about family, sexual behavior and marriage. The story world of this television show could be paired with reading books such as the//The Outsiders,// or the // Weetzie Bat // series which also conveys a positive message about alternative lifestyles and non-traditional family groupings. Considering the current spate of anti-gay bullying and the ongoing debate about gay marriage, these are timely issues.


 * References **

Appleman, D., Beach, R., Hynds, S., & Wilhelm, J. (2006). // Teaching literature to adolescents //. New York: Routledge. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> Arp, T. R., & Perrine, L. (1988). //Literature: Structure, sound, and sense// (6th ed.). New York: Harcourt. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; text-align: left;"> British Film Institute. (2000). // Moving images in the classroom. // London, UK: BFI. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> Cortes, C. (2005). “How the media teach” in // Media literacy: Transforming curriculum and teaching. // Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Volume: 104 Issue: 1 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">New London Group (1996) "Pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures." //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Harvard Educational Review //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">, 66(1), 66-92. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;"> Rosenblatt, L. M. (1996). // Literature As exploration // (5th ed.). New York: Modern Language Association Of America. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">[|www.socialsignal.com]. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-align: left;">www. thetvlegion.com