When asked “Why would The Write Journey choose to only study one novel in class for a whole semester,” I understand the concern. Don’t we want our students to be considered well read? Don’t they need to read many novels to even qualify as well read? If only it were that straightforward! As an avid reader, I could not limit myself to just one book over 12 weeks. However, we study a novel as opposed to simply reading the story to find out what happens. Students that want to gobble up stories may choose to read many alongside our class novel. Let’s look at the purpose of slowly and closely studying literature.
Great literature opens the door to a deeper and more meaningful exploration into many aspects of a novel. In class, we teach students to pay attention to important aspects of their novel. While we may not closely study every aspect on the list in each and every novel, over time, students learn the different components of the greats!
The parts of a story
The author's craft or methods
Strong vocabulary
Well-written sentences
Conflicts
Character development
Literary devices, such as tone, similes, metaphors, irony, satire, hyperbole, etc.
Theme
Genres
Point-of-view
When a student finds the information that the instructor directed them to seek, they mark the novel. However, they do not underline or highlight entire pages! Instead, students learn to use symbols, abbreviations, and words written in the margin to indicate the purpose for which they marked the page. They also record the information on a chart, which is kept throughout the entire study. This allows the student to easily find that information. Classes deeply discuss short sections of the novel in the classroom discussion, and much of the scheduled time is devoted to that discussion. TWJ highly values interaction, lively discussion, and even discourse. Students are able to critically think through the deeper layers of concepts in the story, which are often highlighted by the instructor to ensure students truly understand all that they read.
So- why study just one novel? Briefly, students gain more. Therefore, less is more. Many past students, when asked to share their favorite all time novel, will state one of the novels from our classes. They develop a close relationship with the text. The story lasts, and it matters. And THAT matters to The Write Journey.