There are some concepts that answer essential question on what drama is.  A drama  is a work which is meant to be read and  performed (Kirszner and Mandell, 2000). Two activity are lingered when reader reads a drama text;  firstly is reading the text to get  the meaning   and secondly is translating and performing the written words into  a verbal action.

In another essential, the concept of drama can be obviously comprehended when it is compared with other two literary genres;  prose and poetry. Drama , unlike the other literary genres is  a staged art (Diyanni, 2001). The emphasis of drama as  a stage art is that it is written to be performed infront of audience by actors who represents the characters through dialogue and action. Kirsneer and mandell (2000) stated that the differences between drama with other two literary genres are seen as follow :
1.  Drama develops primarily by means of dialogue, so the audience knows only what

the character thinking.

2.  The plot and the action of drama  unfold on the stage as the characters interact..

3.  Play wright employ various technique to compensate the absence of narrator such

as monologue (extended speech by one character, Solliqouy ( A monolgue in

which character expreses private thought when he/she is alone on stage) and

asides  a brief comment by an actor who adresses the audience but not heard by

other character.

4. These dramatic techniques give the audienve insight of character’s motives and technique.

The distinctive appearance of  a script ,with its stage directions, character parts and divisions into act and scenes identifies drama as unique form of literature.

The uniqueness of drama should not make readers forget that it is a literary work. Like a short story and a piece of poem, a play is a work of arts made off words (Kennedy and Gioa, 2002). The words is the bones of a play.  Verbal gestures, facial expression, bodily stances, lightning  and special effects are there to make the meaning of words, and to be part of  the play wright’s written words. The power of words convey the similarity between drama with poetry and prose. The similarity between drama and  other two literary genres  lies on some following aspects :

1. It possesses a narrative dimension; a play narrates  a story in the form of plot.
2. Like fiction drama relies on dialogue and description which takes the form of stage directions lines describing characters, scenes and action with clues to production.
3. Plays is similar with lyric poems, both are allowed overheaded, we listen to the characters  expressing their concern as if there were no audience present.

.

So then, when a drama is said as a stage art, in  a sense that it is written to be performed   and adressed not to readers but to spectators, still there is  a space for us to read the drama by only relying on its written words.  The plays we wish to see are not always performed.  A reasonable alternative is to read them with attention to both theatrical and literary dimensions ( Diyanni, 2001). Drama with its unique theatrical idiom  should be read with  with the special attention  to its performance element.

Love

Buk WInda

Winda setiasari

Jurusan Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris

Universitas negeri Padang

Abstrak

Artikel ini mengupas lengkap Sastra Multikultural Amerika dan pengajarannya. Artikel ini juga membicarakan tentang penyusunan silabus dan penerapan strategi mengajar yang komunikatif dan sehingga Sastra Multikultural Amerika dapat menjadi mata kuliah yang menarik.Karya Sastra yang ditulis oleh empat etnis minoritas di Amerika serikat yaitu etnis Afrika (Negro), Asia, Indian dan etnis Latin menjadi topik utama silabus mata kuliah ini. Empat pendekatan dengan aktivitas kelas yang berbeda yaitu “Cultural Studies”, “Reader Response”, “Inquiry” dan “Critical Pedagogy” dapat diterapkan oleh pengajar sebagai strategi untuk mempertajam isu multikultural dalam karya sastra etnis minoritas.

A. Introduction

The 1980s was a meaningful decade in American history. It was a decade fraught with issue over “multiculturalism”. Ravitch mentioned multicultural as the common culture of the United States. It is a culture formed by its subsidiary cultures (qtd in Laguardia, 1996:151). Diverse cultures commingle and the United States gained a new perspective in reacting to their long dominant monoculturalism. Multiculturalism then had become a major cultural movement. The movement idealized the United States as a multi ethnic society.

In term of literary movement, multiculturalism in American literature has resulted in the recognition of non-white authors (Keith, 1996: 235) . White- Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) authors were no longer dominant in American literature. Mainstream authors were accompanied by new literary figures that were not a part of the literary canon. They are minority writers. Minority writers and ethnic minority text created a trend and new canon in American literature.

Multicultural movement in the Unites States opened up a chance for what so –called “Multicultural curriculum” to exist in many high schools, colleges and universities in the United States. Multicultural curriculum covers some subjects in multicultural perspective. American multicultural literature is one of them.. Students are introduced to minority texts and they are given sources or reading materials written by minority writers. Students learn other cultures, so that they share many common experiences. Thus, multicultural literature in the United States had become a new cultural energy.

American multicultural literature (AML) has started to be taught in some universities in Indonesia. Still, it is a new subject in some of English Department .For that reason, this article discusses AML and its teaching strategies. It is intended to open our horizon toward AML. The discussion leads to the description of a complete syllabus and the teaching strategies for AML.

B. Minority writings and the effective syllabus

Multicultural literature made it possible for the authors of ethnic minority to emerge in the list of American literary figures. Together, Minority writers started to appear in AML. They wrote to project and validate alternative value and cultural system, which are different from the white authors. It is such an exotic lesson for literature student to learn various experience of ethnic minority through literary works. They learn similarities and differences. Hence, A Lecture takes a big role to enhance student’s motivation to learn AML.

For this reason, a complete syllabus for AML class is necessary. It is set to achieve an effective study of various minority writers only in one semester. Lectures should include major minority writings and bring up some multicultural issues as the focus of the study. The detail description of major minority writings and their multicultural issues are as follows:

African American writings

. Black literature from time to time offers an interesting phenomena of a suppressed minority. Later on, they are more famous with their new “African American” name. African American writings focus on a folklore conception of humankind, an ambivalent consciousness arising from bicultural identity (Guerin,1999: 260). African American also wrote to reflect their resistance against white mainstream. They are also well known for their survival theme.

Lecture should include African American writers like Tony Morrison with her “beloved”, Alice Walker with her Color purple, Benjamin Zephaniah, Countee Cullen and Rita Dove with their poems.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>Asian American writings

Asian American consists of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese etc. They refer to one unity “Asian American”. Chinese American writing is the most prominent Asian American writing. Chinese writers bring the issue of assimilation, cultural tension among generation and preserving native culture.

Other Asian American writings generally cover an experience of living in a society that perceives Asian Americans as alien (Guerin,1999: 267). Most Japanese American writers write to reveal the cultural conflict, self-alienation and childhood memory during World War II.

Lecture should include a text by Maxine Hong Kingston, poems by Lee young lee, novels and autobiography of Amy tan.

Native American writings

Native American posses their own distinctive traditional literature. Oral culture such as story telling which has been passed through passes on religious beliefs, moral values, political codes and ethics and practical lesson of everyday life has been their cultural identity for ages. Native American wrote with their languages.

In the multicultural era, their English written literary works focus on some themes like vanishing cultural tradition and identity as the result of assimilation. Lectures should include names like M. Scott Momaday and Louis Edrich who are famous for romanticizing Indian past and present values.

Hispanic American writings

Hispanic American writings include works of all Spanish speaking population in the United States. Among them are Mexican-American, Puerto Rican and Cuban American writers. Mexican American writers is the most prominent in the list of Hispanic writers

Most of Hispanic American writing clusters around the issue of massive migration, cultural conflict met by newly arrived immigrant. Mexican American writers bring the topic about the experience of ethnic group who lives between two cultures, two countries and two languages. Others Hispanic American writers also write about alienation, assimilation and Spanish degradation as their main heritage. Lecture should include works from Richard Rodriguez, Rodolfo Anaya, Tomas Rivera, and Pat Mora in the AML class.

5. A Sample for American Multicultural Literature Syllabus

C. Strategies for Teaching American Multicultural Literature

Teaching American literature must be coupled with good strategies. The effective syllabus discussed above should be accompanied with an interesting class activity. Lecture should prepare some strategies in teaching AML literature.

The Annenberg CPB channel cooperated with Harvard Smithsonian center reviewed four different kinds of guiding approach with each suggested class activity (1995) cultural studies, reader response, inquiry and critical pedagogy are some approach with different class activity conducted in American Multicultural literature class.

1. Cultural Studies approach

It is the most valuable strategy for teachers of AML because it focuses on the social divisions of class, gender, ethnicity and race. Cultural studies scrutinize at the ways in which meaning, stereotype and identities are generated within these social group. Besides, cultural studies deal with an interdisciplinary study; students integrate literature, sociology, history, education and other studies to understand varied text.

Cultural studies approach combines literary readings with social and historical analysis in AML class. At the end, student will be able to see literature as a social product with specific history. However, the central teaching strategy of cultural studies approach is intertextual reading; comparing each literary text to culturally related text. Text for reader response strategies includes advertising television, historical document, visual artwork etc.

Some class activities conducted in AML class using cultural studies approach are as follow:

Lecture introduces student before giving them materials to read, explaining that different text may raise similar issue

Lecture offers general information about the texts e.g. when they were written, by whom and for what purpose, teacher

Lecture provides the background of characters or images or other element of literary work before encouraging student to look for them

Lecture gives student an assignment such as multimedia projects and performance that combine research with literary analysis.

1. Inquiry Approach

This approach engages students in a process of questioning, research, presentation and reflection. It also encourages students to pursue information through investigation, experimentation, creation, reflection, and discussion. Students also use their outside knowledge and real life experiences in that pursuit. Lecture only acts as facilitator to encourage students to make connection between classroom inquiries and their personal lives.

In AML classroom, an inquiry approach supports students in making their own meaning from text. Besides an inquiry, approach provides students with the freedom to explore their own question. Through collaboration, discussion and interaction with series text that speak to question, coupled with collective reflection, students and their lecture together can begin to pose possible answers. Here are some possible activities engaged in inquiry approach :

- Inviting students to ask question and make connection

- Encouraging students to have conversations about what they have

Discovered

- Helping students to take their information and transform it for

Particular audience

- Making sure students reflect on the process, and encouraging

them to begin to take an action.

1. Reader Response Approach

Reader Response approach emphasizes the reader’s role in interpreting text. Each interpretation is subjective and unique because students create their own meaning based on their own emotion, concerns, life experience and reading knowledge. This approach rejects the idea of a single, fixed meaning inherent in every literary work.

Using reader –response approach in MALL class, encourages student to extract meaning from texts through experiencing, hypothesizing, exploring and synthesizing. It also encourages student to be aware of what they bring to texts as readers. Most importantly, students can recognize the specifity of their own cultural backgrounds and to work to understand the cultural background of others. They construct their own meaning by connecting the text to issues in their life.

Students personal responses are valued in MAL class since the diverse responses of individual reader are key to discovering the variety of meaning of a poem, story, essay or play. Hence, students then can become an active learner. Open –ended discussion leads students to explore their own thinking and trust on their own responses.

4. Critical pedagogy approach

It aims at encouraging students to respond to texts as politically aware members of a community. It gives students a greater authority since they are drawing on knowledge them already posses. Lecture and student create dialogue in which they both learn the issues they mutually face.

In MAL class. This approach invites student to see literary texts as social construct. They comment and developed out of given ideologies. Students are guided to have a direct investigation of literary texts, focusing on issues that are important in their lives.

Further, the critical pedagogy approach inspires student to read literature more closely, exploring why an author might have made specific literary choices to choose and resist dominant ideology and certain cultural practice.

Lecture can give student an assignment such as writing argumentative essay, petition. MAL class provides student to compare multiple literary text that explore the same issues but in different cultural setting.

D. Suggestion

Teaching Multicultural American Literature enriches our knowledge toward one perspective; how literary works served as a cultural practice. Learning AML for students similarly open up their horizon toward ethnicity and various cultural backgrounds in the United States.

English Department of Lancang Kuning University then should include AML in the curriculum. It will be a reflection of our willingness to adapt to world wide literary development. By preparing such an effective syllabus and conduct many useful strategies in AML class, this subject obviously will be an interesting subject to be learned for students in English department.

REFERENCES

Guerin, Wilfred L, et all. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, New York: Oxford University Press,1999.

Keith,M, Booker. A Practical Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism. New York: Longman Publisher,1996.

Laguardia,Dolores and Hans P Guth. American Voices: Multicultural Literacy and Critical Thinking (Second Edition). California : Marfield Publishing Company,1996.

The Annenberg CPB Channel. The Expanding Canon : Teaching Multicultural Literature. Last Updated :2005. Date of Success: February, 2 2005 <http/www.Annenberg/CPB Learner.org>

Posted in My Journals Tagged: American, Multicultural, Teaching ]]> http://windasetia.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/journal-on-american-literature/feed/ 7 windasetia http://windasetia.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/mid-term-for-speaking-2/ http://windasetia.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/mid-term-for-speaking-2/#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:54:00 +0000 windasetia http://windasetia.wordpress.com/?p=6 ]]> hi there..

this is for your midterm

You are going to present a proposal on Big event for ESA (English student  Association).. to the board of English Department ,This is a guide line for you :

-Name of event

-The theme

-participant

-sponsorship

1. Romanticism with wordsworth

2. Puritanism in English Literature

3. Post colonial literature with Gabriel  Marquez