Old Vs New - Comprehending Literary Text

Common Core Part 7

Old Versus New - Comprehending Literary Text

 

          I had planned for this post to contain information about FERPA changes and data sharing, but I am continuing to research this topic to make sure I have accurate information.  I have studied the recent changes to the federal law but am still trying to find out how those changes have affected state and local policies regarding data sharing.  I hope to complete my research on this topic in the next couple days and will be able to post that information this week.  In the mean time, I have decided to continue my comparison of the old standards to the new while I wait to gather the rest of my data.

          And so we return to the old Arizona standards for 12th grade English Language Arts and the new Arizona Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.  The topic of this post is the comparison and contrast between the old 12th grade standards for Comprehending Literary Text and the new standards for the same topic.

 

The Facts:

• The old standards required students to "Evaluate the author's use of literary elements."  These elements are explicitly listed in the standards along with examples.  The elements listed are: theme, point of view, characterization, setting, and plot.
• In addition to dealing with theme as a literary element, the old standards required students to compare and contrast literary texts that express a universal theme, providing textual evidence as support.
• The new standards require students to "Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain."
• The new standards also require students to "Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text."
• Both sets of standards require analysis of how the author's choices impacts the piece of literature and the reader. 
• Specifically, in the old standards, students were required to analyze the author's use of: figurative language; word choice and imagery; dialogue, scene design, soliloquies, asides, and character foils in dramatic literature; and sound, structure and graphic elements of poetry.
• Comparatively, the new standards specify that students analyze: how the author develops and relates elements of a story or drama; specific word choices; figurative and connotative meanings; use of satire, sarcasm, irony and understatement; and how structure of specific parts contribute to overall structure, meaning, and aesthetic impact.
• The old standards required to students to analyze characteristics of sub-genres that overlap or cut across lines of genre classification.  There is no parallel requirement in the new standards.
• The new standards add that students should be able to analyze multiple interpretations of the same story, drama, or poem.
• There are no specific literary works required by either set of standards.  However, the new standards require students to study at least one play by Shakespeare and at least one American dramatist.  They also require students to "Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. "

My Opinion:

          As with most of the topics studied thus far, there are many similarities between the old standards for literary text comprehension and the new.  Rather than rehash the similarities, I would like to bring attention to the discrepancies.  The new standards continue to require students to "cite strong and thorough textual evidence" for their claims.  Regardless of whether they are talking about elements of literature, comparing or contrasting themes, studying non-fictional texts, or writing persuasive essays, there is a great emphasis on evidence.  I feel this emphasis is essential to the success of our students, particularly if they intend to enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.  Providing evidence (and not just any evidence, but good sound evidence) is immeasurably valuable.  That is not to say that the old statements never required students to show evidence for their conclusions, but the overarching emphasis on strong evidence throughout the Common Core standards is, I believe, one of its strongest selling points.
          The one omission from the old to the new is the analysis of overlapping subgenres.  This may be important to an English or Literature major, but I'm not sure how it is pertinent to any other major or field of study.  I wondered why it was included in the first place. 
          Finally, the greatest addition from the old to the new was the requirement that students study at least one work of Shakespeare, one American drama, and foundational works of American literature.  I appreciate that the requirement is no more specific than it is.  It leaves districts and teachers to determine which literary works best fit the theme(s) they intend to cover or best correlate to simultaneous history lessons.  At the same time, no student should enter college without an introduction to the works of Shakespeare.  Likewise, studying foundational works of American literature are likely to give students a much richer understanding of our nation's history and cultures.
          As with previous subjects, I find no evidence of a liberal agenda.  In fact, I found works of literature that would fit the criteria on conservative Christian reading lists.  On a similar note, conservatives have long decried the deficits in the teaching of American History in public schools.  This standard seems to be a step in the right direction towards remedying some of those deficits.  In addition to American History standards set by each state, students in Common Core states will be required to read American dramas and seminal works of literature.  They will have to look at multiple texts from the same time period and analyze the different points of view that were present at the time of their writing.  If anything, this piece of standards slants toward conservatism.
          While some of the standards have been too similar for me to say definitively which I prefer, this one is easy.  The new Common Core standards for Literary Comprehension are in every way superior to the old.  They better prepare students for college and careers by continually emphasizing strong evidence for claims and they require students to study both Shakespeare and important American historical literature.  They do so without being unnecessarily prescriptive or vague.  At this time, I do not see how they could be improved upon.