Reading Literature, Narrating Death ~ The Exposure of Gifted Children''s Death Worlds

• Main Authors: Chen, Wei-Ren, 陳偉仁
• Other Authors: 陳昭儀
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/31050484298795035302

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 特殊教育研究所 === 90 === Reading Literature, Narrating Death ~ The Exposure of Gifted Children’s Death Worlds Chen, Wei-Ren Abstracts This is a study concerning gifted children’s death perception. Reading young-adult fiction (YA fiction) was the frame to explore how eight sixth-grade gifted children perceived death. When they interpreted the text from reality to imagination, the dialogue focused on the topics of ‘the inevitability of death’ and ‘the possibility of on-death’. Through interpreting YA fiction, writing worksheets, drawing, children’s death perception was analyzed and interpreted. What follows are some major findings about the study. 1. Context: gifted children’s death perception Gifted children showed three perception dimensions (feeling, analyzing, observing) to considerate social events, media text, and self-experiences. Furthermore, the eight gifted children’s death perception shared some common traits: questing the inevitability of death, gaining insight to analyze events, combining information to expand the sensibility of death, realizing fear and tension from death to disclose some aspects of their death perception. 2. Story: gifted children interpret YA fiction When children discussed ‘the possibility of no-death’, they presented a variety of ideas and viewpoints. However, their interpretation oscillated between ecological rules to individual wishes. By contrast, when children discussed ‘the inevitability of death’, the life experiences became the main contextual interpretation. Items of meaningful metaphors about death revealed their narrative wisdom, though. 3. Metaphor: Stories in the context What gifted children interpreted YA fiction was ‘the intention world’, such as stories full of metaphors. The stories about ‘the possibility of no-death’ were featured by conflicts of death, including three dimensions: the attachment to life vs. the approaching trial, the ecological rules vs. the right of life-and-death, and the state of no-death vs. the agreement of form and structure. They told the story of ‘the inevitability of death’ in the obscure atmosphere. When they guessed death to follow the life of being to death, their mind emerged the reflection of their life according to the text. The present research also analyzed in terms of case study three gifted children’s interpretation by the traits of over-excitability, spiritual sensitivity, and creative intuition. Implications for the practice include constructing the dialogue life-and-death curriculums based on real-life experiences and using realistic and fictitious literature to expand the considerations of death. Suggestions for future researches consist of investigating the belief structure, paying attention to the thinking styles and the presentations of death perception, and employing the multiple research methods where possible. Key words:gifted children, death perception, young-adult fiction, interpretation