Keyword: «short novel “the photo i’m not in”»

An important problem in learning literature at school today is the issue of studying a work of art, since it is necessary to take into account the originality of the kind and genre. In this regard, a close attention in educational process is paid to the formation of an idea of autobiographical works among schoolchildren. The article is devoted to the methodology of studying the short novel of V. P. Astafyev in the modern school in the context of the writer's autobiographical prose. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to solve a specific practical problem: to teach students to analyze information, find information in different sources, compare it, draw conclusions; insufficient studying of this topic in the theory and practice of conducting literature lessons in the 8th grade; insufficient knowledge (in the 8th grade) of such an aspect as “V.P. Astafyev’s autobiographism”. This author attracts the attention of a modern teacher with his autobiographical approach. Moreover, Russian schoolchildren do not know much about him, which adds to the relevance of this research. Thus, the purpose of the article is to give a brief historiographic overview of autobiographical prose; to investigate the methodological system devoted to the issue of studying V.P. Astafyev’s works in modern programs, textbooks and teaching materials; to offer a modern model for studying the short novel of V.P. Astafyev; to find ways of effective studying of the novelet. Such methods as questionnaires, ascertaining experiment results analysis, content analysis, the writer's autobiography use, and creative work were used in the course of the research. As a result of the conducted research, we reviewed V.P. Astafyev’s autobiographical prose on the example of the short novel “The photo I’m not in” at literature classes in the 8th grade. It is proposed to begin with a fragmentary acquaintance with the writer's autobiography, then analyze the work and the final stage will be the fulfillment of a creative task in fanfiction style, which will allow the students to learn the work better, taking into account the autobiographical aspect. The article may be interesting to language teachers.