Developing a taste for literary reading through the chronicle textual genre
Literary literacy. Reading. Chronicle. High School.
This study aims to develop strategies that foster the habit and appreciation of literary reading through the textual genre chronicle, based on the implementation of a didactic sequence that emphasizes creative reading and writing practices. These strategies were applied to first-year high school students (Class 1001) from the state public school system of Rio de Janeiro, in the municipality of Petrópolis. Considering that many high school students demonstrate difficulties in reading comprehension and limited interest in literature, this study seeks to promote a more engaging and meaningful interaction with literary texts.The specific objectives include encouraging reading, reflection, and critical thinking by promoting discussions on social, cultural, and emotional issues present in the selected chronicles; exploring the structural, linguistic, and stylistic features of the chronicle genre; and enhancing students’ argumentative skills through the production of short videos (videominutes) to highlight opinions and/or perceptions derived from the readings.The theoretical framework is grounded in authors such as Antunes (2003), Bakhtin (2019), Bender and Laurito (1993), Candido (2011), Cosson (2014), Costa (2016), Kleiman (2002a, 2002b), Koch and Elias (2008), Marcuschi (2002), Martins (1994), Rojo and Moura (2012), Rojo (2013), Travaglia (2007), Todorov (2009), Palomanes (2018, 2021), and Solé (2014), who discuss reading, conceptions and practices of reading, stylistic interpretation of language in texts, literary literacy, multiliteracies, narrative types and the chronicle genre, aspectual values of verbs in texts, the role of literature in the development of critical and autonomous readers, and metacognitive activity.The methodology follows the principles of action research (Thiollent, 2011; Denzin & Lincoln, 2006), enabling the active participation of both teachers and students in the investigative and intervention process. The study corpus includes reading activities and recognition of the chronicle genre based on texts by contemporary author Paula Pimenta, whose writing addresses youth daily life in a light, reflective, and accessible way, fostering student identification. It is believed that the proposed didactic sequence, structured into six stages and applied to the participating class—encompassing activities such as reading, comprehension, genre recognition, and creative writing, culminating in the production of videominutes—contributed to fostering a pleasure for reading, expanding cultural repertoire, and consolidating autonomous reading practices. These outcomes were evidenced in the videominute productions, which demonstrated the interpretative and critical skills developed throughout the stages.As a result, it is observed that reading purposes, combined with multiliteracies, meaningfully engaged with students’ contemporary culture, promoting a school environment in which literature fulfills its humanizing, critical, and transformative role.