Barren lives in patches

a literacy pratice in the classroom

Abstract

When exposed to the reading of a literary work, we are invited to think and express opinions, undertake experiences, broaden arguments, looks, horizons, summoned at last to reflect upon the concerns that the literary text can provoke from its richness of meaning. This article aims to report partial data from a teaching research, carried out with literature for young people from a contemporary context of immediacy and quick readings. The teaching research had as specific objectives: to identify the students profile, to develop pedagogical interventions for reading the book, and to analyze the results of these interventions. As a basic procedure, an observation and data collection stage was done, another stage of interventions with different languages, and ended with a discussion forum on the book. The research was carried out in a public school in a city in the state of São Paulo, and the results of this experience indicated that all students involved read the book and increased the purchase of other books from the library, a collective involvement in the reading project was also observed, and reports from students who related parts of the book to their own lives. The understanding of the book Vidas Secas, in “paches”, incorporated interviews, documentaries, photos, film, and mainly the constant dialogue that made it possible to reach students and their interests for specific reading and for literature in general.