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ERIC Number: ED489292
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 169
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: ISBN-0-8141-3895-0
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Reading Native American Literature: A Teacher's Guide
Goebel, Bruce A.
National Council of Teachers of English
High school and college teachers interested in offering units or courses on Native American literature have often had to carve out new teaching strategies because ready resources and guides are scarce. In "Reading Native American Literature: A Teacher's Guide," Bruce A. Goebel offers innovative and practical suggestions about how to introduce students to a range of Native American works. Grounded in the idea that studying tribal cultures will enable students to gain deeper insights into Native literatures, each chapter helps teachers recognize what students need to know and then provides them with supporting materials and activities that will lead them to more informed interpretations of the literature. After considering ways in which a study of Native American literature addresses gaps in standard American history textbooks, Goebel discusses the complexity that lies in the language of race. In the following chapters, he offers in-depth study of specific texts, including early Native American poetry, James Welch's "Fools Crow," Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony," and Sherman Alexie's "The Business of Fancydancing." Reproducible copies of traditional, tribally specific poems and stories are linked to the larger texts being studied. In addition to a brief annotated bibliography of resources for teaching Native American literature, the chapters also contain histories, a glossary, and teaching activities. Following an introduction, the book is divided into six chapters: (1) Teaching Native American Literature: Reflections and Responsibilities; (2) First Encounters and the Language of Race; (3) Early Native American Poetry; (4) "Fools Crow" and the Nineteenth-Century Blackfeet; (5) "Ceremony" and Healing Twentieth-Century America; and (6) "The Business of Fancydancing" and Postmodern Native America. An index and a section providing information about the author are also included.
The National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Tel: 877-369-6283 (Toll Free); Fax: 217-328-9645.
Publication Type: Books; Guides - Classroom - Teacher; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; Grade 9; High Schools; Higher Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Council of Teachers of English, Champaign, IL.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A