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BEd in Teaching English as a Second Language

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Module name and code : Drama and World Literature in English

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Word count : 2485 words

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Question 1:

Ur (1996:201) has enumerated some of the advantages of literature as a language

teaching resource such as ‘...it can be used as a springboard for exciting discussion or
writing, ...encourages critical and creative thinking,...makes students aware of various
human situations and conflicts as well as it is part of the target culture and therefore it
has a value of the learners’ general education.’ These four highlighted advantages are
the grounds of my personal responses towards Nicholas Sparks’s ‘A Walk to Remember’
novel in the attempt of evaluating and concluding it to be the best modern literary work
to be used with a group of 18-year-old advanced students. In order to do so, a working
journal of my responses towards this novel would be presented and it is divided into
three sections which correspond with the three main themes illustrated in the novel,
which are the discovery of faith, love together with forgiveness and reconciliation. Then,
three activities which are intended to help students to enjoy and appreciate the novel as I
did would be explained.

What can I say? Actually, I already knew the storyline because I had watched the
movie, so I did not expect much. I thought I would never be affected by this novel, but I
was proven wrong! I have to admit that the novel is much better. Honestly, it is hard for
me to explain how wonderful this novel was, but let me start by saying that there is
something more about this novel compared to other sad, tragic novels I have read in my
life. This novel is just too much – the last five chapters were completely a killer. The mood
changed so drastically and from one word to another, you could feel the tense building
up and there you go – weeping and sobbing would be the only music you listened to. Do
you know how hard it was to read these five chapters straight with tears in your eyes?
With this novel, I had to change my plan of writing a chapter-by-chapter journal because
it really is a page-turner and believe me; it is not easy to write a journal with the tears
streaming down your cheeks.

Sparks depicts Jamie to be such a kind and cheerful person that her optimism
made everyone around her happy as well. She had so much faith and I loved her for it.
Jamie’s mother’s old Bible serves as recurring motif in this novel and that not only
characterizes Jamie but it also suggested this one of the underlying themes of the novel,

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faith in God. In this novel, Jamie is always seen with her Bible and she interprets
everything that happens to her and to others in terms of her understanding of God. This
is one of the reasons why the other students in her school mock her behind her back. In
the beginning, when I first started reading this novel, I found it a bit difficult for me to
digest the religious terms used in the first chapter. I believe that my students might as
well face this kind of problem because there is a difference in belief and religion. In fact I
reckon there might be a possibility that some students would be sceptical and prejudice
about reading and learning this novel due to the difference mentioned earlier.
Nevertheless, this could be a perfect opportunity for me as the teacher to re-establish
their perception towards others’ beliefs and that it is expected for them to respect
others’ religion. Perhaps this could also be a chance for me to encourage students to
think critically about their own perceptions towards other religions and to reflect on their
own faith in God so that they could be more sensitive towards certain issues regarding
others’ belief and at the same time, devotedly embracing their own faith.

Having said that, one prominent element that makes this novel worth reading is
that despite Jamie’s strong faith in God and her belief that everything that happens to
her is God’s plan, she did not give up hope and she did not accuse God to be injustice
towards her; but she chose to live her life to the fullest by doing good deeds to others
and always be optimistic with the hardship that exists in her life. This trait could be a
great moral value to the students as this will make them think and realise that there is
The Highest Power that controls everything in our life. Nevertheless, that does not mean
they have to just give up whenever they experience something bad in life as it might be
their worst nightmare today, but in the future, they may be granted with a blissful and
happy life. In terms of having faith in God, Sparks does not portray only the nice, saint-
like persons are meant to be devoted or to fully believe in God. This can be proved
through the character of the hero of this novel, Landon, who at last developed a genuine
interest in the Bible. Being under pressure of the emotional situation whereby his lover,
Jamie is dying, he seems to be developing the kind of faith that Jamie has had all along.
He thinks only of her welfare, so he begins to discover the real meaning of love. He also
seeks for guidance from God on how to deal with that kind of situation and what could
he do best for the sake of Jamie’s happiness. In that novel, for the first time he feels that

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God speaks to him and he decided to ask for Jamie’s hand. Landon’s transformation from
the one who mocked Jamie’s belief in God to the new Landon described earlier could be
a motivation for those among the students, who feel that they have done something
wrong in their life, to seek forgiveness from God and for them to believe that God is not
resentful and full with love.

Next, I would like to say that I love the whole love and romance elements
embedded in this novel. It is interesting to see how a twist of fate could change a boy's
life and make him see what life has to offer him. When Landon asked Jamie to be his
partner for the homecoming dance, little did he know it would only be the beginning of a
long-time memory that would last with him forever. It is so neat how Jamie and Landon
would later fall in love with each other, even though they never expected the
unexpected to happen. The tiny moments they had with each other such as rehearsing
the play, helping out at orphanages, talking on her front porch, etc, were beautiful, and
make me fall in love with the book even more. The whole process of falling for each
other ,even though they didn't expect to, was heart-lifting and makes the book all the
better. Another kind of love that strikes me the most is the love that parents have
towards their children. Landon’s mother for example, she is always there to listen to
Landon and she never fails to give him a piece of advice whenever he needs it. While his
father, a busy congressman, is willing to abandon a meeting when he received a call from
Landon’s mother regarding their son’s lover, Jamie. Everything that parents do is for the
sake of their children’s happiness. One of the scenes that make me weep and the image
of my father emerge is when Jamie’s father, who is a minister, conducted her own
daughter’s wedding and he began by saying this:

“As a father, I’m supposed to give away my daughter, but I’m not sure
that I’m able to do this...I can no more give Jamie away than I can give
away my heart...”

As the students are now at the age of 18, they could easily relate themselves with this
theme of love. The exploitation of this theme could be used as a springboard for exciting
discussions or writings as it will provide a chance for students to increase their emotional
awareness towards a certain event or element that they encounter in this novel. In

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addition, by providing a stage or a medium for them to express their feelings and
responses, their confidence could be bolstered and different responses could be
cultivated as each and every student might have different thoughts about this theme as
they come from a different family and socio-economic background.

In discussing the theme of parental love, some students might be offended as

they might not have a good relationship with their parents or worst, either their father or
mother or both are no longer in this world. As a teacher, although such scenario would be
a disaster as it may distort students’ motivation in class, this may be perceived to be a
quite good moment to encourage the students to think, reflect and appreciate each and
every sacrifice that their parents have made for them so that even a little, they could
eventually realise how pure the love that parents have towards their children. Perhaps,
the issue of having busy working parents could be inserted during the discussion by
taking Landon’s father as an example, so that they would at least notice that actually
parents are, despite their depressing busy days at work, actually thinking about the
wellbeing of their children. Therefore, this would encourage them to be aware of various
human situations and conflicts so that they would not be easily offended and felt like
they are abandoned by their parents. Besides, it would be interesting to draw the male
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students attention to Hegbert’s speech (Jamie’s father), about letting her daughter go to
live a new life with this-once-upon-a-time-stranger. This situation could at least give them
a hint about how difficult it is for a father to let their daughters go and how important it is
for them to be thankful by taking good care of the daughter, who is now his other half.

The last theme that I think would be worth to discuss in class is the theme of
forgiveness and reconciliation. Somehow, it is easier to say that we forgive someone, but,
deep in our hearts, do we really mean it? Once again, not as it seems, this is one difficult
question. In this novel, Sparks used Jamie’s illness to provide opportunities for old
wounds to be healed. Landon’s father overcomes the bad blood that exists between him
and Hegbert by arranging to pay for Jamie’s home care. This action also effects
reconciliation between Landon and his father. The situation may be tragic, but it is not
without its positive aspects. The power to forgive and forget shown by Jamie has
influenced a few other people to change and recognize how nice she is. Sparks portrayed
the miracle that the power of forgiveness has brought through Eric’s words ringing with

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the most hearfelt emotion to Jamie when he went to visit her after the news about her
sickness spread. He even collected over 400 dollar for the orphanage that Jamie has been
visiting and volunteering for years. Such miracles do happen, even in the real life – that is
what I always believe, and I love the idea that my students would also appreciate the
power to forgive and forget because it really can change the world. As Landon said,
“Jamie was not the angel who had saved Tom Thornton, she had saved us all.”
Unfortunately, the one who contributes to the miracle does not get one. Nevertheless, I
believe that up there, those who are faithful to God and kind to others would receive a
miraculous and better rewards from God.

In order to help the students to appreciate the values and elements that I noticed
while reading this novel, a pre reading and a post reading activity is designed and would
be explained as follows. The pre reading activity is called ‘A Time Machine Magic’. During
this stage, students are required to just see the book cover (Appendix 1) and try to figure
out the themes of the novel based on the information written on the cover. Then, they
have to take note of their thoughts and share them with the person sitting next to them.
After that, the teacher will collect the papers and keep them in a box labelled with ‘A
Time Machine Magic’. The students have to write their names on the papers so that,
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those who have the most accurate answers would be rewarded and the result would be
announced after we finish reading the whole book. For this activity, a bottom-up strategy
is used in the process of comprehending the novel. This is because, as Aebersold and Field
(1997:97) suggested, the students should be guided by ‘...a linear or sentence-by-
sentence building of comprehension’ before the grasp the ultimate understanding of the
text. Thus, making them predict the themes of the novel based on the title for example
could help in building up their understanding of the novel.

The post reading activity aims to elicit students’ personal responses towards the
novel especially the themes. Before they begin to write a reading journal of their
thoughts, I will provide three lyrics sang by Mandy Moore (Appendix 2,3 and 4) and they
have to choose one that they think best represent the novel and they have to include
explain the reasons together with related themes in their journal. As a follow-up activity,
students would then form three groups and they have to group themselves according to
the song that they had chosen. In that group, they have to express and discuss their

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thoughts and reasons why they picked that song. Then, after they have identified and
agreed on the themes and their favourite scenes, they have to do a 15 minute role-play.
Together with the selected scene and the themes, they also have to portray in what ways
do the song seems to be the best to represent the novel in order to “...test their ability to
produce and interpret texts in a given context where the realisation of meaning
potentially deeply depends upon one’s social and cultural identity” (Chang, 2012:9).
Besides, a role-play would be very helpful way to “...maximise opportunities for students’
oracy, thus paving the way for developing their literacy” (ibid.:8).

In conclusion, it could be said that literary works usually expose students to

complex themes and unexpected uses of language. This could actually be a drawback to
the students whose mother tongue is not English. Nevertheless, if a novel used in a
classroom can take students to foreign countries and fantastic worlds through their
imagination as well as it is able to bring up certain issues and powerful emotional
responses, then, a little challenge in understanding the text would never demotivate the
students, especially the advanced ones. Eventually and hopefully, what they have learnt
in class can all be transposed to their real lives.

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References

Aebersold, J. And Field, A. (1997) From Reader to Reading Teacher: Issues and Strategies
for Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Chang, L.Y.S. (2012) Dramatic Language Learning in the Classroom in Winston, J.

(ed.)(2012) Second Language Learning through Drama. London: Routledge.

Sparks, N. (2012) A Walk to Remember. London: Sphere.

Ur, Penny. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

Song 1: Cry by Mandy Moore

I'll always remember

It was late afternoon
It lasted forever
And ended so soon
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed

In places no one will find

All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was there that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry

The moment that I saw you cry

It was late in September

And I've seen you before (and you were)
You were always the cold one
But I was never that sure
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed

In places no one will find

All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was there that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry

I wanted to hold you

I wanted to make it go away
I wanted to know you
I wanted to make your everything
All right...

I'll always remember

It was late afternoon
In places no one will find

In places no one will find

All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
It was there that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment I saw you cry

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Appendix 3

Song 2: Only Hope by Mandy Moore

There's a song that's inside of my soul.

It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.

So, I lay my head back down.

And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

Sing to me the song of the stars.

Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.

So I lay my head back down.

And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.

I give you my destiny.

I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.

So I lay my head back down.

And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

hmmmmm, hmmmmm, oooooh.

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Appendix 4

Song 3: If You Believe by Mandy Moore

I close my eyes
And even when I'm sleeping I'm all right
Cause you are in my life
Once upon a time
I only imagined this
And now your mine
I wished for you so hard
Pray that You'd find me
Maybe you're here today
Here to remind me

Chorus:
If you believe that dreams come true
There's one that's waiting here for you
Cuz I believe when I saw you
That when you want something enough
Then it can't escape your love
There is nothing in the world that cannot be
If you believe

Everybody said that I was a fool to think

That we could live(everybody said that)
But I couldn't get my heart out of my head
But they just didn't see
No they just couldn't know
The feeling you get
The places that you go

Chorus
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Never wish for material things
Never needed wind in my wings
I never wished for anything but you
I can't explain it
Someone just told me
Go where your heart is
You'll never be lonely

Chorus

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