Non-Narrative Mentor Text

In Leaving Out to Pull In: Using Reader Response to Teach Multicultural Literature, Rose C. Reissman discusses her "Leaving Out" activity conducted in three separate middle school and high school classrooms aimed at encouraging students to apply their own experiences to those of characters in multicultural literature. As an introduction to a given text to be studied in class, Reissman suggests reading a selected passage aloud to the students while omitting particular information that would indicate the cultural background of characters, including their name or where they live, or the author. By replacing these indicators with the word "blank," Reissman reports that students were encouraged to more closely relate in some way to the character in the passage by attaching their own experiences to those being described. Although Reissman indicates that students were mostly not 'right' in their assumptions about the character or author's cultural background, it is nonetheless important that they found some way to relate to the text.

I believe that this text could be useful in a mentorship setting because it presents a manner by which students can be led to feel connected to a text or literary character by recognizing their similarities rather than their differences, such as race or cultural background. Reissman's method of generating personal responses from students based on their own experiences, whether it be feelings of isolation or recalling memories of their own families, is an effective way of generating discussion and establishing an understanding of potential themes of a given text before reading or beginning the teaching unit. Students, then, are able to better connect and respond to characters and themes from the text as well. In a classroom setting, the "Leaving Out" activity encourages students to be more empathetic or respectful of their classmates' experiences. This activity can also be effectively used in a classroom or one-on-one setting with pieces of music or film that are related to the text in that the student(s) can gain a better understanding of the time period of the writing.

Reissman's journal article also offers the opportunity to explore the conventions of the genre. Specifically, I believe this text could be used as an example of how to properly format an article/essay/response (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) or develop an argument and/or inform the reader by breaking down the structure of the article, i.e. introduction of the "Leaving Out" activity and demonstrating its effectiveness through classroom evidence, then wrapping up the information at the end. Likewise, the article can be used to demonstrate how to use quotes and cite sources, as well as properly punctuate sentences.

Reissman, Rose C (1994). Leaving Out to Pull In: Using Reader Response to Teach Multicultural Literature. The English Journal, 83, 20-23.