TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF LITERATURE STUDIES

Factors Affecting Interests in Lierature

Objectives:

● Identify the factors that affect individual’s interests in literature

● Discuss the factors affecting interests in literature

● Internalize the factors affecting interests in literature

What are these factors that affect an individual’s interest in literature? What made these people
captivated by the literary pieces or instead, what made them uninterested in literature?

1. Motivation

Motivation is the key in promoting a love of literacy in students. They should be surrounded by titles
that reflect the lives of themselves as well as their classmates. When students find titles with characters
that look like them and families that resemble their own or their neighbors, their interest level
increases. Students find literature interesting when they are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to
read. The outside factors that can be the source of students’ motivation are the positive reinforcements,
their family, and their environment. Intrinsic motivation may come from the students’ desire to explore,
discover, and learn more to gain new perspectives in life through being engaged in literature.

On the other hand, students lose interest in literature when they are not into reading, they don’t know
what to read and why to read.

2. Ability to Relate to Students

Finding texts that relate to students’ lives emerged as another factor influencing interest in literature.
Students are more engaged in their learning if they find it interesting or relatable. The NCTE, in their
“Guidelines for Selection of Materials in English Language Arts Programs”, supports this need to have
texts that students will be able to relate to. Literature and other supplemental texts “which draw upon
students’ backgrounds are desirable. Both comprehension and engagement are enhanced when
students can activate relevant background knowledge as they read, connecting their personal
experiences with vicarious experiences” (National Council of Teachers of English, 2014 a). Finding
literature that represents the students and relates to their lives is the focus of many teachers as they
select literature to increase student engagement in reading. When literature can relate to students, this
can influence their thoughts and feelings. Students’ attention can easily be caught when the literature is
relevant to everyday life and current events. Literature becomes interesting when it provides connection
to students. There can be some sort of connection between the author and the readers. By the help of
the authors, readers will be able to learn new perspectives, scenarios, and even culture. Since all the
characters, situations, emotions, and information came from the author himself. Moreover, students,
can also learn vocabulary, creativity, sympathy, empathy, and even social awareness when they allow
themselves to be consumed by reading literature. Otherwise, if the students can’t connect to the literary
pieces, due to its depth and complexity, students got bored and became uninterested.

3. Literary Merit

Literary merit is the quality of the literature that makes it valuable enough.

Dean defines literary merit as “an opportunity for me to take a look at a particular passage in a book
and to stop and to say, hey let’s take a minute and let’s talk about how this is put together…let’s talk
about how it was written and how the writing works and how if it has a particular thematic meaning,
let’s talk about how the passage does that. And it’s an opportunity to talk about the choices that that
author makes and how those choices manifest itself in a bunch of different ideas” (May 1, 2018). Paul
Evans had a similar definition in which he described literary merit as the chance “to look at the book as
a work of art and answer the question how it communicates meaning so that [students can work on]
their critical thinking skills” (May 1, 2018).

In his book, The English Teacher’s Companion, Jim Burke discusses the topic of literary merit. Burke cites
a text by Barry Gilmore which outlines the literary merit considerations for more “complex and
sophisticated literature” that would typically be included in an advanced placement class. Gilmore’s list
is as follows:

1. Entertains the reader and is interesting to read.

2. Does not merely conform to the expectations of a single genre or formula.

3. Has been judged to have artistic quality by the literary community (teachers, students, librarians,
critics, other writers, the reading public.)

4. Has stood the test of time in some way, regardless of the date of publication.

5. Shows thematic depth: The themes merit revisiting and the study because they are complex and
nuanced.

6. Demonstrates innovation in style, voice structure, characterization, plot and/or description.

7. May have social, political, or ideological impact on society during the lifetime of the author or
afterward.

8. Does not fall into the traps of “pulp” fiction such as cliched or derivative descriptions and plot devices,
or sentimentality rather than “earned” emotion.

9. Is intended by the author to communicate in an artistic manner.

10. Is universal in its appeal (i.e., the themes and insights are not only accessible to one culture or time
period)” (2013, p. 144)
4. Choice vs. Requirement

The difference between student choice and student requirement depends on whether the students
have a say in what they are reading. Required literature for all students is more likely to be questioned
or challenged than if students were given several options. Students choose literature that appears
interesting and which they might enjoy so they eventually become more engaged in reading, compared
to required literature which students might like or dislike considering their interest may end up to
forced reading of the literature that is out of their interest. This appears tiresome to them.

5. Reading Habit

In order to gain interest in reading books about literature, students must get used to it so that they can
build a set of routine that includes reading. If the students didn’t have or build a reading habit, they will
not discover, explore, and recognize the value and purpose of literature.

6. Time

Some students spend their time doing worthwhile things such as reading so they have the chance to
become acquainted to literature and develop an interest to it. Students who are into literature always
make time to read consistently and become more attached and fascinated to literature. However, to
some, they didn’t have time to read because they are busy with the responsibilities and such so, they
failed to develop their interest in literature.

“Literature makes us better thinkers. It moves us to see the multi-sidedness of situations and therefore
expands the breadth of our own visions, moving us towards dreams and solutions we might not
otherwise have imagined.” – Judith Langer, Envisioning Literature

References
Geoghegan, M. (2019). Honor Theses . Retrieved from The Factors that Influence the Selection of
Literature in a High School English Language Arts (ELA) Curriculum:
https://digitalcommons.assumption.edu/honortheses/46