Close Reading

1. THE SCHOOL OF ENGLISH In developing our project, we in the School of English wanted to ensure that as many members of teaching staff and as many students as possible benefited from the opportunities that CILASS has to offer. We decided to establish eight ‘teaching and learning clusters’ in the School, each dealing with a different approach to enquiry that is represented within English Studies. The eight areas of enquiry are presented in the box below. The individual groups have a budget of £400 to develop resources aimed at promoting inquiry-based learning in their particular areas. The two CILASS ‘champions’, Dr Duco van Oostrum and Dr Richard Steadman-Jones will also be devising an inquiry-focused module to be taught in the new CILASS space in the year 2006-7. The new module, ‘Roots/Routes’, will focus on a single text, Alex Haley’s novel, Roots, and will help students to understand how each of the modes of enquiry we have identified can be used to unlock the text. We shall be drawing upon the work of the clusters in developing the module, using the resources they have developed, and inviting colleagues to participate in this experimental use of the new teaching space. Roots/Routes Teaching and Learning Clusters He had an idea. Picking up a stick, smoothing a place in the dirt between them, he scratched some characters in Arabic. “Dat my name—Kun-ta Kin-te,” he says, tracing the characters slowly with his finger. She stared, fascinated. “Pappy, now do my name.” He did. She laughed. “Dat say Kizzy?” He nodded. “Would you learn me to write like you does?” Kizzy asked. “Wouldn’t be fittin’,” said Kunta sternly. “Why not?” she sounded hurt. Science Close Reading History Writing “In Africa, only boys learns how to read an’ write. Girls ain’t got no use fer it – over here, neither.” “How come mammy can read an’ write, den?” Sternly, he said, “Don’t you be talkin’ dat!” You hear me? Ain’t nobody’s business! White folks don’ like none us doin’ no readin’ or writin’!” “How come?”“’Cause they figgers less we knows, less trouble we makes.” (Alex Haley, 1976. Roots.) Technology Sources Theory Performance Images courtesy of www.freeimages.co.uk and www.imageafter.com.