Carotti, L.; Boscolo, P.
Description:
This study was aimed at comparing the effects of two ways of teaching literature to 9th graders: one using writing as a tool for analyzing literary texts, the other using it in a more traditional way. We hypothesized that the use of writing as a flexible tool to study literature would modify students’ orientation to writing itself, as well as to literature, and that the use of writing would improve students’ understanding of a literary text. Twenty-five students (M = 14, F = 11) of the first class of a Scientific Lyceum participated as the innovative (“writing-oriented”) group, and the same number (M = 11, F = 14) as the traditional group. All students responded to a questionnaire on writing and wrote a commentary on a literary text at the beginning and end of their Italian-language classes. The results show an improvement in the writing-oriented students’ ability to write a commentary on a literary text, and their perception of the usefulness of academic and personal writing.