The+Canon+-+Women+and+minority+writers

The Literary Canon – Women and minorities

flat

= What is the literary canon? =

You will be hard pressed to find one specific definition of what **exactly** the literary canon is. Rather, it seems that a group of definitions have been working together over time to produce the canon as we know it today. According to the Oxford English dictionary, a canon is defined as:
 * 1) a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged,
 * 2) a Church decree or law
 * 3) a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine: the biblical canon,
 * 4) the works of a particular author or artist that are recognized as genuine: the Shakespeare canon
 * 5) the list of works considered to be permanently established as being of the highest quality: Hopkins was firmly established in the canon of English poetry
 * 6) (also canon of the Mass ) (in the Roman Catholic Church) the part of the Mass containing the words of consecration
 * 7) Music: a piece in which the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap.

A common question is who decides what should be in the literary canon? According to Paul Lauter in his article, “Race and Gender in the Shaping of the American Literary Canon: A Case Study from the Twenties”, “no conclave of cultural cardinals establishes a literary canon, but for all that it exercises substantial influence. For it encodes a set of social norms and values; and these, by virtue of its cultural standing, it helps endow with force and continuity” (Lauter 435). Rather, it is the publishers in charge of the anthologies, as well as the teachers who are choosing the materials that are the most influential on what is considered to be “canonical” literature. In his study, Lauter found that “Indeed, the one dissertation that has examined the processes of shaping the canon viewed literary scholars in their roles as teachers as far more influential than publishers or critics” (Lauter, 457). So, to summarize the literary canon as quickly as possible, it is a collection of works that over the years, teachers have deemed to be influential and that have had an impact on society and hold a certain power/place in the literary community.

= What books are in the high school canon? = In talking about the kinds of literature students are reading in the classrooms, one only needs to look back on their own high school education to find the books that are considered “canonical” in Ontario classrooms. Works commonly cited will be Shakespeare, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Golding’s “The Lord of the Flies”. As you can see in Table 1 (Stability and Change in the high school canon, Applebee, 28), while the percentage they are used is varied, the same book titles reappear in the classrooms. However popular these works are in classrooms, and by no means disputing their importance in the literary canon, there is one overarching theme that can be recognized, and could be considered concerning – the lack of women and minorities within the works taught in school. According to Applebee, “Strong voices have argued that the English curriculum is white, male, and Eurocentric, marginalizing the contributions of women and of people from other cultural traditions. Equally strong voices have reasserted the values of a traditional liberal education, arguing that the curriculum in English has already been diluted too much” (Applebee p.27). While a debate could ensue arguing these two points relentlessly, the purpose of this Wiki is not to debate which side is better, but to look into the strategies of implementing the work of women and minorities into the classroom, as well as their place in the literary canons of today.

= Why the emphasis on tradition? = Although as students it may seem to us that teachers always teach the same books because they are required to – the majority of teachers have free reign over the types of materials they can teach in the classroom. In fact, in his study, Applebee found that when it came to freedom of selecting literary choices “only five percent [of teachers] claimed to have little r none” (Applebee 30). Teachers cited three factors as major influences in their selections: Other factors that could sway teachers in the direction of canonical works would be the availability of resources on these subjects. There are a multitude of lesson plans and assessment tools available for the works cited on the list above because they have been taught time and time again – taking on a newer selection could imply more work and planning on the teacher’s part. If the book already has great literary merit and tons or resources attached to it – why wouldn’t you teach it? Applebee also notes that teacher’s cited departmental policies as well as community reactions as reasons to stick with the canon (Applebee 31). Consequently, Applebee lists three reasons why teachers **wouldn’t** choose alternative texts: While these are valid enough concerns, is it really a reason not to implement any minority or women writers into the classroom?
 * 1) Literary merit[[image:shakespeare.jpg width="170" height="226" align="right"]]
 * 2) Personal familiarity with the literature
 * 3) Appeal to students.
 * 1) They are unfamiliar with specific titles
 * 2) They are unsure about the literary merit or the appeal to students
 * 3) They are worried about community reactions (Applebee 31).

= So what do we do about it? = How do we implement the works of women and minority authors without completely crumbling the foundation that our high school literature programs were established on? In my opinion, it has to be a balancing act where compromise is introduced. Women and minority writers offer students a global perspective, as well as an interesting historical perspective. Perhaps high schools should begin developing units where women and minority writers are the focus. Units on poetry and short stories focusing on women and minorities would lead to interesting jump off points for full length novel studies – comparing the portrayal of women in both the works of women authors versus their portrayal in Shakespeare. Some teachers are even looking to Hip-hop as a way to introduce poetry units, and teach basic text analysis skills that can then be transferred and applied to canonical texts. Current Hip-hop songs can also serve as a comparison to poetry, which Ernest Morrell and Jeffrey M.R. Duncan-Andrade illustrate in their article “Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth through Engaging Hip-hop Culture”. They argue that “Hip-hop texts are literary texts and can used to scaffold literary terms and concepts and ultimately foster literary interpretations. Hip-hop texts are rich in imagery and metaphor and can be used to teach irony, tone, diction, and point of view. Also, Hip-hop texts can be analyzed for theme, motif, plot, and character development. It is possible to perform feminist, Marxist, structuralist, psychoanalytic, or postmodernist critiques of partifular Hip-hop texts, the genre as a whole, or subgenres such as “gangsta” rap” (Morrel, Duncan-Andrade 89).

In looking at the three reasons teachers are avoiding introducing new literatures into the classroom, perhaps we need to take a new approach. If it is fear of community approval, what exactly is there to fear when teaching say, Kate Chopin or Virgina Wolfe, or even Emily Dickinson? They are all works that have stood the test of time. As teachers we need to find new and inventive ways to reach our students and thus new material should be a part of that process – perhaps if the community understood we were trying to create globally aware, multi-cultural students, then the more open they would be to new texts. Also, finding ways to implement both would create a good balance and still satisfy the want for the “classics” in the classroom. As for literary appeal to students, it is difficult to find a text that will appeal to everyone. Even though Shakespeare is one of the most frequently studied works in the classroom, it doesn’t necessarily hold an appeal to all students. At least by implementing a variety of works from the classics, minority and women writers, you have more options for the students to connect to a work. As for the third issue – teachers are unfamiliar with the texts, has a simple solution. We need to widen our own variety and knowledge of literature in order to let our students make their own decisions on what is worthwhile.

= Lesson Ideas/Resources = The Expanding Canon: teaching multicultural literature: provides overviews of the critical pedagogy theory,teaching strategies, lesson plans and a video, as well as a guide to workshop session activities, and bibliographies of the featured authors/a bibliography of additional resources. [] Diversifying the Literary Canon: Caleb Teaches: Summarizing the same Applebee article, the author discusses possible solutions to diversifying the high school literature curriculum, including adding a “World Literature” course, and lists suggestions to some multicultural works that can be used in the classroom. Even the comments section is helpful with other teachers chiming in about works that they’ve taught in the classroom. []  Includes entire unit plans under the subheadings of Generic Reading and Writing Lessons, Women Writers, Women & African American Literature, and Specific Woman Authors. Contains a total of 41 detailed lesson and unit plans. [] Here are three examples of the units under the subheading Women Writers: [] [|http://condor.depaul.edu/~english/pedagogy/women/html/writer.html] []
 * Women Writers and the Contemporary Short Story
 * Resources for teaching Women Writers.
 * Women Writers and Dissent in 20th and 21st Century Literature

Book TV: Elaine Showalter, author of "A Jury of Her Peers" Video on Elaine Showalter discussing her book "A Jury of Her Peers", a history of American women writers. (Embedding was disabled). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PbSyJqxED8

Maya Angelou - Still I Rise

media type="youtube" key="ik4bnjUCTbE?fs=1" height="385" width="480" Cell Therapy - Goodie Mob media type="youtube" key="6dzwWOSwNY8?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

= References =
 * [|http://oxforddictionaries.com]**

//Teaching Literature: Canon, Controversy, and the Literary Anthology//

Barbara Mujica [] Mujica, Barbara. "Teaching Literature: Canon, Controversy and the Literary Anthology." //Hispania//. 80.2 (1997): 203-215. Print.

//Stability and Change in the High-School Canon// Author(s): Arthur N. Applebee Source: The English Journal, Vol. 81, No. 5 (Sep., 1992), pp. 27-32 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/819891 Accessed: 28/09/2010 15:12

//Race and Gender in the Shaping of the American Literary Canon: A Case Study from the// //Twenties// Author(s): Paul Lauter Source: Feminist Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Autumn, 1983), pp. 435-463 Published by: Feminist Studies, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177608 Accessed: 28/09/2010 17:

//The Concept of Literary Canon// http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/canon/canonov.html

//Treason Our Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literary Canon// Author(s): Lillian S. Robinson Source: Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring, 1983), pp. 83-98 Published by: University of TulsaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/464208 Accessed: 28/09/2010 17:03

//Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth through Engaging Hip-Hop Culture// http://www.jstor.org/stable/821822 Author(s): Ernest Morrell and Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade Source: The English Journal, Vol. 91, No. 6 (Jul., 2002), pp. 88-92 Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/821822 Accessed: 28/09/2010 16:53