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Teaching Literature in an Age of Text Complexity
Author(s) -
Alsup Janet
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of adolescent and adult literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1936-2706
pISSN - 1081-3004
DOI - 10.1002/jaal.239
Subject(s) - empathy , narrative , reading (process) , feeling , psychology , pedagogy , critical thinking , emphasis (telecommunications) , mathematics education , linguistics , social psychology , computer science , philosophy , telecommunications
The recently released Common Core State Standards increase classroom emphasis on informational texts in high school and recommend a three‐part measurement for text complexity when selecting texts for classroom use. In this commentary I argue that fictional narratives can not only meet these stated criteria for complex texts and result in critical thinking, reading, and writing, but stories can also lead to increased reader engagement and feelings of empathy for others.