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Texts are worlds

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Texts are worlds.

Think about texts as worlds that you can explore. You can look at the concrete stuff in the worlds, consider the people making their way in the worlds, and respond to the worldviews that the author seems to suggest about the world of the text.

For example, consider Toni Morrison's "Beloved." Think about all the things that Morrison added to that world - just a few are below:

I like this way of thinking about texts because it is a little less formal. Instead of hunting for symbols, kids ask themselves, “What are the things that keep showing up in this world?”

To consider the role of the things in this world, your kids can use up/down/both/why. That rusted tin tobacco box that Paul D kept his heart in – more positive to you? More negative to you? Both? Why?  

They can also use contrasting cases with these things, as in “Morrison could have chosen to focus on a chicken squawking around in Sweet Home, but she chose a rooster. If it were a chicken, how would the world of the text feel different?”

They can look at how these things might relate to one another, if at all.

They can consider the things that make up the world that they inhabit, or the things they would choose for their story world, and how a reader might interpret that world.