Teaching Literature in Secondary Schools: Jago Chapter 4

     This chapter discussed the elements of literature and the ways in which stories work.  I found it particularly interesting because Jago's approach to teaching different topics such as story structures, literary devices, and story analysis is so different from the approach of many language arts teachers throughout the country.  I really liked the fact that she recognized that having students fill out dry worksheets asking them to fill in the blanks about setting, climax, theme, etc. does little good.  Jago stressed the importance of including these terms as well as many other literary terms as regular classroom dialogue.  I think this is a great way to not only teach the students these words, but to also give them the tools to use these words everyday in the classroom.  I think it's important for teachers to teach literary terms and devices so that students don't see them as abstract, useless ideas that have little relevance to everyday life.  If teachers use these terms everyday in the classroom their students will become more literate and more educated in the study of literature.  They will be able to engage in educated discussions about the literature they read and they will gain a better understanding of every text they read if they have a detailed knowledge of story structures and literary devices.