Willinsky, John. The Triumph of Literature / The Fate
of Literacy: English in the Secondary School Curriculum.
New York: Teachers College Press,
1991.
Summary by Sarah K. Wilson
Chapter 1:
Literature / Literacy
Today, literature is taught in schools, but students are increasingly
“illiterate,” meaning they
can’t analyze literature or write with depth (3-6). In 1889, “English” first started
to refer to the school subject as a part of which literature in English is
taught and that literature is from a literary canon (10). “A theory of literature is, in effect,
a theory of education, a point most forcefully made by Northrop Frye”
(11). Gerals Graff, page 252
of his 1987 book: “ ‘Theory is what is generated when some new
aspect of literature, its nature, its history, its place in society, its conditions
of production and reception, its meaning in general, or the meanings of particular
works, ceases to be given and becomes a question to be argued in a generalized
way’” (11).
Chapter 3:
Matthew Arnold: Taking Hold of the Soul
Matthew Arnold is responsible for mandating the teaching of English
literature in English class (58). Arnold
believed about literature: 1) Poetry of the best sort is a vehicle for the
vital ideas of the times; and 2) This poetry dares to constitute a criticism
of life. He believed about education:
1) Poetry can engage students’ attention; and 2) Poetry can go on to
form the character of the student.
For
Arnold, literacy is being able to use literature to become a better self in
society.
Chapter 4:
F. R. Leavis: Manning Literature’s Fortress
With
Thompson, Leavis wrote Culture and Environment (1933) and Reading and
Discrimination (1934).
“Leavis and his cohorts made the criticism of life literature’s classroom work” (86). He believed that education should introduce
criticism and teach students to perform criticism of the “word and the
world” (86). Leavis “
‘gave serious morally admirable students a means both of understanding
a hostile world and doing something about it’” (Inglis, 1975a.,
p. 100). Leavis tried to connect
literature to contemporary culture, but often did so through “bullying”
(i.e., he didn’t open up to other opinions); yet, he also claimed: “
‘ “Democracy” fails when masses of people are manipulated
by words’” (101).