Review of Teaching Literature in the Online Classroom

[1] Literature pedagogy has always been grounded in a belief that something special happens in the face-to-face community coming together over a shared text. The forced move to online instruction during the pandemic resulted in explorations of various means of creating student community learning in the literature class. A collection of essays on this topic demonstrates that literature can be effectively taught online, even in asynchronous environments.

[2] Teaching Literature in the Online Classroom (TLOC) (2022) is another offering in the ever-growing MLA (Modern Language Association) Options for Teaching series. Of the 56 volumes published at the time of this review, TLOC is the only volume solely concerned with online teaching. Attention to the teaching of literature in online environments is needed, and this volume does help fill both fill that need and point to other scholarship in the conversation on the topic; for example, pointing out that the most recent book-length study is a decade old (p.13). Though other themes are addressed in the collection of essays, the editors’ primary concerns were to demonstrate online adaptations and innovations with the pedagogical tools most used by literature teachers: close reading, discussion, and applying/critiquing theoretical approaches. The volume further supports teachers by supplying examples and models of successful implementation of the teaching of literature online.

[3] The introduction of the collection briefly covers many frustrations or concerns that an online literature teacher might have, such as working alongside institutional instructional designers, complying with needed ADA regulations, and meeting FERPA expectations regarding the privacy of students. The volume then presents four sections: close reading (4 essays), asynchronous discussion and interaction (4 essays), examples of various tools and assignments (5 essays), and course models (6 essays). Like most essay collections, the various authors do not engage in conversation with each other which can leave a reader feeling as if the volume is uneven. However, so many topics and ideas are addressed that most readers, whether experienced or not with online teaching, will find engaging pedagogical insights.

[4] The section on close reading contains three essays on teaching poetry, including an assignment in which students annotate a poem digitally, using hyperlinks and multimedia (Steere). Another poetry assignment emphasizes the need for students to experience “the intimacy and embodiment of language” (Evans and Riley, p. 33) through the development of a poetry podcast which is carefully scaffolded within the class. The ideas presented by the author/teachers would work in any online class when merged, as they suggest, with multimedia of poets reading their own works as exemplars. These assignments get students to read a text with care and to integrate that reading with their lives and experience with social media, other texts, and other commentators, including their colleagues in the class. 

[5] The second section on “Asynchronous Interaction” (pgs. 81-142) highlights the benefits of running discussion at a distance such as creating discussion methods that are more interactive and inclusive than face-to-face discussions (Galliah). Also discussed is the tricky issue of how to assess discussion (Strong). Wilhelm’s contribution speaks to the use of reflection and the teaching of difficult texts. Often teachers find discussion of challenging texts uncomfortable for students in face-to-face classes. In the online class, the distance between the leaners can be a benefit for such discussions. Wilhelm (pgs. 114-115) provides a detailed description for structuring threaded discussions to promote listening and valuing the comments other students make during an assignment. And for the daring teacher, Greenberg and Williamson describe the way they encourage group dialog which moves, as they say, toward empathy, tolerance, and understanding by setting up caucusing in the classroom. However, in a final section of their essay, they illuminate possible institutional risks and risks for students participating in the activity.

[6] The third section of the collection is entitled, “Tools of the Trade.” In shorter essays teachers describe different digital tools and forums they have used with success in teaching literature. The video lecture combined with learning activities incorporated into the video tweaks a standard online tool, making it more valuable for student learners (Jensen and Lackey). Misak lays out good practices for using Google Docs in the classroom. A class-created glossary of terms becomes an important resource on a course wiki allowing students to master the difficult language of theory but also becoming knowledge creators (Smith). Gallardo and Matsuuchi have their students fill in missing information about an important overlooked American author through a Wikipedia project. And Sickman, Musgrave, Maloney-Mangold, and Jettpace describe multiple assignments and tools such as an online scavenger hunt, Google Docs, Padlet, Group Me, Zoom, Chat, and Voice Thread.

[7] The final section’s examples of online literature courses include two different versions of Shakespeare, an American Literature survey course, a Chinese Literature course in English, a course in dystopian literature, and an examination of what the authors call “return design” (Danielson and DiMarco). Helpful discussions of outcome-based course design as well as critical reading notation are part of the final example. In all these examples, there is much to mine and ponder for the online teacher looking for ideas. However, in a book with half devoted to discussion of assignments and online tools, as well as pedagogical examples, actual sample syllabi, assignment sheets, and assessment documents would be extremely useful, perhaps in an appendix. Also missing from the book is an afterward or concluding remarks that might have tied the essays together, predicted future research from scholars on online teaching in literature, or summarized surprises and expectations. Even with these reservations, this collection is well-worth perusing for both the novice online teacher and the experienced. And some of the ideas in the book might even persuade the reluctant or resistant literature teacher doing online teaching to move beyond the critical essay and synchronous discussion toward some new approaches to better fit the new class environment. In fact, any online teacher assigning reading and engaging the students in discussion can find useful information to make their assignments matter.