Using Fiction to Teach Secondary Students about the Middle East

lt;p>Karl Ågerup is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature in the School of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences, at Orebro University, Sweden.

Part I Introduction.- The Urgency of Reading Cross-Cultural Fiction.- Competing Educational Policies.- Literary Education in Sweden.- Yasmina Khadra and The Sirens of Baghdad.- Methodological Considerations.- Part II Reading.- Using Fiction as a Source of Real-World Knowledge.- Imagination and Empathy.- Identifying With the Hero's Emotions.- Transportation to the Fictional World.- Trusting the Author and Connecting the Novel to Real Iraq.- Partial Response Patterns.- Statistical Analysis.- Individual Emotive Reactions.- The Teachers' View of the Intervention.- Using the Novel in Vocational Classes.- Addressing Diversity.- Part III Discussing.- Handling Political Emotions in the Classroom.- Creating Productive Student Relationships.- Students at Risk.- Collaborative Teaching Practices.- Fiction's Role in Intercultural Education.- Picking the Right Books.- Planning and Leading Book Talks.- Part IV Conclusion.- Summary.