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Beyond Literary Analysis
Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell invite you to join them on a transformational journey. Out of the dark tunnel of boring literary analysis assignments, they lead you into a world where students learn to write fresh, compelling, authentic arguments based on their own unique interests. “There is a place for analysis of literature in our classrooms,” they write. “But we think there is more. In this book, we invite you to explore your teaching of analytical writing from a new perspective. To open your mind to the real world of analytical writing, and challenge traditional notions about what students should be analyzing and how they should write it.”
Allison and Rebekah offer a broadened definition of analysis for the 21st century classroom. “Analysis is everywhere,” they argue. “It’s about video games and athletes’ seasons, and the latest album, or the new Netflix series.” This new definition of “text” allows students to tap into their passions—and learn to write with expertise on topics that matter to them. “No matter where your students begin as writers—full of confidence or full of avoidance—unleashing them to explore the topics and texts they are passionate about can transform your classroom and transform their writing.”
With samples throughout the book, you’ll see what students of all levels and experiences can do when they’re supported with mentor texts, targeted writing instruction, and the opportunity to write beyond literary analysis.
Allison and Rebekah offer a broadened definition of analysis for the 21st century classroom. “Analysis is everywhere,” they argue. “It’s about video games and athletes’ seasons, and the latest album, or the new Netflix series.” This new definition of “text” allows students to tap into their passions—and learn to write with expertise on topics that matter to them. “No matter where your students begin as writers—full of confidence or full of avoidance—unleashing them to explore the topics and texts they are passionate about can transform your classroom and transform their writing.”
With samples throughout the book, you’ll see what students of all levels and experiences can do when they’re supported with mentor texts, targeted writing instruction, and the opportunity to write beyond literary analysis.
272 pages, Paperback
Published January 25, 2018
15 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
April 5, 2018
Every English teacher needs this book. I eventually put down my highlighter because I wanted to highlight nearly every sentence. I've long observed that literary analysis is difficult for students because they just don't have enough experience with literature. However, I've also observed that students (and people in general) analyze all the time--movies, songs, restaurants, ice cream stores. Therefore, the following statement in Marchetti and O'Dell's book hit home: "This is what we do when we give our students a task on which they cannot succeed--we water down. We control, control, control. In the absence of critical thinking and true analysis, we give fill-in-the-blank outlines, hand students thesis statements, offer up formulas until we think they can be successful. Ultimately, none of our objectives for either the literature or writing are met" (20). Yes. Yes. Yes.
This book makes the now obvious claim that if you allow students to analyze things about which they are passionate and knowledgeable, they can focus on truly learning how to write--how to make decisions as a writer and how to use writing to convey important ideas that others will genuinely care about. A happy side effect is that teachers get more interesting and varied analysis essays. Where has this book been all my life?
Marchetti and O'Dell walk teachers through various ways to help students find, explore, and develop subjects and topics for analysis. The final part of the book is a how-to for the most popular student topics: movies/tv, sports, music, video games--and they threw in literary analysis to keep teachers happy :)
I cannot recommend this book enough. I've got to get back to the classroom so I can live out its ideals. The ideas here are good for both students and for teachers.
This book makes the now obvious claim that if you allow students to analyze things about which they are passionate and knowledgeable, they can focus on truly learning how to write--how to make decisions as a writer and how to use writing to convey important ideas that others will genuinely care about. A happy side effect is that teachers get more interesting and varied analysis essays. Where has this book been all my life?
Marchetti and O'Dell walk teachers through various ways to help students find, explore, and develop subjects and topics for analysis. The final part of the book is a how-to for the most popular student topics: movies/tv, sports, music, video games--and they threw in literary analysis to keep teachers happy :)
I cannot recommend this book enough. I've got to get back to the classroom so I can live out its ideals. The ideas here are good for both students and for teachers.
February 21, 2018
This book made me think again, and again and again, about what English class should be. I'm convinced there is no better resource for teachers who care about writing, about kids, and about ACTUALLY TEACHING kids (or anyone??) to write.
A keep-it-on-the-edge-of-your-desk, literally-use-it-every-day kind of book.
A keep-it-on-the-edge-of-your-desk, literally-use-it-every-day kind of book.
March 22, 2018
So glad that the head of my English department recommended this for a Personal Development book club.
This is a great read for anyone who teaches English or Writing. As an EAL teacher, I was worried that I wouldn’t find many resources that would work for newcomers who are just learning the language, but it was actually the opposite. I feel like I’ve come out of this with a plethora of ideas to run with for my students.
The thing I appreciate about this book is that you can sincerely tell it’s written by teachers. With some “educational textbooks”, the writer seems so detached and this is quite the opposite. I commend both of the writers on how they were able to let their passion and commitment to the art of teaching shine through their words.
This is a great read for anyone who teaches English or Writing. As an EAL teacher, I was worried that I wouldn’t find many resources that would work for newcomers who are just learning the language, but it was actually the opposite. I feel like I’ve come out of this with a plethora of ideas to run with for my students.
The thing I appreciate about this book is that you can sincerely tell it’s written by teachers. With some “educational textbooks”, the writer seems so detached and this is quite the opposite. I commend both of the writers on how they were able to let their passion and commitment to the art of teaching shine through their words.
June 28, 2018
❤️❤️❤️❤️A gold mine!!! This book is just as much a game changer for me as “Writing with Mentors” and Penny Kittle’s “Book Love.” I wish every ELA teacher would read these and implement the relevant, engaging, common sense approaches to revitalize ELA instructional strategies. I’m so grateful that you both wrote it, and I’m excited for planning next year. (I’m excited, and it’s not even July! Now THAT is an endorsement. :))
December 9, 2022
This book is sooo full of amazing ideas and resources. Reading it straight through was boring haha but it’s one I’ll return to again and again for inspiration. O’Dell and Marchetti’s passion for teaching shines through. I love how much they value authentic thinking and writing.
July 19, 2018
This book is fantastic—a game-changer. It challenged the way I think about teaching writing and expanded my definitions of what I thought of as academic writing.
I am happy to have been able to try out some of these strategies last year (thanks to an insightful colleague) and am excited to revamp my writing curriculum further this coming year.
Students will write better when they’re writing about something they care about—you’d think this would be natural and believable and not shocking, but it’s actually a pretty revolutionary thought in the world of teaching literature and writing. And if they can improve in their writing about their passions, they can turn around and write better about the literature we also want them to analyze.
So glad I read this book. And my students will be as well.
I am happy to have been able to try out some of these strategies last year (thanks to an insightful colleague) and am excited to revamp my writing curriculum further this coming year.
Students will write better when they’re writing about something they care about—you’d think this would be natural and believable and not shocking, but it’s actually a pretty revolutionary thought in the world of teaching literature and writing. And if they can improve in their writing about their passions, they can turn around and write better about the literature we also want them to analyze.
So glad I read this book. And my students will be as well.
March 8, 2018
I was already a fan of Moving Writers and the work of Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell before I picked up Beyond Literary Analysis. Their work with writing with mentors and authentic analysis has moved the work of my English department forward dramatically. But when I first read preview paragraphs of this text, I knew my experience would be different.
The authors give voice, sincere and authentic and real, to so many of the thoughts I have had as a teacher of writing and English department supervisor for years. I connected with the authors through solidarity and shared experience. But even more, what this text has given me is tools and strategies and snippets of mentor texts—takeaways that will help me as a coach and supervisor enormously. As they would help any teacher of writing committed to their students, to their voices, and to giving them the tools necessary to cultivate what they have to say and how they have to say it to be heard in our world today. That is what sets this book apart from other professional texts. It spoke to me on a pedagogical and philosophical level. But it also provided me the necessary, pragmatic tools to help implement this work on the ground, in our classrooms, with our students.
If you are a teacher of writing and are looking for one professional text to succinctly and powerfully transform the work of your classroom, Beyond Literary Analysis is it.
The authors give voice, sincere and authentic and real, to so many of the thoughts I have had as a teacher of writing and English department supervisor for years. I connected with the authors through solidarity and shared experience. But even more, what this text has given me is tools and strategies and snippets of mentor texts—takeaways that will help me as a coach and supervisor enormously. As they would help any teacher of writing committed to their students, to their voices, and to giving them the tools necessary to cultivate what they have to say and how they have to say it to be heard in our world today. That is what sets this book apart from other professional texts. It spoke to me on a pedagogical and philosophical level. But it also provided me the necessary, pragmatic tools to help implement this work on the ground, in our classrooms, with our students.
If you are a teacher of writing and are looking for one professional text to succinctly and powerfully transform the work of your classroom, Beyond Literary Analysis is it.
October 7, 2019
-If you want to teach literary analysis, but are unwilling to stuff students in the five-paragraph essay box, this book is for you.
-If you want to push students to use literary analysis as a tool for exploring ideas, this is for you.
-If you want to meet young writers where they are, this is for you.
-Filled with exercises and strategies to get ideas and passion on paper.
-If you want to push students to use literary analysis as a tool for exploring ideas, this is for you.
-If you want to meet young writers where they are, this is for you.
-Filled with exercises and strategies to get ideas and passion on paper.
April 17, 2018
I am so excited to put these ideas into action in my classroom.
September 21, 2018
Love these ladies and their work. So many great mentor texts in here and so many ideas to help students write about the topics they care about. I will read anything these two publish because they never disappoint.
April 2, 2018
“We invite you to...celebrate the writing that is born where passion and analysis meet,” write Rebekah O’Dell and Allison Marchetti in their introduction to Beyond Literary Analysis, an extensive collection of commentary, tools, and mentor texts exposing the need for a shift in how we teach analytical writing. I cannot stress enough the critical nature of this book – I couldn't make it more than a few paragraphs without wondering, "How could I only be realizing this now?" The need to awaken student voices, to empower them through choice is explored in three parts: (1) What is analytical writing?, (2) tools and lessons, and (3) an exploration of 6 different sub-genres of analysis writing (mentor texts included).
The power of this text cannot be overstated. O’Dell and Marchetti immerse you in the world of analysis in a way that is easy to grasp – expect quite a few “whoa” moments (it is okay to hug the book in these moments). The urgency with which you feel to implement all of the ideas and activities is overwhelming...the excitement of it palpable. However, the author’s (obviously aware of the avalanche of amazingness they have created) have provided a solid guide to help (even the most skeptical) a process of bringing a students passion and voice to life in their writing.
Beyond Literary Analysis is more than ‘just another’ professional development text: it is a guidebook to help facilitate authenticity and relevancy in all learners. You will probably read it from front to back initially – you won’t be able to take it in fast enough. But then you will also be able to slow down ...to give yourself time to explore and experiment with the plethora of ideas. The authors describe meaningful and tangible ways to build the skills students need to gain more agency over their learning process. I especially appreciated the bit on the use of profanity in writing – write that !#$& down (when appropriate of course).
The power of this text cannot be overstated. O’Dell and Marchetti immerse you in the world of analysis in a way that is easy to grasp – expect quite a few “whoa” moments (it is okay to hug the book in these moments). The urgency with which you feel to implement all of the ideas and activities is overwhelming...the excitement of it palpable. However, the author’s (obviously aware of the avalanche of amazingness they have created) have provided a solid guide to help (even the most skeptical) a process of bringing a students passion and voice to life in their writing.
Beyond Literary Analysis is more than ‘just another’ professional development text: it is a guidebook to help facilitate authenticity and relevancy in all learners. You will probably read it from front to back initially – you won’t be able to take it in fast enough. But then you will also be able to slow down ...to give yourself time to explore and experiment with the plethora of ideas. The authors describe meaningful and tangible ways to build the skills students need to gain more agency over their learning process. I especially appreciated the bit on the use of profanity in writing – write that !#$& down (when appropriate of course).
August 11, 2018
Of all of the methods texts I've read, this is by far one of the most practical. The book is worth it for the examples of mentor texts and informational tables alone. I'll definitely be using their resources to bolster my searches for new, relevant analyses to use in class.
I appreciated the many sample lessons and the larger goals that they're trying to address. The lessons are not organized in a way that creates a scripted curriculum, which is great because I think some lessons would work well and I plan on trying them and some not so much. The authors' classrooms are clearly functioning at a very high level with students who have a solid grasp of structures and conventions and can articulate their observations very clearly seemingly without much scaffolding. I like that their methods aspire to get students writing at the professional level and clearly it is working for their students.
I'm not sure that this is an entirely new concept; using mentor texts to write about topics of student interest, like music, sports, and video games is well-discussed in the field. When I took a class with Graff and Birkenstein, authors of They Say/I Say, this was their thesis as well, and their sentence templates were broad in order to be applied to discussing a wide range of topics and mediums. I think those two books paired together would be enough for any writing teacher to begin creating a student-centered curriculum.
My one hesitation here is that I do believe it would have to be a writing-focused class. This all takes a lot of time, and unless students are spending a significant amount of work outside of the classroom, there would not be time for many extended reading or speaking opportunities. (Not to say that's a bad thing! Writing is important.) I'm also unsure about how well this could really be executed because if I'm teaching five sections of a class designed around finding mentor texts and supporting students in all of these individual topics, I'm not sure I'd be able to really support each student rather than just touch base. This is a personal criticism, however, and not one of the book.
Anyway, if you're an English teacher, this book is definitely worth putting on your personal professional development reading list.
I appreciated the many sample lessons and the larger goals that they're trying to address. The lessons are not organized in a way that creates a scripted curriculum, which is great because I think some lessons would work well and I plan on trying them and some not so much. The authors' classrooms are clearly functioning at a very high level with students who have a solid grasp of structures and conventions and can articulate their observations very clearly seemingly without much scaffolding. I like that their methods aspire to get students writing at the professional level and clearly it is working for their students.
I'm not sure that this is an entirely new concept; using mentor texts to write about topics of student interest, like music, sports, and video games is well-discussed in the field. When I took a class with Graff and Birkenstein, authors of They Say/I Say, this was their thesis as well, and their sentence templates were broad in order to be applied to discussing a wide range of topics and mediums. I think those two books paired together would be enough for any writing teacher to begin creating a student-centered curriculum.
My one hesitation here is that I do believe it would have to be a writing-focused class. This all takes a lot of time, and unless students are spending a significant amount of work outside of the classroom, there would not be time for many extended reading or speaking opportunities. (Not to say that's a bad thing! Writing is important.) I'm also unsure about how well this could really be executed because if I'm teaching five sections of a class designed around finding mentor texts and supporting students in all of these individual topics, I'm not sure I'd be able to really support each student rather than just touch base. This is a personal criticism, however, and not one of the book.
Anyway, if you're an English teacher, this book is definitely worth putting on your personal professional development reading list.
July 11, 2019
Marchetti and O’Dell provide useful strategies for teachers who want their students to write with passion about any text. This pushes thinking beyond the typical literary analysis essay and gives plenty of realistic examples of how to give kids choice with their writing. They scaffold the process and provide numerous examples of how this can be done in the English (or really any) classroom. I cannot praise this book enough. If you’re an English teacher who wants to disrupt the writing norm, read it!
May 19, 2020
Excellent and thoughtful book thinking outside the box on analysis.
June 17, 2020
A wonderfully helpful and relevant resource!
January 25, 2019
I feel ambivalent about this book. While I liked many of the ideas, I disliked the manipulative use of language--all positive words for their "authentic" and "fresh" ideas, all negative words for ideas they considered "old school" or "dated." I'm not saying they're wrong in their claims, but I think they could have been more generous in dealing with opposing views.
April 5, 2018
While reading Writing with Mentors, I saw a glimmer, a faint suggestion that more could be analyzed than just the same texts ad nauseam. When I met Marchetti and O’Dell in 2015, I asked them if they were going to do anything with it. They were. They had begun writing this book.
The book is split into three sections. The first provides the rationale for diversifying analysis writing in the classroom. The second section is full of transferable, accessible mini-lessons to help students find their passions, articulate claims, find evidence, select an appropriate structure, and write with authority. Even if you weren’t ready to open up text selection, you could implement from this section tomorrow. There’s even a diagnostic tool for helping you figure out which techniques to use for solving which problems. The last section gives you the specifics for supporting analysis about TV shows and movies, music, sports, video games, and literature. Afterward, there’s a chapter detailing how to design your own support students that want to analyze other “texts,” like fashion or politics.
Takeaways:
--Analysis constrained to a pre-selected text and formula, explore “lands that have already been discovered.”
No wonder students regurgitate safe claims that require little effort (or evidence) to prove. When I communicate nothing but boundaries, there’s no point trying to scale the wall. Even if students resisted the temptation to recite class discussion or read essays on the web, they are aware, even subconsciously, that their thoughts already exist somewhere and therefore, are not their own.
--Teaching techniques preserves students’ authorial decision-making.
When I provide a formula, it’s easy for a student to plug in the answers (and easy for me to grade). When I teach the array of techniques available to the writer, they must think. If I short-circuit this process, I am making an inherently thoughtful activity (writing) thoughtless.
--Students who don’t get time to write in their own voice have none.
While academic voice is part of the hidden curriculum, a student who only practices writing in it is wearing a coat three sizes too big. By writing about their passions in their vernacular, students disrupt the notion of centralized authority, an idea that has fallen away in most of the United States outside the schools anyway. Lest we think we’re setting them up for failure in the traditional academic system, universities are clamoring for students who can think and communicate, meaning the “traditional” way of doing things at the high school level isn’t getting the job done.
How I'll Use It:
I want my students to read digitally in class, allowing them to find their own mentors and build their passions, exactly how professional writers engage with their content areas. In terms of analytical writing, I’m going to mine this book hard in the fall with U.S. Lit. As a class that centers around the Great Conversation taking place in American society throughout the centuries, what better way for students to meet that idea than by conversing with a text that is talking back to our society?
Should You Buy It?
I’m so glad I’ll be able to quickly reference both the middle and end sections. Usually, I just find a couple of cool lesson ideas in a book, but this one is loaded in the middle, and I can see using the lessons with the whole class as well as small groups and individuals. The end gives some detailed support that I will need. Marchetti and O’Dell did so much hard work reading and developing expertise in all those text areas--I’d be crazy not to take their help.
The book is split into three sections. The first provides the rationale for diversifying analysis writing in the classroom. The second section is full of transferable, accessible mini-lessons to help students find their passions, articulate claims, find evidence, select an appropriate structure, and write with authority. Even if you weren’t ready to open up text selection, you could implement from this section tomorrow. There’s even a diagnostic tool for helping you figure out which techniques to use for solving which problems. The last section gives you the specifics for supporting analysis about TV shows and movies, music, sports, video games, and literature. Afterward, there’s a chapter detailing how to design your own support students that want to analyze other “texts,” like fashion or politics.
Takeaways:
--Analysis constrained to a pre-selected text and formula, explore “lands that have already been discovered.”
No wonder students regurgitate safe claims that require little effort (or evidence) to prove. When I communicate nothing but boundaries, there’s no point trying to scale the wall. Even if students resisted the temptation to recite class discussion or read essays on the web, they are aware, even subconsciously, that their thoughts already exist somewhere and therefore, are not their own.
--Teaching techniques preserves students’ authorial decision-making.
When I provide a formula, it’s easy for a student to plug in the answers (and easy for me to grade). When I teach the array of techniques available to the writer, they must think. If I short-circuit this process, I am making an inherently thoughtful activity (writing) thoughtless.
--Students who don’t get time to write in their own voice have none.
While academic voice is part of the hidden curriculum, a student who only practices writing in it is wearing a coat three sizes too big. By writing about their passions in their vernacular, students disrupt the notion of centralized authority, an idea that has fallen away in most of the United States outside the schools anyway. Lest we think we’re setting them up for failure in the traditional academic system, universities are clamoring for students who can think and communicate, meaning the “traditional” way of doing things at the high school level isn’t getting the job done.
How I'll Use It:
I want my students to read digitally in class, allowing them to find their own mentors and build their passions, exactly how professional writers engage with their content areas. In terms of analytical writing, I’m going to mine this book hard in the fall with U.S. Lit. As a class that centers around the Great Conversation taking place in American society throughout the centuries, what better way for students to meet that idea than by conversing with a text that is talking back to our society?
Should You Buy It?
I’m so glad I’ll be able to quickly reference both the middle and end sections. Usually, I just find a couple of cool lesson ideas in a book, but this one is loaded in the middle, and I can see using the lessons with the whole class as well as small groups and individuals. The end gives some detailed support that I will need. Marchetti and O’Dell did so much hard work reading and developing expertise in all those text areas--I’d be crazy not to take their help.
July 3, 2018
There were some great ideas for high school.
August 4, 2018
I found so much useful advice and guidance in this book! Thank you, authors! I’m especially eager to try digital reading on a weekly basis with my students, albeit in a slightly revised form for my eighth graders :)
July 24, 2018
Once again, these authors knock it out of the park. This book helps revitalize analysis wrong with students and it's filled with great, practical tips and structures to follow.
February 12, 2019
Tons of helpful tips. I’m a huge fan of any book that contains charts listing the issues students run into and then directs you immediately to 3 or more strategies that help them tackle it. Also there are so many excellent mentor texts here. I’ve already used this book for multiple projects this year and I anticipate it will stay in my school bag so I have it whenever I plan.
August 26, 2018
A really thoughtful, insightful book on teaching writing. It gets at the central question of what the heck we're doing in English classes anyway, and how can we keep our students excited instead of boring them and us with yet another stack of papers to slog through? Part I of the book is about this question and about what "analysis in the wild" looks like. No one is publishing five-paragraph essays about symbols in Catcher in the Rye, but there's all sorts of great textual analysis being published.
Part II is also incredibly helpful, with great classroom strategies that address different elements of the writing process (brainstorming, coming up with an argument, etc.) and prose itself (vague writing, flat writing, etc.). I usually roll my eyes at classroom strategies I read about, because they are SO not my teaching style (or anyone's?), but Marchetti and O'Dell are clearly really good teachers who have thought carefully about what they do that works so well.
I will undoubtedly reread parts of this book multiple times!
Part II is also incredibly helpful, with great classroom strategies that address different elements of the writing process (brainstorming, coming up with an argument, etc.) and prose itself (vague writing, flat writing, etc.). I usually roll my eyes at classroom strategies I read about, because they are SO not my teaching style (or anyone's?), but Marchetti and O'Dell are clearly really good teachers who have thought carefully about what they do that works so well.
I will undoubtedly reread parts of this book multiple times!
September 23, 2018
Wonderful collection of strategies and examples to help reframe literary analysis into the larger, relatable context in which we encounter analysis everyday.
February 5, 2019
This is a phenomenal resource for the English teacher who cares about teaching useful writing skills. Through this book you will not only get theory, but useful, practical, step by step guides of how to implement ideas in your classroom.
March 26, 2019
“This quote shows that…” is a sentence starter that is now outlawed in my classroom. I currently teach juniors and seniors across three levels of English, from AP Language to Honors American Literature to Senior College Prep. By the time students get to me they know the fundamentals of writing literary analysis - they’ve had enough assignments to know they need a thesis, evidence, organization, and hopefully how to weave in their quotes. They also know that there needs to be some discussion to follow up on their evidence, but what that discussion entails is where students are struggling when they get to me. This is how Beyond Literary Analysis: Teaching Students to Write with Passion and Authority About Any Text by Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell found its way to my desk. I purchased it last spring, when I was feeling frustrated with repeatedly reading essays without the heart or insights I heard from students when they discussed. As part of my reading goal for the year, I am aiming to read one nonfiction, one fiction, and one professional text each month and used those genres to plan my three readings for this course as well. It’s a year later, and while I have shifted the attention to analysis and strategies used in my classroom this year, I found myself reaching for this book (which had been waiting in my “to read” pile since last spring) as I head into the final stretch of the year and my final attempt to find methods that will resonate with those reluctant writers, that will foster consistency with students who are still unsure or that will garner an authentic voice from the students ready to stretch themselves beyond the confines of the conventional essay.
As a department, we have been talking about the type of writing we want to see from our students and how to blur the lines for information, argumentative, and narrative writing to create authentic assignments. The book starts with three chapters that explore the ideas around analysis. These were my favorites to read because they helped me to articulate what I was feeling about the direction of our curriculum. The authors write that “humanity has been squeezed out” of analysis and that “joy is absent” when the “objective rights and wrongs prevail” (17). I was reminded of Thomas Newkirk’s Minds Made for Stories as I read and contemplated how narrative came to be seen as a four letter word in the world of argument and analysis. Our school has been grappling with the placement of narrative standards and I have been frustrated by the Common Core’s division on genres that send the message that students should, “ignore their own human experience and response to their reading” and that analysis has come to only be interpreted as “literary analysis” (17). These first three chapters helped reiterate the ways that students can analyze and craft analysis separate from reading responses and that analysis was about thinking and making choices. The authors identify the essential tools of analysis as passion, ideas, structure, and authority (35) and emphasize the role of mentor texts in guiding students through their understanding of these tools.
I wouldn’t say that the rest of the book rocked my world and view of writing. I was in agreement with the ideas presented even before I started reading, but the rest of the book - focused on the essential tools and breaking down how students might approach different types of “texts” - helped me see the shift away from a traditional canon of writing assignments as feasible and approachable. Each chapter on the essential tools includes a chart that identifies areas where writers often struggle and what we see in their writing, such as “lack of focus” or “lackluster leads and conclusions” and then identifies which the chapter’s activities and ideas will help to address those issues. These charts make the book a useable reference I know I will easily turn back to in the future (on those afternoons when I try to figure just what to do the next day to save my sanity!) The final chapters are dedicated to genres that have not traditionally been defined as texts, such as music, sports, or video games, along with a chapter on literary analysis. The biggest resource in these chapters was the identification of mentor texts. The authors discuss various experts in those fields and the aspects of their writings. This is helpful for me because I want to include more student voice and ownership in what they choose to analyze, but feel at a loss when I am trying to balance and find resources in areas that I am unfamiliar with myself.
Today I was at the MCELA conference and the publisher, Heinemann had a table with various texts and resources for sale. A fellow teacher who knew I was currently reading this book asked if it was worth buying a copy. As much as I have enjoyed the text, I found myself saying “no.” The book helped me think through the ideas that had been swirling around my head about analysis and gave me confidence and support to articulate those ideas to my department and administration, but the content wasn’t particularly new or innovative. I loved the mentor text suggestions but I always question how quickly they will become irrelevant to students as the next fade or artist takes center stage. I almost wish this text was a website or Padlet where resources could be shared and updated, because as text asserts, the genres, passions, and analysis of our students are ever evolving. So, for now, I will lend out my copy gladly to my fellow teacher and encourage us to keep the conversation going about analysis - as it has certainly offered me valuable perspective.
As a department, we have been talking about the type of writing we want to see from our students and how to blur the lines for information, argumentative, and narrative writing to create authentic assignments. The book starts with three chapters that explore the ideas around analysis. These were my favorites to read because they helped me to articulate what I was feeling about the direction of our curriculum. The authors write that “humanity has been squeezed out” of analysis and that “joy is absent” when the “objective rights and wrongs prevail” (17). I was reminded of Thomas Newkirk’s Minds Made for Stories as I read and contemplated how narrative came to be seen as a four letter word in the world of argument and analysis. Our school has been grappling with the placement of narrative standards and I have been frustrated by the Common Core’s division on genres that send the message that students should, “ignore their own human experience and response to their reading” and that analysis has come to only be interpreted as “literary analysis” (17). These first three chapters helped reiterate the ways that students can analyze and craft analysis separate from reading responses and that analysis was about thinking and making choices. The authors identify the essential tools of analysis as passion, ideas, structure, and authority (35) and emphasize the role of mentor texts in guiding students through their understanding of these tools.
I wouldn’t say that the rest of the book rocked my world and view of writing. I was in agreement with the ideas presented even before I started reading, but the rest of the book - focused on the essential tools and breaking down how students might approach different types of “texts” - helped me see the shift away from a traditional canon of writing assignments as feasible and approachable. Each chapter on the essential tools includes a chart that identifies areas where writers often struggle and what we see in their writing, such as “lack of focus” or “lackluster leads and conclusions” and then identifies which the chapter’s activities and ideas will help to address those issues. These charts make the book a useable reference I know I will easily turn back to in the future (on those afternoons when I try to figure just what to do the next day to save my sanity!) The final chapters are dedicated to genres that have not traditionally been defined as texts, such as music, sports, or video games, along with a chapter on literary analysis. The biggest resource in these chapters was the identification of mentor texts. The authors discuss various experts in those fields and the aspects of their writings. This is helpful for me because I want to include more student voice and ownership in what they choose to analyze, but feel at a loss when I am trying to balance and find resources in areas that I am unfamiliar with myself.
Today I was at the MCELA conference and the publisher, Heinemann had a table with various texts and resources for sale. A fellow teacher who knew I was currently reading this book asked if it was worth buying a copy. As much as I have enjoyed the text, I found myself saying “no.” The book helped me think through the ideas that had been swirling around my head about analysis and gave me confidence and support to articulate those ideas to my department and administration, but the content wasn’t particularly new or innovative. I loved the mentor text suggestions but I always question how quickly they will become irrelevant to students as the next fade or artist takes center stage. I almost wish this text was a website or Padlet where resources could be shared and updated, because as text asserts, the genres, passions, and analysis of our students are ever evolving. So, for now, I will lend out my copy gladly to my fellow teacher and encourage us to keep the conversation going about analysis - as it has certainly offered me valuable perspective.
May 18, 2020
Great ideas to move beyond the BORING analytical essay.
July 31, 2019
A solid and clearly written practitioner text, this book is well organized and highly accessible.
The authors start with just enough composition theory and explain quite convincingly why students need to learn how to write analysis about more than literature alone. Contemporary theories of writing pedagogy are founded on the notion that students learn how to write by composing authentic pieces of writing for a genuine purpose and for a specific, genuine audience. This book extrapolates that foundational pedagogical theory and demonstrates precisely how teachers can support students as they write about subjects they are passionate about—music, television, movies, video games, sports, etc.
The second section of this text focuses on four crucial elements of powerful writing—passion, ideas, structure, and authority. Within these four chapters, Marchetti and O’Dell masterfully connect theory and practice as they ground pedagogical principles such as “transfer” and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development within the context of popular culture that permeates students’ lives. The activities and strategies they discuss in this section and in the final section of the text are engaging and practical—ready to be implemented in a variety of instructional contexts.
Peppered with numerous examples from student writing and professional mentor texts, this book holds great promise for pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators. I’ll be using it in my Advanced Composition course this semester.
The authors start with just enough composition theory and explain quite convincingly why students need to learn how to write analysis about more than literature alone. Contemporary theories of writing pedagogy are founded on the notion that students learn how to write by composing authentic pieces of writing for a genuine purpose and for a specific, genuine audience. This book extrapolates that foundational pedagogical theory and demonstrates precisely how teachers can support students as they write about subjects they are passionate about—music, television, movies, video games, sports, etc.
The second section of this text focuses on four crucial elements of powerful writing—passion, ideas, structure, and authority. Within these four chapters, Marchetti and O’Dell masterfully connect theory and practice as they ground pedagogical principles such as “transfer” and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development within the context of popular culture that permeates students’ lives. The activities and strategies they discuss in this section and in the final section of the text are engaging and practical—ready to be implemented in a variety of instructional contexts.
Peppered with numerous examples from student writing and professional mentor texts, this book holds great promise for pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators. I’ll be using it in my Advanced Composition course this semester.
August 21, 2019
This book is... lacking. It was written by two bored teachers that were tired of reading the same Catcher in the Rye essays year after year. I get that, really, but what these authors did was reconstruct the ways in which we introduce writing (the writing process, writing strategies, techniques, etc.) in our classrooms. Since this book is targeted for secondary education, by 9th grade (even if students are struggling with writing) I don't want to give them a chart that compares how the writing process is a metaphor for building a house.
The other thing this book (primarily) does is talk about the revolutionary idea that you can write about other things *besides* dusty old literature! Well... duh? Editorials. Persuasive writing. News and sports articles. Video game reviews. Analyzing song lyrics. This is NOT a new thing to school curricula! In fact, if you aren't encouraging your students (or requiring them to) write in these genres already, particularly during something writer's workshop... where have you been? The 1960s?
This book has some interesting activities to spice up the average lesson, but take from this book what you will.
The other thing this book (primarily) does is talk about the revolutionary idea that you can write about other things *besides* dusty old literature! Well... duh? Editorials. Persuasive writing. News and sports articles. Video game reviews. Analyzing song lyrics. This is NOT a new thing to school curricula! In fact, if you aren't encouraging your students (or requiring them to) write in these genres already, particularly during something writer's workshop... where have you been? The 1960s?
This book has some interesting activities to spice up the average lesson, but take from this book what you will.
September 10, 2018
Comprehensive and jam-packed with mentor text excerpts for teaching all sorts of things, but especially structure and voice. The authors make a great case for letting students analyze what they want, breaking the five-paragraph-essay rules, and looking to actual magazine-style writing for inspiration. My concern is that I’m not sure this loose of a prompt is the way to start teaching analytical writing. Terms we talk about in class for paragraphing (context, evidence, commentary) aren’t dwelled on here, because he authors assume if a student can accurately use a mentor text as a structural road map, those elements will automatically fall into place. Overall, this might be better placed in a high school curriculum, but the exercises and mentor snippets could be helpful anywhere.
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