‘사고하고 느끼고 행하는’ 심미적 감성 교육과 영문학 읽기의 가능성: 단막극 『트렌턴과 캠던으로의 즐거운 여행』의 사례

Aesthetic Sensibility Education and Reading English Literature to Think, Feel, and Act: A Case of One-Act Play, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden

Among the high school English courses according to the Ministry of Education’s revised 2022 curriculum, this study pays special attention to ‘Reading English Literature’. This subject has its identity as a reading content that connects basic English language skills to an understanding of society, culture, and life through appreciation of various genres of English literature, and further expands them to the value orientation of ‘aesthetic sensibility’ that ultimately maintains community empathy. In this regard, the need for an education plan centered on narrative competency for fostering aesthetic sensibility and the discovery of English literary texts as optimal narrative content for this purpose are more urgent than ever. This study focuses on the English drama genre as a medium for English reading education. In particular, keeping in mind the goal of English education centered on literacy competency for fostering aesthetic sensibility, it seeks to explore the potential of English dramas as ‘good’ literary texts that fit this purpose. To this end, American writer Thornton Wilder’s one-act play The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden (1931) will be used as a specific case. Accordingly, the appropriateness of the work as English reading content for cultivating aesthetic sensibility will be examined through the literary quality of the text itself, the ease of use in the classroom, and examples of application to classes.