Using Literature to Teach Geography
By Philip Haney
Traditionally, curriculum in schools is very rigid and each subject is taught separate from one another. Subjects like geography and English are kept separate, and very few teachers find ways to bring them together in a type of learning duality (Hume 1996). This type of teaching is not something that is only to be used by upper level teachers either; it could be used at almost any grade level. The combination of Geography and English could empower students that are reluctant readers to find a new and entertaining reason to read books. This paper is not meant to try to make a new class in schools, but rather to show a different way of teaching for adventurous Geography or English teachers. It is meant to show how literature can be used, give some examples of books and the subjects in them, and a way to use the subject matter for teaching Geography.
If one were to do an overall examination of a culture, they could draw the conclusion that there is a link between the Geography of that culture and its literature. The idea and sense of place or Genius Loci of a culture can also be a huge influence on literature written around the world due to the fact that most literary works are based on real places and the spatial-temporal rhythms connected to personal experiences. In this context, literary works are important because they provide authentic and indispensable testimony of the influence of human experience on place (Lando1996). Author and teacher Kenneth Mitchell brilliantly describes this link: "Geography has a profound influence in shaping any society.... literature, like all art, is ultimately a reflection and illustration of the landscape that produced it" (Mallory 1986).
The first question that many ask is: How does this natural link apply to the classroom? It is quite simple; virtually every story has a setting that can be expressed in geographical terms and in most cases there is some sort of travel involved in the plot. The five themes of Geography are a frame work upon which this can be taught. It is a good conceptual tool for examining literature from a geographic perspective (FIG 1). With a literature-based approach to Geography, each subject helps the other to reinforce learning. Students also can begin to see that both geography and literature have relevance outside the classroom. The study of literature improves comprehension of geography/geographical awareness and research has been done to show such a connection (Bein 1990). Obviously, it is impossible to take every student on a tour of the world. The challenge is to create a learning environment that comes closest to being in a place. Literature comes nearer to achieving this goal than most other resources. Even audio-visual materials cannot explicitly convey the smells, tastes, and other sensations of a place as can a well-written piece of literature (Hume 1996).
The choice of literature to be used by the teacher is the first step in trying to implement this type of lesson. This choice is clearly up to the teacher but there are many good ideas that have been already used by other professionals, and these could be obtained by doing simple searches online. The teacher would simply need to try to match the age group with the age group of the literature being used, and also try to use books that are geographically accurate so as to give information that students can learn about a place. The following books are ones that I have chosen to try to demonstrate this link between literature and Geography: The Door to Time, The Long Lost Map, Trapped in Ice, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and Montmorency (first book). These books represent a vast array of times and places. They have been chosen to give good examples of ancient historical places and people, and differing continents and locations. The goal here is not to devise a lesson plan for each book but simply to show how the subject matter from each book shows the link between literature and Geography.
The Door to time and The Lone Lost Map are examples of literature that take place in recent England. The setting for both books is the same mansion at just a different time. From the main setting of these books one could discover weather, surroundings and possibly some cultural significance of the surroundings. This is not the only reason that these two were chosen though. They also deal with ancient Egypt; the place where the author, and further in the books the children travel too. This well written fiction is based on many true facts about the time and people. It is a good look at the inner workings of an ancient city while at the same time showing many cultural habits of its inhabitance. With these two books a teacher could show a story that backs up historical geography of the region.
Trapped in Ice is a true story of the region around Alaska and the Bering sea that deals with whaling and the sea going culture of the early 19th century. Instead of just dealing with a geographical or historical textbook this story tells a tale from the time period with wonderful descriptions of the culture and geographical location. It details the thoughts of the people and how the dealt with unfortunate circumstances and hardships. While giving accurate information about the time it also entertains the reader with a delightfully true story. What more could be asked of a story if the region to be studied is the north or Eskimo cultures.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a book that many high schools or early college students might already be reding for a literature class. This epic poem could easily be adapted for use in a geography setting or a historical geography classroom. This story takes place in Babylonia, which is modern day Iraq in about 2700 BC. This book is a good one for a look at the whole Middle Eastern region and many different cultures of people. The travels can be mapped with names from today and compared to the people that are living there now. One could really get a spirit of the place from comparing a city of BC times to the one that exists today. Many different places are described in the book along with their inhabitants; this could lead to new insights on how the different cultures moved and blended with others to create the different cities we have today.
Montmorency takes place in the late 1800s in England. This book shows different parts of the culture and how they interact, or in this case feed of one another. As a culture one might look at the goings on of the rich and how they are their own separated group that have free reign to do as they please with the less desirable peoples. Many questions could be examined and discussions on changes in the culture of the area could be documented. Although this is fiction, the detailed construction of the original sewer system could be researched and one could determine if it had influences on development of the area or the culture. The story of how the system was used and its inner workings could empower further research by students to tie it to the culture and its development.
The reasons that I have given for using these books only brushes the surface of the possible topics that could be extracted from their stories for use in a Geography classroom. I have only listed a few and would not expect any inventive teacher to rely on my simple descriptions for a lesson. Many other books could be better choices for the region to be studied, but these were meant to just show how a few current, and one widespread old book could portray the culture of an area. The descriptions show people, places, and change over time of different cultures and how one could relate that to a current lesson. To show this connection I have developed a sample lesson plan for demonstration purposes that shows how one might bring this way of teaching into a classroom.
Lesson Plan:
Goal: To learn to read books for geographic content.
Objectives:
Have students read the book and identify the 5 themes of geography in their
geography/literature journal making chapter notes.
Research some outside source and find information about the region in the book
and write a comparison of the book information and researched information.
Procedures:
1. Assign students the task of generating a
geography/literature journal that they will use throughout the school year as
they/you read the books.
2. Have students/you read Trapped in Ice and The Long Lost Map
and make journal entries for each chapter identifying and analyzing the five
themes of geography. Have the students write a brief synopsis and tell why it is
an example of the theme they are writing about based on their analysis. There
should be at least 1 example for each chapter.
3. Have students research using the library or Internet to find articles about the same region or topic of the book. For older students make the research material be credible sources that contain accurate historical/current facts. The student will then write a paper comparing and contrasting the article, and or web based material, and the book.(Weller 2006)
This simple lesson plan shows how easy it is to bring literature into the Geography classroom. There are plenty of other ways to include Literature and some may better suit the students or the level being taught, but this way is a simple approach that could get students interested. The main reason for trying to bring Literature into the Geography classroom is to get the students to learn, and any way that achieves this is a good one. Make it fun for the students and they will not forget the information. Most of the time, if the students are having fun they want to learn more and this will make your job much easier.
THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
The five themes served as a framework upon which the content of geography can be taught and served the K-12 population until the national geography standards were published in 1994. Since the six elements of the national standards embrace the five themes, they remain a valuable tool for students to use in developing a "geographic perspective," while the standards strengthen instructional planning.
(FIG 1)
http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-925/nature.htm
accessed July 20 2006
Bein, Frederick L. "Baseline Geography Competency Test: Administered in Indiana Universities." JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY 89 (November/December 1990): 260-265.
Lando, Fabio. Fact and fiction: Geography and literature. GeoJournal , Volume 38, Number 1:1996
Mallory, W. E., and P. Simpson-Housley. GEOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE: A MEETING OF THE DISCIPLINES. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1986.
Updale, Eleanor. MONTMORENCY: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?; New York, New York: Scholastic, 2006
Weller, Dr. Kay
Teaching Geography Using Literature in K-University Classrooms
http://www.uni.edu/gai/Lesson_plans/Teaching_Geography_using_literature.html
Accessed July 20 2006