Journal+entry+6

=Chapter 6: Writing to Analyze and Interpret= Gallagher argues that "Teaching students how to analyze and interpret literature should be seen as a //starting point//" (172). At the same time, analytical skills we use for real world understanding can be applied effectively to literature. For example, on p. 152 Gallagher applies the "Who is to blame" exercise to //Romeo and Juliet.// How could three other analytical exercises in this chapter be applied to literary texts?

One exercise that could be used is Table Topics. This is game in which people draw cards with questions ans answer them. For a particular literary text I could make my own index card with questions for a specific literary text. I would put students in a group and have them each pick a different card. The student would have to answer the question on a sheet of the paper. The index card and the sheet of paper would get passed around to each student until everyone had a response.

Another exercise is practicing with aphorisms. By writing a aphorism, a terse saying containing a general truth, on the white board and having students attempt to interpret it, they in turn will be working on increasing their interpretive skills when they study a literary text.

The final possible exercise could be connect the dots. This exercise calls for students to analyze different events in their life and connect them to how they ended up where they are today. This sense of analyzation can be used to connect events, that seem unrelated, in a literary text.