Is There an Innovative Way of Motivating Students to Read Literature?

Yes, there is!  This is what Ruby Davaseeli, an English Professor, and her team of undergraduate Students in Bharathidasan Women’s College Puducherry proved.  Before we proceed to know how they did, it may be of interest to throw some light on the vital but often neglected question-whether reading literature helps build character in students and makes them more humane.  The answer is, yes it does! Many great philosophers, educationists, and writers have emphasised reading as a necessary tool to build character and instil moral values in students. The philosopher Francis Bacon wrote, “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” Another writer and Nobel laureate William Faulkner said, “Read, read, read. Read everything-trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.” And, “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life,” insisted the Global Literacy Campaign. 

What we understand form these quotes is that reading has its own positive influence in our minds and actions. If so, then what influence does reading literature have on humans? The answer is simple: Reading literature makes the ‘humans humane’! Literature is a societal mirror. It captures and reflects the society in its entirety-society’s way of life, morals, ethics, emotions, sentiments, goodness, shortcomings, love, hatred, anger, jealousy, power struggle, revenge…and everything. Looking ourselves at the mirror helps us to correct our appearance.  Similarly, reading literature helps us to understand the culture of humanity and its multiple dimensions which would sensitise us to many of the human problems. Such an understanding of and sensitivity to human problems is what makes us more humane.           

If reading is such a powerful medium then we may ask another question-whether the students in the contemporary world are trained and exposed to variety of readings including literature.  The answer is an unfortunate no! The Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), 2011 brings out a disturbing fact that the learning ability of children has declined in India. For instance, the percentage of children in standard V who were able to read standard II text books declined from 53.7 percent in 2010 to 48.2 per cent in 2011 across the country.  Although this evidence is not directly related to our arguments here, it does point to an alarming situation in the country side that large chunk of our school children cannot read their textbook through, let alone reading and comprehending literary books!  What about the modern young graduates then? Do they have interest in reading literature?  Sadly, not many have interest in it.  It is worth recalling a few examples reported in Times of India, October 13, 2008, Patna edition.  In an interview, when asked to name a novel by an Indian author he recently read, the candidate an English Literature graduate, openly admitted that he had read none.  Another example-in a written examination, the candidates were asked to tick the name of the author of Letters from A Father to His Daughter. It seems most of the candidates failed to tick Jawaharlal Nehru as the correct answer.  The news paper report also observed that the reason for declining reading habit of the young generation was due to increasing obsession with visual medium like television and internet.       

Now let us get back to the question we raised in the beginning, “Is there an innovative way of motivating students to read literature?” Yes, there is! The way is story telling through the exhibition of artefacts depicting the literary works of great poets, dramatists, and novelists!  This is what Ruby Davaseeli and her team of undergraduate English literature Students did in their college premises in the first week of October 2012.  The literary event attracted college students, teachers and people from different walks of life.  Perhaps, the current trend of declining interest in reading literature among the young generation prompted Ruby to choose this innovative method of story telling through artefacts exhibition.  Roughly 210 brilliant young literature students, divided into a number of teams-each team with a story and artefact, painstakingly and charmingly explained the artefacts they themselves handmade.  It was captivating listening to the students explaining the love, hatred, anger, jealousy, power struggle, morals, ethics, sentiments, and emotions depicted in the literary works.  Immediately after the exhibition, I developed the urge to read all of the literary works exhibited, though I read many of them in my school and college days.  I am sure, like me, many visitors would have felt the same urge to read or revisit them. Such is the power of visual medium.  Like the way the movies The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter ignited the passion in many viewers to read the fictions after watching the movies.

In the era of declining interest in reading, an innovative and constructive initiative of literary artefacts exhibition like this, though symbolic, deserves wholehearted appreciation and support.  Such creative events would go a long way in triggering the passion for reading in the modern young minds.  

Well Done Ruby and Team, Keep it up…!

 

Selvam Velangani Manickam