This paper has focused on the three crucial issues of teaching literature among the undergraduate students of Saudi Arabia. First it has explored the selection criteria of the literary texts: which texts are the best at tapping the motivations of the students. This selection is important to create “a highly motivating, amusing and lively lesson” (Hismanoglu, 2005, p. 65). Secondly along with eliciting contexts from the students, the study has reviewed the appropriateness of the major academically established contexts (for example, historical, formal, reader response, postcolonial etc.). It has emphasized that choosing the appropriate context for analysis is vital to avoid Saudi students’ alienation with the “methods and styles which are unorthodox and incomprehensible, when compared to their upbringing” (Springsteen, 2014, p. 11). Since the class room activities are often found “different, sometimes challenging, and often marginalizing” (Shaw, 2009, p. 225), the article has identified some relevant and effective motivational strategies that work in consonance with the students
Keywords: Literary Contexts, Literature, Motivational Strategies, Teaching Literature, language skills
