変化，対比に着目した文学的文章の読み解き方

中学校2年生の定番教材である「夏の葬列」(山川方夫)「走れメロス」(太宰治) を取り上げて、何に着目することにより読み解けるのかを検証した。生徒にとって両者とも初読の時はストーリー展開や大げさな表現に意識がいってしまい、単純な話と受け取られがちである。しかし、登場人物の心情や考えの変化、情景描写の変化、人物形容の変化、登場人物間の対比、心象風景などに着目したところ、人間の変容を表現した話であることが理解できた。文学的文章を深く読み解く際に、変化・対比に着目することは有効であった。さらに、初読と学習後の振り返りをさせるワークシートも、生徒に読み解き方を認識させていくのに有効な方法である。

Run, Melos! by Osamu Dazai and Funeral Procession of Summer by Masao Yamakawa, which are among the standard teaching materials for second-grade junior high school students, were used to examine what readers should focus on for comprehension. Students were inclined to regard both stories as being simple because they tended to pay attention only to the story development and exaggerated expressions in their first reading. However, they were able to understand the stories as showing character transformation by focusing on the changes in the characters’ feelings and their ways of thinking, and on the contrasts in the description of a scene, the characters, and their mental images. Focusing on changes and contrasts was effective when the students were trying to read stories deeply. Furthermore, a worksheet that makes students reflect on their comprehension after the first reading and then after the instruction was an effective method to enable students to understand how to appreciate the texts.