Journal Article #2

Literacy, Sexuality, and the Value(s) of Queer Young Adult Literatures
William P Banks, Traci Gardner. English Journal. (High School Edition). Urbana:Mar 2009. Vol. 98, Iss. 4, p. 33-36 (4 pp.)

Abstract Summary
Banks draws on personal experience to show the importance of reading LGBT young adult literature empathetically and critically.
Gardner provides several approaches as to how teachers can incorporate critical literacy which helps students recognize that the text/reading can actively shape our lives. She further explains how various critical literacy approaches can be compared to LGBT literature. For example, teachers can ask their students to compare a personal experience of violence to that represented in a novel they are reading. This will give them a change to incorporate/relate real world experiences so they can a better understanding of what the author is trying to convey in the story. According to the author, teachers can ask questions about how and why these events happened/occurred, as well as how these events are reported in the news.

A critical literacy approach requires that teachers address more than the violence. Gardner states, “Learning to read is always about more than just "word calling"; it is about the ways that we learn the language for describing ourselves, for narrating ourselves into existence, for articulating our needs, values, and value in the spaces that we need to survive in.” Teachers should choose books which relate to the students in their classrooms. By doing this, teachers can pull in the reluctant readers. As Jonathan Alexander argues, "If we are invested in working with students to develop a critical understanding of their places-and their possibilities-in the world, then we must consider issues of sexuality as central to the development of contemporary literacy."