Using Debate to Help Undergraduate Non-majors Connect with Silas Marner

Abstract

In order to catch students “where they are” academically and intellectually and lead them beyond that point, and to help students learn factual material and develop empathy, this chapter describes teaching Victorian texts from a combination of New Historical and Feminist perspectives. Wrestling with the unfamiliar culture and language in Victorian texts improves students’ reading and interpretive skills; including short, significant Victorian works in a course give non-majors, in particular, a chance to experience success as readers and interpreters. Silas Marner, as a story about how community, marriage, family, and fatherhood are defined against a background of ongoing cultural change, works well in this context. Through debate on these topics, students come to understand on a personal level the conflicts inherent in this text, and, as a result, they raise similar questions when they read other texts, and examine the issues thoughtfully when considering their own personal and professional lives.