Growing into literature: Adolescents' literary interpretation and appreciation

Abstract

will build both the ability and the desire to read from increasingly complex Beers (1996) lamented the child who can read but chooses not to do so. Bushman and Haas (2001) described the role of the classroom teacher who walks a fine line between having students read for the pleasurable act that it is and having them read to increase the powers of literary analysis that enable them to become members of an educated, literate society. In an ideal literature program, all students would experience a seamless curriculum that empowered them to grow increasingly fluent as readers, increasingly able to employ the strategies to interpret complex texts, and increasingly willing to read more challenging texts. The reality many students face, however, may be a welter of conflicting goals and methods particularly as they make the transition from the middle grades to high school.