Evaluation - (continuation part 2)

19th posting

7.15 a.m. 4th September 2008

Love letters by John Keats are very inspirational to those lovebirds out there who are busy courting each other. Love letters are so powerful even when those being courted who play hard to get, would melt away just by the powerful words used. These letters can simply inspire those who are in love to come up with their own ways to write love letters. I can almost feel what the writer feels for the lady he loves and I am able to imagine the era the letters were written. From here we can also learn the way they lived and what goes through in the writer's mind when he writes. Though this is not a suitable topic for our students of lower forms, I feel these letters are vital when it comes to case studies for the upper secondary.

Andy Warhol's diary entries are somewhat personal but made public. From here we can see what he saw and how he lived and the people he had met when he was in the movie industry. We in turn, learn how most people who have connection with him have lived in glitz and glamour during those times. I reckon that he was living in a world full of gossips and rivalry. We can somewhat see what he went through and at times we can relate how he feels with what we have felt at some point in our lives. We can even distinguish the good and the bad feelings he had when he met certain people whom he liked and disliked. This in turn lets us know and be aware that we are open to people's criticism on us on the way we live, the way we carry ourselves, the way we speak and our actions. Indirectly, Andy Warhol's entries stir us to be wise at all times when we are to be in public eye or view or to have any business with people at large. Though it is important to know what the undertakings that a writer takes are, I feel entries such as these are not suitable for secondary school students in Malaysia as the entries are a little vulgar.

Essays by E.M. Forster and George Orwell are truly educational when it comes to enhancing ones vocabulary, strengthen one's word power and gaining fruitful ideas and is most suitable for students as these essays not only give them clues on how to go about writing but also give them some insights into how a writer feels when he/she is confronted with dangerous situation. In George Orwell's 'Shooting an Elephant', the writer is held accountable for his own actions. This will not only enhance the student's vocabularies and word power but they also learn to make wise judgements and to be truthful to themselves if they are confronted with similar situations in their lives. I for one, am an avid reader of essays be it of essays written from real accounts or by imagination and I must say that I used some of the ideas from my readings to write my own powerful essays during and since my school days. Because of the useful info I get from ample reading, I have at times manage to settle many issues in my life successfully.

The Critical Analysis of Literary Works such as the Reader Response Criticism is very informative and important because as an English teacher, I must utilize reader response in my lessons when reading a literary text so that learners can give their personal responses. The best part is that meaning is created by the reader. In order to see all this, I have to change my classroom's environment from teacher centered to learner centered where students are given the central position. This way, students will feel very interested as this will give them the opportunity to give their opinions and express themselves on certain text they are reading and this will not only invoke their desire to actively involve in their lesson but also will boost their self esteem. This will make them feel important as their contribution will be recognized. I have also found out the wonderful part of deconstruction done in literary texts, as this allows students to be more critical where at this point they have to examine what is silent and unsaid in literary texts.

Students can also read texts of different theories and ideologies such as from the Marxist Criticism, Psychological Criticism and Archetypal Criticism. Marxist Criticism helps students to understand how economic forces determine the lives of people in a society or societies. We can analyze using this criticism by looking at the estate workers and also the lives of rubber tappers in Malaysia. Students can learn about Psychological Criticism and utilize them whenever they are doing their critical studies on plays.

Many of us love to dream and some of us do believe in myths. Students who are prone to this will do their critical work using the Archetypal Criticism as both the author and the reader share some unconscious collective memories. This will give them the opportunity to be more analytical and critical in their readings and studies in general. This will also broaden their mind because of the information they receive from their readings. However, students need to be careful as there have been criticisms regarding each one of them.

There are many women who are movers and shakers and Feminist Criticism is a suitable avenue for students to do some critical study. This criticism allows readers to voice their concerns related to women in literary texts. How women are portrayed, positioned and represented in societies since time immemorial will truly inspire students to appreciate women's struggle for equal rights and freedom of speech and also freedom as a whole. Women's issues can be raised and discussed in literature classroom when reading literary texts by employing this Feminist Criticism. I am sure students will find women's successful achievements in a male dominated world truly inspirational in their readings and have an impact in their lives. Women all over who read anything pertaining to the success of women in this world whether in the literary world or other matters should feel inspirational and liberated so that this feeling will help propel them to greater heights in whatever they do.

My final posting, next.