Critical Readings: African American Girls and Urban Fiction

Abstract

The goal of this writing is to introduce the reader to the urban fiction genre, explore why adolescent African American girls may be engaging with novels from the genre, and how teachers may be able to use texts from the genre to increase literacy skills. إن هدف هذه الورقة أن يعرّف القارئ على نوع من الأدب وهو الأدب الخيالي المدني وتستكشف سبب المراهقات الإفريقيات قد يهتممن بالروايات من هذا النوع وكيف قد يستطيع المعلمون أن يستخدموا النصوص من هذا النوع لتحسين مهارات معرفة القراءة والكتابة. 本文旨在向读者介绍城市小说这种体裁，探讨为何美国非洲裔青少年女孩会投入阅读这种体裁的小说，以及探讨教师如何可以利用这种体裁的文本来提高学生的读写能力。 Ce texte a pour but de présenter au lecteur la fiction urbaine en tant que genre, d'examiner pourquoi les adolescentes afro‐américaines peuvent s'investir dans les romans à partir de ce genre, et comment les professeurs peuvent utiliser les textes de ce genre pour améliorer les compétences en littératie. Цель статьи – познакомить читателей с таким жанром литературы, как городская беллетристика, проанализировать, почему девочки‐подростки афро‐американского происхождения увлекаются такими романами и как учителя могут использовать подобные тексты, чтобы совершенствовать навыки грамотности у этих подростков. La meta de este ensayo es la de hacer conocer al lector el género novelesco urbano, explorar por qué las jóvenes africano americanas podrían estarse identificando con las novelas de dicho género, y cómo los maestros podrían usar dichos textos para mejorar las destrezas de lectura.

Cultural Signification through Reader’s Theatre: An Analysis of African American Girls and Their Hair

“…This phenomenon is magnified by the dissonance between African American girls' specific personal reading selections as opposed to what is typically assigned according to board approved curricula. While this demographic produces less than stellar standardized test scores in reading achievement, research supports the notion that African American girls do read, albeit material deemed inappropriate and lacking in academic rigor by many of their teachers (Mahiri, 2004;Rampey, Dion, & Donahue, 2009;Hull & Schultz, 2001;Gibson, 2010).…”

The Relationship of Culturally Responsive Instruction and the Reading Comprehension and Attitude of Struggling Urban Adolescent Readers

“…Despite the poor performance as evidenced by standardized reading tests, some struggling urban adolescents are inclined to gravitate to, and become engaged in the reading of urban fiction, fiction that highlights cultures and ways of life that are reflective of various historically marginalized groups (Gibson, 2010). As students gravitate to urban fiction, they have been shown to develop strengths in their private or out-schoolliteracy skills (Faulkner, 2005;Morris, Hughes-Hassell, Agosto, & Cottman, 2006;Tatum, 2008).…”

“…The term 'urban fiction' was coined around the 1960s and 1970s and gained popularity through novelists like Donald Goines and Robert Beck (Gibson 2010;Hill, Perez, & Irby, 2008), who wrote about the realistic stories and experiences of urban living. The terminology then was relegated to perspectives of hip-hop literature, black pulp fiction, ghetto lit, gansta lit, rap, and street literature.…”

“…Many urban adolescents may connect to urban fiction through characterization and self-identification (Bean & Moni, 2003;Gibson 2010, Guerra, 2012.…”

“…The use of the Bluford series of novels with the experimental group as the culturally relevant text for this study may be deemed as one example of urban fiction that has the ability to motivate struggling adolescent readers to read independently; develop a love for reading; build on prior experiences and construct meaning; make connections; and replace negative reading attitudes with positive reading attitudes (Gibson, 2010). …”