World Literature-Teaching Asian, African & Latin American Authors
World Literature lesson plans for high school students can lead to a greater cultural awareness and appreciation of literature.
By Debra Karr
In some state standards the English and language arts requirements for the eleventh and twelfth grades involve exploring world literature from a variety of authors. Asia, parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America are usually represented in the literature that is read during these grades. Reading and composition, of course, are also a large part of this upper-grade experience.
As students look at the themes, characters, and experiences that are inherent within the stories, they may notice that no matter where a particular work originates from, the same universal themes are present, with conflicts that continue to make each story engaging. As authors from other continents may often write their original works in foreign languages, students gain the experience of being introduced to new vocabulary, and pronunciation.
The next series of lessons may help you to expose your students to world literature. Through these lessons students will be learning about the immigrant experience, traditional African village culture, and Chinese philosophy that have influenced some Asian writing. By reading, getting exposure to foreign languages, researching and composing, your students will be able to expand their world literature knowledge base and discover cultural awareness.
World Literature Lesson Plans:
This lesson encompasses traditional African village life and how it differs from post-colonial Eurocentric living. Through various web sites like "Art and Life in Africa Online", "Detroit Institute of Art", "Lire les Femmes Ecrivains et les Litteratures Africaines", and "African Studies WWW" students explore African art, the traditional roles of women in Africa as expressed through art, and various female African writers. In groups, students discuss literature from each of these writers and artists, and then students write a research paper on one of the many African writers listed in the African Literature web site. I like that this lesson combines art and world literature. Because many of the writers have written their work in French, working in concert with a French teacher might help when planning this lesson for your class.
This lesson is wonderful for combining drama, social studies, geography and literature. Students are given a "Did You Know" fact sheet where they research the contributions made to literature by authors Frank McCourt (Ireland), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti), and Isabel Allende (Chile). Students will then turn their research into a dramatic monologue, written in the voice of the author researched. Through the monologue, students will embed answers to questions about the immigrant experience. This lesson is good for honors classes because of the cross functional nature of the material. I would also have students research the geographic location of these authors to broaden geographic knowledge.
Students will learn how Asian philosophy stemming from Confucian ideology influences literature as they read "Pieces of Gold" and create art pieces that represent the image of Confucius. This lesson gives students the opportunity to go over Confucian ideology, re-write fortune cookie phrases, and integrate art activities. This is a great lesson for combining art with literature and being in alignment with state standards. Because the ancient Chinese culture is so vast, incorporating Chinese symbols into writing and art activities might also be beneficial.