Animal Stories

Stories about animals or with animal protagonists have always been typically associated with literature for children. Animals have been used as instructive examples, as representatives of human feelings or emotions in different shape, or as beings to which children tend to easily form affective ties. As a consequence, such animal stories form a considerable amount of the literature that is offered to children and young adults. Fables, for instance, have been frequently used at school - just think of George Orwell's Animal Farm, a typical text in the ESL classroom. In this course, we are going to explore a wide range of animal stories for children and young adults, looking at their generic features and, most importantly, discussing their usability in an ESL classroom. The stage will be set by the analysis of two -horsey- examples, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Michael Morpurgo's Warhorse (now also a highly acclaimed musical at the London Westend - check it out on YouTube!), in order to establish a basis of genre features and developments of animal stories. In addition to that, we shall reconsider the question of working with authentic texts in the ESL classroom. In the major part of the course, students will work in groups on a number of selected texts (including picture books). Each group will present on a number of animal stories focussing on a particular topic (e.g. Fables; Picture Books; Cats and Dogs; Farm Animals etc.). Discussions will deal with the suitability of the texts for a German ESL classroom, with particular consideration for various age groups (from primary to upper secondary school level). Besides, we will make suggestions for possible teaching activities. Texts will be made available for selection in the first session; but participants are also invited to bring along books they themselves would find suitable for our discussions. As the format suggests, the course is addressed at -Lehramt- students who enjoy working with literature (which includes the readiness to read at least three books) and to pass this on to their future pupils. By the beginning of the term, each participant should have bought and read Black Beauty and Warhorse. In the course of the term, participants will be expecteded to read at least one other book from the group they are working in. A complete list of the books that will be brought along in the first session can be obtained from the instructor by request. Students must have purchased and read the following two books by the beginning of the term: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Michael Morpurgo, War Horse A good preparation for the theoretical background is: Joseph Albert Appleyard, Becoming a Reader: The Experience of Reading from Childhood to Adulthood (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). (esp. the introduction and the chapters on the age groups covered by the school level you are preparing for) Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft erfolgreicher Abschluss der Zwischenprüfung 2 ECTS: regular and active participation; expert session with presentation and written elaboration Universität Siegen SoSe 2011 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja