Literary Commentary: A Transactional Approach to Holocaust Literature

T hrough active reading strategies including annotation, shared inquiry, and interpretive discussion, librarians can play a major role in the development of age-appropriate Holo caust literature programs suitable for library and classroom settings. Liter ary response theory becomes practice as librarians and students, in this updated adaptation of the chavrf.!ta, use writing journals to articulate and exchange questions, comments, and feelings about the books they have read and recommended, bridging the gap between the generations of read ers who share, through literature, the Holocaust experience. Teachers Versus Librarians In the November 1992 issue of Language Arts, Sean A. Walmsley writes that many elementary school teachers see the librar ian in much the same way as they see the owner of a bookstore: the librarian buys and checks the books. Librarians, of course, "see themselves as playing a major role in the development of a litera ture program"; many are "trying to shake off their 'bibliographer' image." Walmsley writes: The librarians we interviewed were not pleased to have been excluded from the planning of school literature pro grams, and they were not reticent about comparing their extensive knowl edge of children's literature with what they regarded as most classroom teachers' shallow literary understand ing. Walmsley points to this evident tension as proof of the need for articulation and cooperation among those of us who are responsible for "the provision of books and of instructional activities to promote children's use of them" (Walmsley, 1992, p. 508). *Presentation at the 28th Annual Conven tion of the Association of Jewish Libraries, New York Hilton, June 21, 1993, at a ses sion entitled "Bridges Between the Gener ations: Sharing the Holocaust Experience." Karen Shawn The Moriah School Englewood, NJ Making Holocaust Literature Accessible Although teachers and librarians have distinct areas of expertise and interest, we also share the goal of finding ways of making the literature of the Holocaust accessible to students. By accessible, I do not mean merely available: We all seek ways to help students make sense of what they read. We want them to ana lyze and reflect on the events of the Holo caust, and on the relationship between these events and the personal and soci etal values of today. We want to increase students' knowledge of the historicity of the Holocaust, but we also want them to ponder its significance, its implications for them as youngsters who live in its shadow. The challenge in identifying appropriate literary experiences that help us meet those goals comes with the realization that, just as the Holocaust was unique, so should the reading experiences related to it be unique. British educator Jack Thom son (1987) notes that "the right book brought forward at the right time makes all the difference." But I am suggesting that with books about the Holocaust, it is what we do with them after they are brought forward that makes all the differ ence. What should we do with them? Current theories of Holocaust education suggest that we provide a caring commu nity, where readers are encouraged to explore what they have read, through dis cussion groups, cooperative learning groups, and journal-keeping, all with the goal of making information personally meaningful and significant. Interestingly, these Holocaust education theories reflect theories of literary response. Educator Louise Rosenblatt (1976) and her follow ers recognize the importance of sharing reactions to what we read in a thoughtful, structured partnership. Furthermore, Rosenblatt maintains that it is the transac tion between the text and the reader's response which makes the "poem." With out the reader's interactive participation in the reading process, she notes, the text is merely "squiggles on the page." As powerful as the subject of the Holo caust is, so is our need to discuss what we read about it. Reader response theo retician W. Iser defines this demand by writing when we have been particularly im pressed by a book, we feel the need to talk about it; ... we simply want to understand more clearly what it is in which we have been entangled. We have undergone an experience, and now we want to know consciously what we have experienced. (Iser, 1980, p. 64) In the very act of responding to literature through conversation, our perceptions about it begin to change. B.F. Nelms explains that "the minute we begin to articulate our feelings, ideas, and judg ments about a piece of literature, it begins to take another shape. We see things we had not seen before" (Nelms, 1988, p. 7). Of course, the Jewish textual tradition reflects this same understanding. Jewish learning is both active and interactive. The Melton Center's Prof. Barry Holtz notes that "traditional Jews rarely speak about reading texts at all; rather, one talks about studying or learning." Jewish learn ing "is as much about talk as it is reading; in fact, the two activities of reading and discussing are virtually indistinguishable." He also reminds us that "most traditional Jewish 'reading' occurs in a social con text-the class, or the study session." Thus, reading is both "an act of self reflection ... [and] a way of communal identification and communication" (Holtz, 1984, p, 18-19). Not surprisingly, current research in liter ary response supports the value of this method (without, of course, acknowledg ing its source!). A researcher named Lytle (1982) has coined the term ''think-alouds" to describe "the complex thought processes involved in orally exploring meaning" (cited in Beach, 1990, p. 66). In think alouds, students explore their personal responses to a text by "expressing their emotional reactions, sorting out and clari fying their conceptions, or coping with dif ficulties in understanding meanings" (Beach, 1990, p. 66). Judaica Librarianship Vol. 8 No. 1-2 Spring 1993-Winter 1994 91 Association of Jewish Libraries, 28th Annual Convention, New York City So we have the theory. We know what we should be doing. But in practice? Unfortu nately, these theories have little if any practical application to students' experi ences with books about the Holocaust. If they are fortunate, y oungsters have response-centered discussion groups in English classes. But too often, even Eng lish teachers feel a need to "cover the cur riculum," as if the numbers of books read contribute more to the personal and intellec tual growth of a child than the depth of the discussion about them. In addition, there are relatively few language-arts teachers, especially in the elementary and middle grades, who are comfortable enough with their own understanding of the Holocaust and related issues to choose to engage in ongoing discussions about any aspect of this subject with their students. In the library, particularly in secondary public schools, such recommended expe riences are even less likely to occur. Stu dents may or may not have a discussion with the librarian about a particular book. But such sharing is often superficial, on the valuative level; casual, interrupted, or interruptible; and rarely ongoing or inclu sive of other students who have read the same book, or a different book with the same theme. An Interactive Reading Program: The Chavruta And so we return to the idea that makes learning partners of us all. Consider the English teacher who is look ing for books on rescuers, because she knows that is an age-appropriate way to discuss the Holocaust with her sixth or seventh graders. She turns to a librarian for recommendations. The librarian sug gests Twenty and Ten, by Claire Bishop; Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry; Waiting for Anya, by Michael Morpurgo; and The Man from the Other Side, by Uri Orlev (see section B of References). The library has, or can get, six copies of each. The librarian keeps one copy of each title to read or reread. In class, at the librarian's suggestion, the teacher forms four reading groups, chevrutot, with her 20 students, five stu dents per group, and sets two weeks as the period in which they have to complete the reading of the books during class as well as at home. As they read, students keep response journals. In the journals, they raise their own questions, comment on events as they unfold, or answer ques tions raised by the teacher: "What is the significance of this particular detail or event? How does this event affect my understanding of what has gone before? What am I learning about this person? What am I learning about the world described in this book? What impression is the book giv ing me of the kind of person who wrote it? What puzzles me at this point? What prob lems am I having with this book at this time? What pleases me about it?" In addition, students are asked to note, by page and paragraph number, passages which seem to them particularly signifi cant, perhaps because they are moving, or startling, or beautiful, or because they help them to understand a person or set ting or situation especially well. The librarian, too, is noting these pas sages as she reads. And when she has, say, three passages from each book, she photocopies them, cuts them out, and pastes them in a blank book, to be used in a follow-up writing project. Now the librarian is ready to send invita tions to the participating classes! A sam ple text for the invitation: "You are cordially invited to come to the library at 1 :00 p.m., Wednesday, for our First Annual Book Month Roundtable! Bring your book and your journal. Re freshments will be served." The librarian arranges with the adminis tration that the period from 1 :00 to 1 :30 is kadosh (holy). There will be no interrup tions, no phone calls, no visitors. And there will be cookies and juice. Now 1 :00 Wednesday afternoon is the time usually scheduled for English; the teacher sends the librarian one reading group, perhaps the group reading Waiting for An