Literary Embodiment on the Levels of Comprehension in the “Balak”

This study claimed that the local poem, known as “Balak” contained aspects that could be used in teaching reading and in assessing the reading comprehension level of students. This study used a descriptive-interpretive type of research. It is anchored on Reader-Response Criticism facilitated through focus-group discussion, and duly validated through investigator triangulation. Ten collected local poems (“Balak”) were analyzed using Barrett’s five levels of comprehension: literal, reorganization, inference, evaluation, and appreciation. It was found out that the ten “Balak” could be used as a tool for reading and assessing reading comprehension because it contained embodiments of the different levels of reading comprehension. Each “Balak” comprised contents fitted to the level and experience of the learners as manifested in how they connected and related with the ideas, emotions as well as situations portrayed in the text. It was also found out that in terms of reading comprehension level, the respondents were proficient in the literal level, beginning level in both the reorganization and inference levels, developing in the evaluation level, and proficient in the appreciation level. The ten “Balak” contained embodiments on the levels of reading comprehension which could be used as teaching tools in reading, more activities in the reorganization and inferential levels were to be emphasized. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were formulated. Teachers should apply contextualization and localization in the teaching-learning process. They should also be aware that local literary pieces were good sources to develop students' reading abilities. It could be used as springboards for teaching strategies, reading comprehension assessment, and activities that encourage discussions and stimulate imaginative responses leading to well-rounded and interesting student interactions.

The survival of the “weakest” among the fittest: A critical reading of Miss Julie (1889) in relation to social Darwinism

The play Miss Julie is about the portrayal of the new image of feminist woman in the Victorian period. The playwright August Strindberg is mainly considered to be a misogynist as evidenced in his preface to Miss Julie, in which he defines miss Julie as man-hating and half woman with a “degenerate brain”. This representation of Miss Julie by a male author is likely to promote the idea that Strindberg presents the new ‘feminist’ woman as inferior and weak with a downfall in the end. However, the paper will dwell into the play by employing reader-response criticism to interpret the play to discover its multiple meanings rather than following the mainstream readings that rely on characteristics of the Victorian period. By employing a critical reading method, the paper will attempt to problematize social Darwinism in relation to gender roles as represented in the play, and by doing so it will challenge if not transform the social constructions of “weak women” that ideologically pertains today.

Developing Multi-Literacy Skills by Creating Graphic Story in Literature Class: A Project-Based Learning Approach

The research aims to develop multi-literacy skills by creating a literary graphic story as a creative and innovative way for English Department students in learning literature. By creating an adaptation from text to picture, students are expected to improve their ability to understand literary works and express their creative and innovative skills. This is a qualitative study implementing the Project-based Learning (PBL) approach in literature class, which aims to produce graphic stories as the output of studying literature. Students do not only understand the literary theories but also make something out of their understanding. The scaffolding instruction method was employed to examine practices of improving multiliteracy skills. A detailed action research plan, including preliminary observation in the classroom, action plan, intervention, and guiding, is applied. The investigation related to the barriers in doing the project is going to be conducted as well. Reader Response criticism is introduced to students in the reading and analyzing stage as a useful method to develop their critical thinking in evaluating the literary works they read. We argue that the students improve their reading skills, writing skills and producing graphic story stories based on their own interpretation of the literary text, which is proven by the summary and conversation texts they produce in the graphic stories. They also develop their creativity by producing images and pictures as the result of the literary adaptation process. There are two significant outcomes of the project: developing literary text understanding as well as producing the original graphic story.

A Critical Controversy: Reader-Response Theoreticians Opposing New Critics

The present study is theoretically oriented proposing to re-read some major tenets of the New Critics and the reader-response critics in an attempt to reconsider the objective theory of the New Critics to test whether it is sufficient in catering for all aspects of a text. It works via the exploration of both protocols set by a number of the major founders of both theories aiming to reveal the oppositions, commonalities as well as undeclared similarities. The critical controversy will thus be brought to light, in a bid to point out the shortcomings of each approach. Throughout this exploration, the study demonstrates that the ontological approach of the New Critics becomes incomplete and doubtful. It proves that the New Critics’ ‘affective fallacy’ has sprouted the postmodern theory of the reader-response criticism where the reader is no longer a passive recipient, but an active agent who fills in the blanks and formulates meanings. Thus, the study concludes by proving that there are some commonalities between the New Critics and the Reader-response adherents highlighting the triumph of the latter in undermining the New Critics’ objectivity. The significance of the study lies in adopting the reader-response approach per se in the re-reading of the New Critics’ doctrines where the researcher comes up with new findings that testifies the crucial role of the reader/researcher in the production of new interpretations. The study concludes with some recommendations for further use.

A Critical Controversy: Reader-Response Theoreticians Opposing New Critics

The present study is theoretically oriented proposing to re-read some major tenets of the New Critics and the reader-response critics in an attempt to reconsider the objective theory of the New Critics to test whether it is sufficient in catering for all aspects of a text. It works via the exploration of both protocols set by a number of the major founders of both theories aiming to reveal the oppositions, commonalities as well as undeclared similarities. The critical controversy will thus be brought to light, in a bid to point out the shortcomings of each approach. Throughout this exploration, the study demonstrates that the ontological approach of the New Critics becomes incomplete and doubtful. It proves that the New Critics’ ‘affective fallacy’ has sprouted the postmodern theory of the reader-response criticism where the reader is no longer a passive recipient, but an active agent who fills in the blanks and formulates meanings. Thus, the study concludes by proving that there are some commonalities between the New Critics and the Reader-response adherents highlighting the triumph of the latter in undermining the New Critics’ objectivity. The significance of the study lies in adopting the reader-response approach per se in the re-reading of the New Critics’ doctrines where the researcher comes up with new findings that testifies the crucial role of the reader/researcher in the production of new interpretations. The study concludes with some recommendations for further use.

O nonfiction novel em paralaxe: duas leituras possíveis de In Cold Blood, de Truman Capote

Este artigo busca, através de uma discussão sobre a dupla natureza discursiva da obra In cold blood (1965), de Truman Capote, apontar para duas leituras feitas do gênero ícone do jornalismo literário estadunidense: a primeira desvela os traços que fariam do gênero um legítimo “romance de não-ficção”, tal como sugeriu Capote; a outra sonega esta nomenclatura. Valemo-nos de uma análise da obra segundo as premissas da Reader-Response Criticism, avaliando as relações de texto, contexto e leitura, conforme advoga Richard Beach (1993), exame cujos traços salientam as nuances de caráter sócio-histórico e a estrutura dos elementos referenciados. Esses traços serão pensados de acordo com a atmosfera de produção da obra, relacionados, ainda, com os tipos de abordagem que alguns analistas elucidaram sobre o gênero. Nesse âmbito, buscamos problematizar, a partir da avaliação de duas leituras da obra, o desacordo em termos de gênero. Propomos um estudo metodologicamente pautado nas observações de Beach (1993), mas também nos serão de grande utilidade as leituras do romance feitas, primeiro, por Jesse Brady (2006), e, posteriormente, por Philip K. Thompkins (1968), Gerald Clarke (1989) e Ralph Voss (2011).