|
|
 |
|
|
|
Entering the Synthesis Conversation: Starting with What We're Already Doing
|
|
| |
by Denise Foster
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Lincolnshire, Illinois
|
|
| | Teacher Reactions to New Synthesis Task for 2007 Exam
"You've got to be kidding. AP English Language and Composition should be about words, not pictures. I'm not a media teacher."
"Of course, visual literacy is important, but our curriculum is too full as it is."
"Current events? History teachers -- not English teachers -- should be responsible for that."
When my colleagues and I heard about the new synthesis questions debuting on the AP Language and Composition Exam in the spring of 2007, we reacted as most teachers probably did. In teaching juniors, we have a dual agenda: in addition to teaching nonfiction and argumentation, we also need to continue our literature sequence to prepare kids for their senior AP English Literature and Composition course. Now we suddenly feel responsible for teaching much more than we had anticipated when we signed on the dotted line.
If we think of the AP Exam as the natural culmination of our curriculum, then our curriculum should match the skills that the exam assesses. We teach this course because we think the exam has incredible integrity; we value the skills that the exam targets. We bristle, however, at the idea of teaching a test-prep course. We want to sequence the activities and lessons carefully, integrating and scaffolding skills as authentically as possible. Most of us have devoted years to finding, creating, and arranging material so that seemingly disparate pieces connect meaningfully.
Visual Literacy
So, confronted with what appeared to be a new direction on the AP Exam -- one that requires visual literacy and the ability to synthesize various sources into an original argument -- we wondered, what were we to do now? Before we panicked completely, we looked at our curriculum to see what we were already teaching that would prepare kids to address this new prompt. When my colleagues and I reviewed our curriculum, we immediately realized that the lessons that incorporate the cartoons we've used for years in our satire unit certainly require students "to expand their notions of text to include visuals" and "to analyze how such images both relate to written text and serve as alternative forms of text themselves." We ask students to analyze how visual details convey the cartoonist's message, and we ask students to create their own satirical cartoons accompanied by an analysis of the techniques they've employed. When students bring these assignments to class, we put them in groups to analyze each other's cartoons without the benefit of seeing the creators' analyses. The students then realize how their audience has interpreted their pieces. In one class period we expose them to a number of visual arguments and give them the opportunity to practice analysis skills through discussion.
Another one of our existing lessons that meets the goals of visual literacy involves watching two versions of the same scene in Othello. When we have had time in the past, we have shown our classes Lawrence Olivier and Lawrence Fishburne's portrayals of Othello in Desdemona's murder scene, asking the students to study visual and auditory elements. We talk about how these two versions contrast, ultimately requiring students to determine which scene remains more faithful to Shakespeare's language. As visual literacy becomes more central to our goals, we will consider this lesson essential rather than supplemental.
After examining our current coursework, we discovered that we can tinker with some of our existing assignments so they nudge kids in the direction of this new focus. In the past, we've generally spent a single class period putting satirical cartoons on the overhead and discussing them as a class. We can take this one step further by asking students to write an analysis of a cartoon for homework or as an in-class paper. The Internet is a marvelous vehicle for locating satirical cartoons.
Offering New Activities
So, after we congratulated ourselves on already addressing some of these skills in our existing assignments and adding another level or layer to some of our lessons, we knew we needed to look for ways to incorporate new assignments or activities. We're as guilty as everyone else of adding to the syllabus every year without ever deleting anything. Rather than piling more work on top of our already full cart, we're committed to supplanting lessons that are redundant or further removed from what we consider essential skills. Early this year when we introduced argumentation, we used a famous Margaret Bourke-White photograph from 1937 of a smiling, prosperous-looking family on an advertising billboard which serves as the background to a group of people waiting in what seems to be a bread line. At the top of the photo is the caption "World's highest standard of living," and below it, another caption reads "There's no way like the American Way." The photo can be found on the Internet.
 www.abc-fotografia.com/galle/2002-bourke2-g.jpg
Here is the text of a handout I created:
AP English Language and Composition
Picturing Texts
All year we've been discussing the power of language -- of diction and syntax -- yet today our lives are steeped in visual messages as well. We often respond to powerful images without realizing why we've reacted the way we have. As we learn to read the "language" of pictures, consider how elements such as composition and lighting, subject arrangement, juxtaposition, and metaphor create messages.
After first explaining how the visual and verbal elements in this photo from 1937, make a statement about the American dream at the time of the Louisville Flood, have students briefly articulate how the picture and the language inform and imply meaning. (5-8 sentences)
Watch for Oversimplification
Because I didn't ask students to write an entire essay, the task did not seem at all intimidating. Interestingly enough, most of my students thought that it was far easier to analyze a visual argument than a written one. I attribute their confidence to the ubiquity of visual images in our world today, thus their familiarity with them. When I asked students to share their responses in class, however, I found that many had oversimplified. While they understood the central message of each picture immediately, many failed to explore the visual detail thoroughly enough to address the complexity of each piece (e.g., "The picture shows the contrast between the white people living the American dream and the African Americans in line for food" rather than "The prominent, looming billboard draws our eyes to the image of a smiling white family in a car living the American dream, but then when our eyes drop, almost in afterthought, we see the grim reality in a group of African Americans standing in line for food. This stark contrast is furthered through the use of light . . ."). By listening to and building on their classmates' responses, they arrived at a broader identification of techniques and achieved a richer discussion of effects.
Since we already teach the research paper, the new sample synthesis prompt (the impact of televised debates on presidential elections) works nicely as a lead-in or a follow-up to that unit. I thought it would be daunting to toss students into the synthesis question without any kind of warm-up, so we first discussed the directions, paying close attention to the word "synthesis." I was surprised to find that few students knew how to interpret that word accurately. Once the students were clear about their task, I asked them how they would approach their reading of the source material in such a limited time. Some students suggested keeping a chart of points for each side, so that they'd have their argument somewhat organized by the time they began writing. Others thought that this would be too time-consuming and instead suggested annotating with a "+" or a "-" to indicate which points could be used to support or refute the assertion. After students read through all the material, I divided them into groups, instructing some to outline an argument defending the assertion, and others to outline a refutation. Each group then shared their arguments with the class. I held individuals accountable by requiring all students to write an argument qualifying the assertion, which forced them to use arguments from both sides. While this lesson took two class periods, I thought the time was well spent.
Work with Teachers of Other Subjects
We also need to remind ourselves that many of our students are taking or have taken AP U.S. History, which means they are familiar with Document-Based Questions (DBQs), questions that require them to examine multiple sources. We need to find time to articulate with the history teachers to find out what students are asked to do for the AP U.S. History Exam and how our question differs from theirs so we can address those differences head-on.
I know I need to create more prompts like the model provided by the College Board, but my stomach clutches at the thought of spending hours researching to find adequate materials for my students -- I'm too busy grading papers. What better way to allow students to own their curriculum than to ask them to create these prompts for each other? Students can easily form research teams to find and select appropriate material on a common issue, create the prompt itself, and then assign it to their classmates. And why couldn't students respond to each other's arguments based on those prompts? Often the most authentic learning occurs when the teacher steps out of the way to allow students to become masters of their own education.
So, we've addressed visual literacy and we've exposed students to the synthesis prompt; now how do we help students become informed citizens? Some of us have required weekly responses to issues and stories in the news. Students craft counterarguments to an editorial, write a rhetorical analysis of an editorial, or present both sides of a controversial issue (ultimately presenting one side in a well-developed argument). The first Monday after my colleague gave this weekend assignment, one of her students remarked in class, "I didn't know we were still in Iraq." That comment alone validates this kind of assignment. So many of our students are submerged in the world of academia without any awareness of the real world whizzing around them. If we remind ourselves that all of these activities are designed to build higher-order thinking skills, we won't feel such resistance to new material. What better way to stay fresh as teachers than to embrace opportunities that push students to stretch their mental muscles in ways they wouldn't otherwise?
So, weed the garden first, then prune and graft before planting new.
Sources for Teaching Visual Literacy
DiYanni, Robert, and Pat C. Hoy II. Frames of Mind: A Rhetorical Reader with Occasions for Writing. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Faigley, Lester, et al. Picturing Texts. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.
Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything's an Argument. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.
McQuade, Donald, and Christine McQuade. Seeing and Writing 3. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006.
Roskelly, Hephzibah, and David Jolliffe. Everyday Use: Rhetoric at Work in Reading and Writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.
Denise Drendel Foster has taught English at Adlai E. Stevenson High School since 1984. Denise currently teaches Sophomore College Prep English and AP English Language and Composition. Denise has served as the sophomore core leader for the Communication Arts Department since 1999 and is responsible for facilitating collaborative curriculum teams of more than 20 teachers. Over the years, Denise has presented at IATE, ISTA, and NCTE.
|
|
|
|
|
|
