‘VOICELESSNESS IS FOLLOWED BY DEAFNESS’ TO THE TEXT AND... IT IS OVERCOME IN SCHOOL CREATIVE ESSAYS (DWELLING ON MARIYA RYBNIKOVA’S ARTICLE OT MALEN’KOGO PISATELYA — K BOL’SHOMU CHITATELYU (“FROM THE LITTLE WRITER — TO THE BIG READER”))

Abstract

The author turns to an article by Mariya Rybnikova Ot malen’kogo pisatelya — k bol’shomu chitatelyu (“From the little writer — to the big reader”). Analysing the article and simultaneously turning to other works, the author considers Rybnikova’s attempt to integrate class work and extracurricular activities by concentrating on the development of pupils’ creative skills, amongst other things through teaching how to write a creative essay. Looking at pupils’ literary creative activities form the ‘teacher’s’ point of view, Rybnikova claims that if a little reader has never tried to write a text, then ‘the voicelessness is followed by deafness’ to the word, to the work of fiction, so writing your own text should precede reading. The methodologist proposes that the teaching of creative essays should be based on an understanding of the situation of the pupil, who is just beginning to enter the world of literature, and on his life observations, which he records in his text. Describing her own creative writing class, she demonstrates how this can be done in any class with various children. Teaching creativity, as shown by the methodologist in further articles, goes on follows a certain procedure: development of the ability to see and to observe, the choice of a precise word to record one’s thoughts and feelings, the enrichment of one’s vocabulary (which includes turning to a classical text while analyzing it), outlining of the material.

Keywords: creative essays, teaching procedure, formal and non-formal education, reading, Mariya Rybnikova, From a little writer — to a big reader