Culture and the Deep Structure of the Literature Curriculum

Abstract

I have found it helpful to conceive of the literature curriculum by borrowing from linguistics a metaphor distinguishing the deep and surface structures of sentences. "John hit the ball" and "The ball was hit by John" have different surface structures: one is active, the other passive. Both, however, describe the same action and thus have similar deep structures. "John hit the ball" and "The ball hit John" have similar surface structures-nounverb-noun-but since quite opposite events are described, the deep structures differ. Transferring the metaphor, let's look at two apparently different literature curricula. One requires students to learn the names of all the literary devices in plays by Shakespeare and read all the appropriate background; the other has students learn the names of every shot and camera angle in films by Bergman and read widely about filmmaking. Since both curricula attach great importance to historical and critical background, their deep structures are similar. Now consider how two curricula might treat the same poem. One asks that students memorize the poem and recite facts about the author, the other that they write an essay on the poem's symbolism. While these curricula have similar surface structures, their deep structures are quite different. One is extrinsic, the other intrinsic.