Inviting Other Theoretical Perspectives

Appleman, D., & Graves, M. (2012). Reading better, reading smarter: Designing literature lessons for adolescents. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

-Milner, J., & Milner, L. (1999). Bridging English (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.
-Appleman, D. (2000). Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents, (pp.xv-24, 154-158). NY: Teachers College Press.

Say:Appleman Article: "The students haven't been inmpressed with the hand-me-down theory articles that Jessie pulled from her college notebooks" (xv). Well this is an important little note. As neat an interesting that I may think my collegiate work is to other--it probably isn't, especially to high-schoolers. This is yet another reminder why it's important to craft fun and engaging lessons from very textbook material. Even though the students in the article have all been exposed to these ideas before, they did not have the theory labels. It's important that the students don't see my teaching as some sort of artificial "teacher-game", that it appears genuine. 

      "Many people think literary theory is arcane an esoteric...a literary parlour game for the MLA types." This bugs me. What could all these theories have to do with the modern adolescent they ask. These theories give students a way to read the world. I swear, if people aren't complaining about one thing, it's the other. First we're not teaching enough classics, then they're not applicable, so when teachers try to make them applicable--to give students critical thinking skills to analyze not only literary works but life's situations as well, it's not relevant.

 “Students can see what factors have shaped their own world view and what assumptions they make as they evaluate the perspectives of others, whether a character from a text, an author or literary movement, and MTV video, a shampoo commercial, peer pressure, or the school system in which they find themselves” (3).

      I absolutely love how the article points out that this also helps us bond and form social connections with the people around us, both in school and in larger society. Literary theory reminds us that we "do not live in isolation" (3).

“Broadly stated, teachers often feel torn between either presenting literary texts as cultural artifacts…or relying heavily on students’ personal experience through a RR approach” (4). I completely understand this, as a student it sometimes feels like im bombarded with all of these great theories that I need to immdiately take to the classroom, but i'm often left asking, "Which one at what time?"

“Our profession is challenging its assumptions about literacy heritage…the demands that we challenge the notion of a single truth about the literature we read together”(5). The later quote on page seven about how the vast majority of secondary teachers had little to no experience with theories is disheartening, but makes me excited because this very say/do is writing about theories, what they mean, and how to teach them...so i'm not completely in the dark.  It makes me think how important it is tho always know not just what i'm teaching, but why i'm teaching it.

-->The whole point is not to turn them into theory zombies, but to help them get to a place where they're comfortable as learners to construct their own readings of the world around them.

     "No book is genuinely free from political bias" (60). The Marxist lens helps us to see the political context of the story. Aside from extensively deep criticisms, these lens help with the idea found on the rhetorical triangle (audience, author, context).

"The consequence deepens the common student error of attempting to arrive at an authoritative, usually reductive, interpretation of a text. Students do not develop the useful tools that are available for approaching any text" (Milner 161).

      Starting students with some sort of metacognition activities before introducing them straight into theory may help scaffold them. Also, reminding students that we do not live or operate in isolation is important as well. You may have them work through some theory work in groups or small pods to help explain this. You could even have them apply certain critical lens to their partner work in addition to texts--to help show that these skills are useful outside of the classroom as well.

      Thinking with a teacher lens, Milner makes some good practical 'no duh' advice, "a clear understanding of the field will ground you more confident in it and will protect you from being prey to literary assumptions and judgments that you cannot locate or name," also known as know your content (163). To be honest, this was said in relation to how to analyze theory, but I think  it applies in more than one area. Most of the Milner reviews the details of the specific schools of criticisms and offers some intriguing questions to give students when introducing it.

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" -Mark Twain.

      Reading Better starts off the reading by saying a common misconception about teaching literary theory is that it should be taught to "advanced students in the upper grades" (76). Appleman argues these ideas can be taught as early as grade 6. She even suggests doing this with pop-culture like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars in order to better reach your students and/or help them understand how to apply the lens. The text then refreshes the readers memory on everything within the Literary Perspectives toolkit. These tackle all the major idea from Marxism, etc. but the phrasing is less intimidating and may be more useful in certain classes (no pun intended). 

      

Do:
       As cheesy as it sounds, I love the physical glasses activity. Having students put on glasses and coaxing them to understand that they force you to see things that are already present, but in a different light. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find some tinted flasses.
      For teaching Marxist theory, you could do a lesson on migrant workers from any of Steinbecks popular books, the plight of african americans in Black Boy  or Native Son, or even describing the landscape form Eliot's The Wasteland. 
      Reviewing Platos and Aristotle's early moreal and philosophical ideas in Milner got me thinking that they has to be a fun way to teach these very old lines of thought. Perhaps dressing as Aristotle for a lesson is a little thing that would make it fun for the kids.
      The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is a great way to start off a lesson of theory. This helps students see instead of just trying to grasp new words and concepts on a page. Appleman even lists a great little mini lesson on pg 76. She actually lists another great visual with clowns invading the classroom.
      The Gary Soto "Oranges" activity is another great way to scaffolded literary lenses (Appleman 80)
Using Picture Book for Feminism LP