A Deep Dive into Oral American Literature: Historical Context and Cultural Significance

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Prewriting

The intended research will focus on American literature. This is one of the favorite subjects for the researcher and it would be necessary to conduct research about it. The target audience will be my classmates who may not have much interest about this topic. The intention will be to develop a strong argument, supported with facts, which will convince them that this is an important and interesting course that is worth taking. In assessment of rhetorical situation, the researcher specifically chose the oral literature. This genre is slowly disappearing in the modern society where everything is either in written form or in movies. This study will, therefore, help revive a genre that is slowly fading away, especially among the intended audience.

Children in kindergarten and lower primary schools are no longer subjected to oral literature as it used to happen in the past. It is expected that from this study, strategies will be developed that will help in promoting oral literature at schools. The overall claim is that oral literature, as one of the genres of literature, has been ignored in academic setting in this country despite its relevance in promoting creativity among the young learners. It is the responsibility of all the relevant stakeholders to act in order to change this negative trend. Evidence will be collected from both primary and secondary sources of data. The type of evidence needed should explain the emergence of oral literature in the society and how emerging technologies have affected this genre, especially among young learners.

Three-Column Log

Criteria	Evidence	Judgment
Oral literature is educative	According to Turin, Wheeler, and Wilkinson, oral literature is always based on specific areas of knowledge meant to educate the intended audience (46).	In the pre-writing era, oral literature was the only way of educating younger members of the society.
Oral literature is informative	This genre is rich in information about the past and present cultural activities. It makes the reader to appreciate why some practices are still valued in the society.	In the pre-writing era, information was passed from one generation to another through stories, songs, and wise sayings.
Oral literature is entertaining	Oral literature is very entertaining to the audience. Some of the stories told in this genre are specifically meant to create fun and laughter.	Genres such as songs and tongue twisters were specifically meant to entertain the audience (Courlander 28).
Oral literature promotes creativity	Through this genre, the audience is taken into the world of imagination. Unlike the movies where the audience is presented with a complete picture, oral literature demands for a strong sense of imagination among the audience as they try to create the scenes in their minds. This imagination promotes creativity.	Some forms of oral literature such as puns and parables were meant to make the audience think beyond the ordinary.
Oral literature promotes morality	Oral literature is one of the best ways of promoting morality among children as they grow up. Most of them always demonstrates how greed, envy, and many other unethical practices bring sufferings and pain in the end.	In most of the cases, oral literatures focused on discouraging undesirable practices in the society while promoting ethics.

Outline

The method of organization that will be used in this study will be analysis by criteria. The researcher will use different criteria to convince the audience that oral literature is worth giving proper emphasis among the modern scholars. The outline below will be used in the research.

Introduction

In this part, the researcher will introduce the topic and inform the audience about the aim of the research. This will be concluded by a strong thesis statement.

Review of Literatures

The section will involve collecting secondary sources of information to back the arguments of the research. The researcher will use books, journal articles, and other reliable online sources of information that have focused on this topic. This will help in providing a strong background to this study. Review of literature will also help in identifying research gaps that we can focus on as scholars in this field.

Methodology and Analysis

As stated, the chosen method is analysis by criteria. The table above shows five criteria upon which the review will be based. The researcher will conduct an analysis to prove that oral literature is educative, informative, entertaining, promotes creativity and morality in the society. This will involve interviewing a sample of respondents who have interacted with this genre extensively. The primary research will help in confirming the findings from the review of the literatures.

Conclusion

Conclusion will be drawn based on the findings from the review of literatures and analysis of primary data.

Works Cited

Courlander, Harold. A Treasury of Afro-American Folklore: The Oral Literature, Traditions, Recollections, Legends, Tales, Songs, Religious Beliefs, Customs, Sayings, and Humor of Peoples of African Descent in the Americas. New York: Marlowe, 2006. Print.

Turin, Mark, Claire Wheeler, and Eleanor Wilkinson. Oral Literature in the Digital Age: Archiving Orality and Connecting with Communities. New York: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.

These two sources will be very important in this study. They will form part of the literature review. The researcher will use them to gather information about the trends witnessed in the use of oral literature in institutions of learning. These sources were considered very reliable because of the extensive research done by the authors. The first book in the reference list is particularly important because the authors took over two years to collect both primary and secondary data before writing the book.