Making
Use of Photographs to Enhance Cultural Understanding: An American Studies
Approach
Making use of photography can be an interesting way to
support the teaching of literature such as the novel. Photographs capture the reality
of an era and can be a means to study in detail the daily human life. In
comparison to films or videos, the photograph is more reliable because it is
not time consuming as it quickly sets students to focus on a chosen unedited
image sustaining the original literary text. Additionally, the photograph is
not burdened by the need to suit itself for the public’s commercial value.
Furthermore, as used in the mass media like newspapers and magazines, the
photograph offers the wealth of material and realistic illustrations as an
indispensable way of reinforcing and varying the written explanation. To
capture more of the representation of a particular culture’s era through a
novel, the American Studies approach engulfs the use of photography as an
essential media in the Novel Analysis course. As a case study, the photographs
that enhance the understanding of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath are discussed to show how photographs as images
can give a solid understanding of the American cultural identity in the Great
Depression era.
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Dukut, E. M. (2004). Making use photographs to enhance
cultural understanding: An American studies approach. In B. Y. Cahyono & U. Widiati (Eds.), The tapestry of English language teaching and
learning in
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