Era Newspapers - Classic Novels and Student Literary Enrichment
The use of era newspapers, i.
e.
, mainly front-pages and reproductions, in social studies core curriculum is a widely accepted teaching aid that enable students' to comprehend the actual event(s) described in history and other social studies textbooks.
But a correlated use, very often ignored, occurs with the employment of era newspapers with numerous Classic Novels read in English, AP or American /European Literature courses taught in high school and college classrooms nationally.
Historical newspapers can be specifically selected to matrix with the events described, era fashion, and historical personalities for all the major 20th Century novels.
Historical newspapers enhance a students' understanding of the historical perspective of the author; who typically assumes the reader has a 'common' knowledge of.
The very select list of standard novels enhanced by reading historical newspapers include: U.
Sinclair's The Jungle, E.
Wharton's The House of Mirth, F.
Scott Fitzgerald's The Sun Also Rises and/or The Great Gatsby, J.
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, J.
D.
Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, J.
Heller's Catch-22, along with Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, and Otto Frank's Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.
With day to day front-page headlines such as: 150,00 Reported Killed In The Battle Of The Aisne [Taunton Daily Gazette - WWI], Yanks Repulse Hun Raid Near Marne [Grand Forks Herald - WWI], Fanatic Battle Rages in Cassino Ruins [St.
Louis Globe-Democrat - WWII Italy], Prohibition and World Court Figures as Nine States Vote [The Dallas Morning News - The Roaring Twenties], Stocks Cast Overboard in 16,000,000 Share Day [Buffalo Evening News - The Depression], Lindbergh Far Beyond Newfoundland [The World (New York City) - The Roaring Twenties], and Roosevelt Extends Bank Holiday [The Evening Republican - The Depression] are a very select sample.
Era reproduction newspapers provide a student with a semblance of the same news that inspired the author, helped them form a thematic perspective or caused deeper insights.
Articles covering the horrors of war, the divisions of class within American society, the economic and human chaos of the Depression, and the cost of living visualized through full-page fashion, car, and grocery advertisements help a student gain a broader familiarity with the novels' era.
If historical newspapers, were used much like mathematical axioms, they could be used as 'proofs' for literary events, described horrors, odd personalities, or national opinion(s).
The use of both rural and metropolitan front-pages provide a variety of regional cultures, political party 'opinions', and 'a snapshot in time' reality a student could read about in the very next chapter.
Classroom poster sets based on events, descriptions, themes, or as an introduction to each chapter would offer a sense of 'concrete' authenticity equal to this XYZ Generations' Internet, cellular and 'My Space' reality.
Co-curricula lesson planning using reproduction newspapers offer obvious academic interconnections between Journalism and history, Poetry and Current Events, or an era English/Literature novel and corresponding era history course.
Era newspapers are considered as primary source documents and are about as painless a set of original source documents your students will ever be 'forced' to read.
Your thoughts, feedback and comments are very welcome.
Kenny Molzahn
e.
, mainly front-pages and reproductions, in social studies core curriculum is a widely accepted teaching aid that enable students' to comprehend the actual event(s) described in history and other social studies textbooks.
But a correlated use, very often ignored, occurs with the employment of era newspapers with numerous Classic Novels read in English, AP or American /European Literature courses taught in high school and college classrooms nationally.
Historical newspapers can be specifically selected to matrix with the events described, era fashion, and historical personalities for all the major 20th Century novels.
Historical newspapers enhance a students' understanding of the historical perspective of the author; who typically assumes the reader has a 'common' knowledge of.
The very select list of standard novels enhanced by reading historical newspapers include: U.
Sinclair's The Jungle, E.
Wharton's The House of Mirth, F.
Scott Fitzgerald's The Sun Also Rises and/or The Great Gatsby, J.
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, J.
D.
Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, J.
Heller's Catch-22, along with Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, and Otto Frank's Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.
With day to day front-page headlines such as: 150,00 Reported Killed In The Battle Of The Aisne [Taunton Daily Gazette - WWI], Yanks Repulse Hun Raid Near Marne [Grand Forks Herald - WWI], Fanatic Battle Rages in Cassino Ruins [St.
Louis Globe-Democrat - WWII Italy], Prohibition and World Court Figures as Nine States Vote [The Dallas Morning News - The Roaring Twenties], Stocks Cast Overboard in 16,000,000 Share Day [Buffalo Evening News - The Depression], Lindbergh Far Beyond Newfoundland [The World (New York City) - The Roaring Twenties], and Roosevelt Extends Bank Holiday [The Evening Republican - The Depression] are a very select sample.
Era reproduction newspapers provide a student with a semblance of the same news that inspired the author, helped them form a thematic perspective or caused deeper insights.
Articles covering the horrors of war, the divisions of class within American society, the economic and human chaos of the Depression, and the cost of living visualized through full-page fashion, car, and grocery advertisements help a student gain a broader familiarity with the novels' era.
If historical newspapers, were used much like mathematical axioms, they could be used as 'proofs' for literary events, described horrors, odd personalities, or national opinion(s).
The use of both rural and metropolitan front-pages provide a variety of regional cultures, political party 'opinions', and 'a snapshot in time' reality a student could read about in the very next chapter.
Classroom poster sets based on events, descriptions, themes, or as an introduction to each chapter would offer a sense of 'concrete' authenticity equal to this XYZ Generations' Internet, cellular and 'My Space' reality.
Co-curricula lesson planning using reproduction newspapers offer obvious academic interconnections between Journalism and history, Poetry and Current Events, or an era English/Literature novel and corresponding era history course.
Era newspapers are considered as primary source documents and are about as painless a set of original source documents your students will ever be 'forced' to read.
Your thoughts, feedback and comments are very welcome.
Kenny Molzahn