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Fairfield students employ talents to interpret novel

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer 10:43 AM Wednesday, December 23, 2009

FAIRFIELD — Two Advanced Placement English teachers at Fairfield High School gave their students one question to contemplate for their book project — “What is the essence of the story?”

The two senior AP classes recently finished “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. The 43 students weren’t given any other direction than that question, according to teachers Lori Baird and Julie Klint.

The book, set in the early 20th century, is about Janie Crawford, an African-American woman searching to find herself.

“This accomplishes a lot of things we do in writing,” Klint said of the project. “The author gives (the characters) choices, and this gives them a chance to show how they represent that.”

Each project displayed has a writing component, explaining what and why they presented it the way they did.

Some students drew, others constructed collages, and some used baking and music to represent the book.

“It still has the writing component, and it’s still them interpreting (the book),” Baird said. “But it’s them interpreting with their talents and skills, with the writing.”

The projects were on display for teachers to see in the high school’s community room Thursday, Dec. 17.

Ellery Newkirk, 17, said she enjoyed the different approach. She created a tree with cutout words on each branch.

“It gives us a chance to express our more creative side,” Newkirk said. “The words and characters represent (Janie) trying to find her own voice and experiences.”

Taylor Berryman, 18, created the “Self Shelf,” which represents the protagonist placing things important to her on a pedestal.

“I was mind-boggled,” she said about the project. “I didn’t know what to do.”

After explaining the book to her parents — and them giving her some ideas — Berryman developed the shelf.

“Janie didn’t have a true identity. And throughout her life there were many challenges,” she said. “I feel it’s unique that it took her the whole book to find out who she really was.”

Jonathan Stupak, 18, presented his answer to the question with a song. The piano and guitar player wrote the piece, “Feeling and Thinking,” and played his guitar.

“When she first presented this project, I thought it was a great opportunity to write a song,” Stupak said.

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Any project that gets students thinking creatively and interested in reading is a great project. Boo hiss to Alan for his comment.

Vicky D.
7:09 PM, 12/23/2009

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I agree that it would be more challenging to argue in favor or against an idea in a novel, but that requires an understanding of literary analysis that many students, even seniors in AP do not have. As an English teacher, I believe that when teaching students to engage with complex literary works, letting them decipher the essence of a work and relate to it on a personal level is a perfect place to start. This is giving students a reason to care about what is going on in a novel.

Alison
7:07 PM, 12/23/2009

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This was probably done in the name of learning styles or multiple intelligence. I think it lacks academic rigor. Novels don't have an "essence," they have ideas. They create worlds where readers can explore ideas. An assignment that would be more challenging and helpful to students would be to take a stance on one of the ideas addressed by Hurston in this novel. State a claim and argue for or against the idea, showing strong support for the claim and acknowledging the counter-argument.

Alan Frager
11:49 AM, 12/23/2009

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