Teaching Through the Moment: Affect and Literacy in Uncertain Times

Teaching literacy through an affective lens pushes for teaching practices such as deep reading—asking questions such as: “What feelings and affect does the story stir?” or “How are affective states tied to histories,events, and moments?” Deep reading allows young people to focus on particular scenes in film, literature, and poetry, breaking away from what literally is written on the page or seen on the screen to the experiencing of the text.