Language and Literature Conceptual Understandings

Language and Literature Conceptual Understandings

When it comes to literary texts it is hard to speak about purpose and audience, even if the ultimate purpose of literature is entertainment.

It is not easy to think conceptually about literary and non literary texts. Here is a presentation that aims at helping you in this journey. Think about the questions on each slide.

Communication

• How do writers ‘speak’ to readers through texts?

• To what extent is a text a vehicle for communicating a writer’s message?

• Can we ever really be certain of an artist’s intent?

• Is it fair to say that the study of language and literature is really a study of communication arts? By studying the art of communication, we are exploring relationships between readers, writers and texts.

Creativity

• Why do writers write?

• Why do artists create?

• How do writers make creative choices to construct meaning?

• Where does creativity come from?

• And what’s the reader’s role in creating meaning?

• Creativity is a defining characteristic of human beings. By analysing works of creativity, we are studying what it means to be human.

Perspective

• How do texts offer readers new perspectives on life?

• How can a character give us a window into a world?

• How do narrative techniques shape the reader’s understanding of a story?

• How is it possible for readers to have contradicting interpretations of a text?

• By exploring ‘perspective’, we are exploring diversity and developing our ability to show empathy.

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Representation

• Can fiction represent reality?

• How are characters ‘fair’ representations of people?

• By studying texts and literary works, we engage in a dialogue about how the world works and how the world could be.

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Identity

• To what extent is a text an expression of a writer’s identity?

• Do readers like characters who are thinly veiled versions of themselves?

• Do strong characters challenge readers to be someone different?

• By analyzing texts, we are really analyzing who we are and what we want to become.

Culture

• To what extent is a text a product of culture or tradition?

• How do texts and literary works express the values and beliefs of a society?

• To what extent can texts shape cultural values?

• To understand a text is to understand the time and place in which it was written and read.

Transformation

• How can the reading of a text be transformative for the reader?

• How can words change the world?

• How do readers write about texts?

• How do readers rewrite texts?

• By studying the transformation of texts, we are studying the evolution of humanity.

Multiple Choice

You might be interested in an aspect of the representation of identity of a particular character or group of characters in the text, or on the way in which the text relates to the identity of the writer.

• culture

• communication

• identity

• representation

Multiple Select

Which of the following are related to the exploration of culture in texts?

• values

• traditions

• groups

• context

• institutions

Multiple Choice

You are interested in an aspect of the representation of individual or collective imagination, or lack of it, within the text, or on the way in which the text represents theimagination of the writer

• representation

• culture

• creativity

• communication

Multiple Select

You might be interested in aspects of the transmition or failure in the trasmition of a message.

• representation

• creativity

• culture

• communication

Multiple Choice

Transformation may also be interpreted as

• communication

• intertextuality

• identity

• culture

Multiple Select

Intertextuality refers to...

• the way that similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ from each other

• a transformative effect on the reader’s identity.

• the interrelationship between texts, especially works of literature

Multiple Choice

Perspectives can be viewed and evaluated in...

• only readers.

• only writers.

• readers and writers.

• publishers

Multiple Select

You might be interested in an aspect of the way in which the text shows different themes, attitudes and concepts, or in the extent to which language and literature can actually present reality.

• culture

• context

• identity

• representation

Sources

• Language A: Lang & Lit Guide (2021)

• 7 key concepts for English A: Language and Literature for the IB Diploma https://www.cambridge.org/us/education/blog/2019/07/25/7-key-concepts-english-language-and-literature-ib-diploma/