Prefatory Statement
The sun's light illuminates our world, giving us the reality
we see and experience every day. Yet that same light, refracted
through a prism or raindrop, projects a different realization
into the air. In the rainbow of color we behold the very essence
of light. Literature illuminates our consciousness in much the
same way, and literary criticism can be the prism which exposes
its essence. Students with the tools to uncover and refract the
white light of any text are those who will discover its brilliant
colors.
During the course of this unit, students will apply four types
of literary theory to Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of
Being Earnest, John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men,
as well as other short poetry and prose pieces. The students will
learn the basic tenets of literary theory as well as the specific
criteria of Marxist, Feminist, Reader-Response and New Historical
criticism through handouts, class discussion, small group work,
and quizzes. The students will apply these criteria to the selected
works through large and small group work, short papers, and group
presentations. The major projects of the unit include a test in
which students must apply the criteria they have learned to a
before unseen piece of pop culture (most likely a popular situational
comedy). In addition, each student will complete a WebQuest in
which she or he researches the authorial and historical background
of a short poem and provide an interpretation using the learned
criteria. The objectives this WebQuest achieves are delineated
in the Minnesota Graduation Standards under Literature and Arts
Analysis and Interpretation of Literature. These objectives state
that the student will describe the structure, intent and background
of a piece of literature; apply specific critical criteria to
interpret and analyze the selected literature; and provide an
interpretation using the vocabulary of literature.
Students know by high school that when reading literature they
should probe "beneath the surface" to discover and create
meaning, but they are rarely given the tools to do so. Knowing
that there is no definitive interpretation of a text devalues
or overvalues student interpretation; that is, students may give
or hear an interpretation to a text and now know how to then evaluate
that interpretation. Knowing that there are specific critical
criteria that can be applied to literature provides a framework
for students to evaluate other interpretations as well as their
own, and this knowledge also provides a stepping stone towards
creating that interpretation. In addition, literary theory provides
a new awareness of the culture and tradition in which literature
is couched.
Finally, the ultimate goal of this unit is that students apply
literary theory to the world around them. From the paperback novels
they read for pleasure, to the hour-long dramatic television show
they watch weekly, to the song they heard on the way to school,
the prism of theory can illuminate any text.
Class Specification
The four theory literary theories I have chosen to focus on in
this unit make it appropriate for juniors and seniors in high
school. A diverse classroom population is desirable; if all the
students who partake in this unit have had wealthy socio-economic
upbringings, the discussion of Marxist theory could possibly be
met with confusion or recalcitrance. A class of all males could
have a similar reaction to Feminist theory. However, it is important
to note that a negative reaction from a certain portion of the
class should be expected and even desired; in the cases of Marxism
and Feminism especially, contrary opinions and open, respectful
classroom discussions will lead to the greatest amount of learning.
Significant Assumptions
I believe students learn the best when they are required to apply
their knowledge. Theory is useless unless students know how to
use it to provide and critique interpretations of literature as
well as other texts. As for the learning of theory itself, I have
chose two theories that are based on somewhat controversial historical
movements (Marxist and Feminist), one theory that relies heavily
on personal input (Reader-Response) and one that relies primarily
on research (New Historic). I have included these four theories
on the assumption that students will learn the best when discovering
and learning theories that draw on a variety of skills and interests.
In order to complete this unit successfully, I am assuming that
students will be familiar with classroom discussion and debates
on literature, and that they will have already been taught that
pieces of literature do not have one definitive or "right"
meaning. I will also assume that students will have been acquainted
with various theories, although they may have not been named as
such. Therefore, I expect students to have little knowledge about
the specific beliefs and applications of literary theory.
Desired Outcomes
1. Students will have learned basic assumptions of literary theory,
and its usefulness in literature discussions.
2. Students will have learned the basic critical criteria and
philosophical underpinnings of Marxist, Feminist, New Historic
and Reader-Response literary theories.
3. Students will have learned to describe the elements and structure
of literature.
4. Students will have learned to research and describe the historical,
cultural and social background elements of literature.
5. Students will have learned to apply the four theories mentioned
above to provide an interpretation of various pieces of literature,
including but not limited to Of Mice and Men and The Importance
of Being Earnest.
6. Students will have learned to apply the same theories to a
popular television show.
7. Students will have learned about the known life of John Steinbeck
and Oscar Wilde.
8. Students will have learned about the historical background
of early Twentieth Century California as well as Victorian England.
9. Students will have learned to apply a theory to a literary
text in written form.
Possible Whole-Class Activities
Teacher-led theory application
Discussion of large and small texts
Classroom debate on a theoretical viewpoint
Reading assigned texts
Student-led applications of theory to pop culture
Possible Small-Group Activities
Placemat activity that asks students to rotate a large sheet
of paper with a character name in the middle and fill in quadrants
with questions specific to various components of theory
Partners in Pop Culture (explained below)
Theory Relay
Possible Individual Activities
Reader-Response Worksheet
Concept Map of the components of any theory
Write a review from a staunch theoretical viewpoint
Interview adults about the effects of major historical events
Researching the life and times of Steinbeck and Wilde
Ongoing Activities
Journal
Paper that applies one theory to one main text. Although the actual
launch of this paper is in Week 5, students should know they are
looking for a theory and text that they enjoy working with, and
taking notes
Student Resources
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)
The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde)
"Chimney Sweeper" (Blake)
"Richard Cory" (E. A. Robinson)
"Richard Cory" (Simon and Garfunkel)
"The Unknown Citizen" (Auden)
"Story of an Hour" (Chopin)
"Woman Hollering Creek" (Cisneros)
Handouts on the four theories
Unit Launch Lesson Plan
Rationale
Although students have undoubtedly encountered various literary theories in other classes, it is likely that these theories have not been named, and that their specific tenets have not been discussed. The concept of applying a specific set of criteria to interpret literature is probably foreign to students, so the prism metaphor should help them form concrete meaning through an abstract avenue. In addition, the prism metaphor also teaches the valuable lesson that things are not always as they seem; that even the light around us every day has more to it than just its surface whiteness. The lesson that not all meaning exists upon first glance of something will be valuable to the students as worldly people as well as learners.
Objectives
1. Students will learn that what occurs in a situation on the
surface does not always provide an accurate portrayal of the meaning
of the situation.
2. Students will learn the analogy that literary criticism is
to literature as a prism is to white light.
3. Students will learn that literary criticism provides a variety
of ways to discover the "rainbow" of meanings in literature,
some of which they will be learning in the upcoming weeks.
4. Students will learn the basic assumptions of literary theory,
and its usefulness in literature discussions.
5. Students will learn a contextual definition of the word "text,"
and understand some similarities and differences of various media
texts.
Methods
Class begins with a demonstration. All the lights in the room should be off and, if necessary, all shades drawn but one. (If the classroom has no windows, this demonstration should take place outside, without the benefit of "mood lighting.") I will then use a prism to refract the sun's natural light into a rainbow, allowing the students to simply look and experience the colors. 3-4 minutes
The prism is being used as a tool to uncover the true attributes of white light; what it is composed of. Although we can look as hard as we want with our human eyes, without a refractory tool white light appears simply as white light--or blue in the sky, etc. Yet we know there is something else to it, and the prism proves that. I will tell a story of an experience I had where what appeared to be happening on the surface did not befit the true meaning of the experience. 5-7 minutes
Students will journal about a similar experience; or, if they have not had a similar experience, they will write about someone they know who they widely assumed to have a certain personality, but discovered they were wrong after getting to know the person. 5 minutes
Students share writing, and discussion focuses on the process
by which real meaning was discovered underneath surface meaning.
6-8 minutes
Brief lecture on the basic beliefs of literary theory. Lecture
espouses that there is not one "right" interpretation
of any piece of literature but merely different ways of coming
to different interpretations. Discussions of specific theories
should be avoided, except in general terms (i.e. some literary
theories come from social movements, some rely on the reader,
some rely on research, etc.). The analogy of the prism should
be alluded to throughout, as the prism is the guiding metaphor
the students should refer to in their discovery of theory. The
lecture should be flexible and provide plenty of room for confusion
and questions. 10-15 minutes
General classroom discussion about text interpretation. Students
will need to know that a "text" refers to the written
portion of a piece of art, be it novel, poem, play, movie, or
television show. This discussion will ask the students to talk
about interpretations or critiques they have of a current popular
move, television show, etc. The teacher's main purpose for this
section is to help students become aware of the language they
will be using during this unit: text, critique, interpretation,
etc. 8-12 minutes
Wrap up and introduce the unit. Let students know, briefly, what
they will be doing for the next few weeks. Tell them to search
for a short story or poem they want to analyze in depth. 5-7 minutes
Assessment
Students will come in with one question they have about critical approaches to literature the next day. The questions will show how engaged they were with the lesson and what aspects need to be introduced more thoroughly.
Weekly Organization of the Unit
Week 1
After the initial launch of the unit, students will begin Of
Mice and Men and begin their exploration of New Historicism
as well. Students will receive a handout with the basic assumptions
of this theory summarized. One important term that students may
need to work with is "discourse" as it relates to New
Historicism. In addition, the teacher can lead a discussion of
a poem or short prose piece accompanied with illuminating historical
background. William Blake's "Chimney Sweeper" from Songs
of Innocence would work well. A "research day" can take
place in the computer lab early in the week (day two or three)
where students are asked to answer questions on the historical
context of Of Mice and Men and The Importance of Being Earnest,
as well as the lives of the two authors. The beginning of the
novel will be read in class. During the discussion of New Historicism,
students will be asked to write in their journal on what, of their
time, would be used fifty years from now as historical background
to critique literature. Students will also be asked to question
an adult as to what historical events shaped their view or understanding
of the world.
Week 1 In-class Discussion Questions
[On Blake and "Chimney Sweeper"] What would it have
been like to be put to such dangerous work at a young age? How
would your life be different?
Would Blake support today's child labor laws? Do you support them,
here and elsewhere in the world?
Is there always a reward for great toil and pain?
If the children will be rewarded with Heaven at the end of their
lives, should they not care about the pain of their life? Is that
Blake's message?
[On New Historicism and what shapes our world views] What historical
events have shaped the time we're living in? What will be remembered
ten years from now? Fifty? One Hundred?
What prominent political messages do you see in popular media?
How is the world different today from the world that the adults
you spoke with inhabited?
What values do you share with society as a whole? What values
don't you share?
New Historicism is one specific way of looking at a text that
you are probably familiar with. Old Historicism looks at history
as merely a background that helps us understand a text; New Historicism
looks at the relationship between history and the text. New Historicists
believe that a text can not be evaluated separately from its cultural
context. For a New Historicist, history is a whole bunch of discourses
that define any one culture at any one time. These discourses
are made up of literature, media, social actions, art, and other
broad networks of interaction. A text we study fits into one of
these discourses, and acts upon the discourses as they act upon
it.
How a New Historicist might interpret a text
Any artifact that existed in the same time period as a text
would be relevant to a New Historicist, including records of scientific
discoveries, works of art, literary criticism, etc.
A New Historicist would research and find these artifacts, and
show how it could illuminate the interpretation of a text.
They may also pay specific attention to the known life of the
author of a text, discovering what historical discourses the author
would have been aware of and/or interested in.
* This handout is largely adapted from Charles E. Bressler's Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, 2nd Ed.
Week 2
Students should finish Of Mice and Men within the first couple
of days of the week. The discovery of Marxist theory will commence
with a handout summarizing its basic components and assumptions.
This handout should include a brief biography of Marx, and a summary
of what he said about Capitalism, Socialism, and the clash of
the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. An excellent way to express
some of the basic concepts of Marxism is through a card game in
which all students receive once card (deuce through king) and,
without looking at their own card but able to see the other students',
have to pair with the person in the room who has the highest card.
Of course, kings go quickly and are constantly being asked to
pair with their peers, whereas the lower numbers have to "settle"
for other low numbers. This is a widely used classroom game--not
necessarily intended for a lesson on Marxism--which will help
students see how class inequality perpetuates itself.
The teacher can lead a discussion of the Auden poem "The
Unknown Citizen" and/or E. A. Robinson's "Richard Cory,"
both excellent examples of poems utilizing class issues to make
a point. To supplement Robinson's poem, the teacher can use the
Simon and Garfunkel tune of the same name. Students should also,
at this time be formulating opinions as to how the criteria of
the Marxist and New Historic theories can be applied to the novel
they have read through both journaling and discussion. The placemat
activity, as described above, would lend itself well to a Marxist
interpretation of various characters in the novel. At the end
of the week students should have a short, graded quiz on some
basic assumptions and guidelines of New Historicism and Marxism.
Week 2 In-class Discussion Questions
[On "The Unknown Citizen"] What do the "statistics"
of your life tell about you? What don't they tell?
Would the poem's speaker find you a useful citizen? Why or why
not?
How might the speaker of this poem have viewed Karl Marx?
In light of Marxist theory, who are the proletariat and who are
the bourgeoisie in this poem? How do they interact?
As a Marxist critic, determine what Auden might be trying to tell
us about how we live our lives with this poem.
[On both "Richard Cory" pieces] Are we meant to have
sympathy with the title character at the end of the poem/song?
Do you have sympathy?
Do you curse what you have in light of what you could have, as
the speaker of the poem "cursed the bread" in light
of not having meat? What might a Marxist say about this?
What do you have that others in the world do not? Don't think
of just material possessions.
How does the ending of the poem influence your understanding of
Marxist theory?
How does your understanding of the two time periods these pieces
came from effect your interpretation of them?
[On Marxist theory, New Historicism and Of Mice and Men] How
do you think society views migrant workers in the novel?
How would you react to the real conditions of migrant workers
at this time in California?
If you were to fictionalize a time in your life (like a job you
have had) as Steinbeck did, would you be able to distance yourself,
or would your opinion of that time shape your writing? How might
Steinbeck's opinion have shaped his novel?
How do you think each character's class informs how he or she
acts?
What job experiences have you had that might help you relate to
the novel?
If you were a Marxist working on the ranch, what might you have
done to improve conditions?
Having a place of one's own is a recurring subject of the novel.
What material things do you want in your future? What might you
do to obtain those possessions?
Just who was Karl Marx?
Marxism, of course, did not begin as a literary theory. Karl
Marx (1818-83) was a German philosopher and social critic who
believed that economic production (the base) controls all
human institutions (the superstructure). A simpler way
of saying this is that workers control means of production, and
therefore control all forms of government, education, art, and
religion. Society is like a pyramid, with the majority of workers
and their products forming a large base that none of the institutions
on top can live without.
Marx also thought that the bourgeoisie, which is a fancy
term for capitalists, dominated the proletariat, which is made
up of those workers we mentioned above (also known as wage slaves).
The bourgeoisie forces their ideas, or ideology, on the proletariat.
Therefore the bourgeoisie, although there are fewer of them, decide
what is valued and what happens in society. Marx suggested the
proletariat had the real power and should revolt with this power
to equally distribute the world's wealth by placing property ownership
in the hands of the government.
How a Marxist might interpret a text
A Marxist literary theorist might . . .
" look at the socio-economic status of the author and
show how it relates to the text.
" look at individual characters and how they are characterized;
if there are working class characters, do they have a positive
or negative effect on the reader? How about upper-class characters?
" see if the main character expresses disillusionment with
society's values, or if s/he unconsciously or consciously agrees
those values.
* Adapted from Bressler's Literary Criticism.
In your own words, what is a discourse?
How does a New Historicist use discourses and historical artifacts to interpret a text?
According to Karl Marx, how are the base and superstructure interrelated within society?
What role might the author's class play in a Marxist interpretation of the novel Of Mice and Men?
Week 3
Students begin reading The Importance of Being Earnest
and commence exploration of Reader-Response theory, unless the
quiz they took at the end of the previous week evinces a lack
of understanding of the previously introduced theories, in which
case the beginning of the week should be spent in review. Students
will be given a handout covering some basic assumptions about
this theory. A brief review of Wilde's life and some Victorian
history will allow the students to experiment with some of the
New Historic criteria they have learned. Because of the somewhat
elusive nature of Wilde (especially after Steinbeck) much reading
should be done in class, along with scenes acted out by the students.
Deborah Appleman's Critical Encounters in High School English
provides an excellent framework for students to work with Reader-Response.
Activity 7 in the Appendix of her book is a worksheet students
can fill out and talk about that gets them to see meaning as the
interaction of text and reader. This exercise could be done with
Of Mice and Men or The Importance of Being Earnest, or short piece
such as Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour." The application
of the theory will be modeled briefly by the teacher, but all
discussion should arise from the meaning the students provide.
Before we begin our discussion of this theory, I must begin
with a warning: Reader-Response Theory does focus the interpretation
of a text on the reader, but it does not boil down to "whatever
I think is right."
This theory assumes that a text does not exist without a reader,
and the reading is actually a transaction between a text and the
reader. By transaction, reader-response critics suggest that meaning
is created by both the text and the reader; that a reader's personalities,
experiences and beliefs can not be separated from what the reader
is thinking while reading. The amount of emphasis put on the reader
versus the text varies with reader-response critics, but listed
below are some basic strategies these critics may use to discover
meaning within a text.
How a reader-response critic might interpret a text
A reader-response critic might look at the audience of the
text. Who is actually reading the text, and who did the author
intend to read the text?
A reader-response critic might take into account when the text
was written as well as the historical setting in which the reader
has liven in.
For these critics, meaning is subjective rather than objective.
Interpretations are dependent on each individual reader's prior
experience.
As you can see, a reader-response critic puts the reader at the center of the interpretive process, but the text has a great deal of importance, as well.
* Adapted from Bressler's Literary Criticism.
Week 4
If they haven't already, students will finish The Importance of
Being Earnest early in the week. Feminist theory will be introduced
with a handout and as with the other three theories, the teacher
will lead an inquiry. Feminist theory can be discussed using Sandra
Cisneros' "Woman Hollering Creek," which is a short
story that can be assigned for homework. Later in the week the
unit paper will also be assigned; this is the first formal chance
for the students to apply their knowledge of critical theory to
one of the two main texts used in the unit. At the end of the
week students will also take a quiz regarding their knowledge
of Reader-Response and Feminist theory.
Week 4 In-class Discussion Questions
[On Feminist approaches to "Woman Hollering Creek"]
How do you see the women in this story as typifying female roles
from our discussion of Feminist theory?
In what ways can women "holler" or cry out? In what
ways have the women in the class cried out, or has anyone seen
a woman cry out?
How do the men in the ice house fit in with our discussion of
the patriarchy, and in what ways are they typical men that we
have all seen?
What relation do you have to the recurring themes of passion in
the story?
How do you interpret Cleofilas' laughter at the end, with regard
to Feminist theory?
Is the story's depiction of women consistent with the depiction
of women in popular media today?
Is the story's depiction of women consistent with your own view
of women, especially regarding roles in society and relationships?
Feminism, like Marxism, did not originate as a way to look
at literature. It is a movement with its roots in the twentieth
century that has attempted to get rid of the institutionalized
discrimination women have endured in most societies for a long
time, and place men and women on an equal footing. Feminists assert
that male society (or the patriarchy) has oppressed women throughout
history both consciously and unconsciously, and has devalued them
by not giving them a voice in art, politics, economic issues,
and other social issues.
Feminists generally believe that masculinity and femininity are
societal creations; that is, we are male or female because we
are born that way, but we are masculine or feminine because of
the values society has. Little boys and little girls are taught
to act differently because whoever raises us was raised to have
similar expectations: boys are aggressive, dominant, and interested
in things like trucks and sports; and girls are meek, submissive,
and interested in things like sewing and dolls. Art and media
show these values as well.
What might a feminist critic do?
When looking at a text, a feminist might . . .
look at whether female characters fit into stereotypical roles,
such as goddess, sex symbol, mother, housewife, etc.
examine the gender of the author as a determining factor in how
the text is created
determine whether or not the patriarchy is acknowledged within
the text
examine the depth in characterization of male and female characters
and ask who has power in the story.
* Adapted from Bressler's Literary Criticism
In your own words, describe what "transaction" means to Reader-Response critics.
According to Reader-Response critics, how can a text different to each reader and to the same reader at during different readings?
Briefly describe the roots of Feminism.
What are some stereotypical female roles in literature? How might a Feminist critic respond to characters in these roles in a text?
Week 5
This week the students work on their papers. A Theory Relay activity, like the one described in the appendix of Deborah Appleman's Critical Encounters in High School English, is a great way to begin the week and get students brainstorming about possible paper topics. The students will also have conferences with the teacher during this week, and spend days with peers improving one another's papers. Students will have time to write in class with the teacher present; the papers will need to go through at least two drafts and be due at the beginning of the next week.
Paper Assignment Lesson Plan
Rationale
The students have read Of Mice and Men and The Importance of Being Earnest, they have applied theory to short pieces in class, and they have learned the tenets of four critical theories. Now they must synthesize. Although students by this time should know how to write papers, the application of theory will be a leap. Therefore, a careful explication of the assignment, allowing for various questions, and some teacher modeling, will get them started on the right foot. In addition, the Theory Relay will give them extra practice applying the theories to the two main works we have studied.
Objectives
1. Students will understand the requirements of the paper they
will write.
2. Students will understand the variety of possible topics for
this paper.
3. Students will understand how to apply the theoretical criteria
they have learned to the two main texts in small groups.
4. Students will understand how to apply these criteria as individuals,
in the form of the paper.
Methods
Set Induction. I will begin by telling the story of my first day in Little League, when all the skills I had learned through drills and simulations lead to moderate success on the field. Now, I will tell the students, it is time for them to put the tools they have learned to good use, in the form of a paper. 5-6 minutes
I will explain that the requirements of the paper are:
a rough draft which has been reviewed by two peers,
at least two conference with me (once to get their topic approved,
once a bit later to tackle writing problems), and
an introduction and a conclusion to the paper.
The other graded criteria will be in a rubric I hand out to the
students. 5-8 minutes
I will explain that they can choose any theory they have learned so far and apply it to any relevant parts of concepts or characters in the two main texts we have read. I will show, on some overheads, a couple of possible introductions to a paper. 3-6 minutes
Theory Relay Activity. In this, the students form groups of three to four and travel around the room to the four stations for seven minutes apiece. Each group receives a worksheet with questions for each station (the stations contain research materials, prompting questions, highlighted passages, etc.) Each station will be experienced twice; once for each text. At the stations, each group will apply some components of the theories they have learned to a small section of the texts, or certain characters. The goal is for the students to think about possible individual paper topics. The groups will not finish the relay during the class period, and will continue the next day. 30-40 minutes
Assessment
The assessment for this paper will be done with a rubric.
Week 6
Students begin the week by viewing The Importance of Being
Earnest for the first two days. They will fill out a worksheet
that challenges them to find differences between the movie and
the play. Discussion on the film will be about why the director
chose to make the changes that were made, and we will discuss
whether any of our interpretations or understanding of the play
was altered when it was placed on film; for example, how do Cecily's
daydreams (which were not in the play) effect a Feminist reading.
In the middle of the week, students are invited to bring in a
song, clip of a TV show, movie, etc., of which our unit has effected
their interpretation. Along with a journal reflection, these can
be shared in class to get the reaction of the other students.
The students will be told they have a "surprise" test
at the end of the week, and the only way to study for it is to
review the theories they have already learned. The test will be
a half-hour situation comedy, which the students will view in
class (about twenty-two minutes after cutting out commercials)
that they have to respond to with theoretical criteria. This can
be done in class, with just a brief description of a character,
a setting, or a plot element, and then how one theory could affect
their interpretation of that element.
Sharing a Text Lesson Plan
Rationale
As I stated in the prefatory statement to this unit, no student should learn about theory without having practice applying it to the pieces of popular culture they experience every day (certainly more often that literature) including songs, television, movies, magazine advertisements, etc. This lesson provides practice for the test they will be taking later in the week; the culmination of this week will see the students versed in applying theory to any text they come across.
Objectives
1. Students will have learned how to read pop culture as a
text.
2. Students will have learned how theory may be applied to a piece
of pop culture.
Methods
The class has already been instructed to bring in a favorite piece of popular culture: a song, magazine advertisement, or video clipping of no more than five minutes in length. In the case of a song or TV clipping, students will have also transcribed the lyrics or dialogue. Students who forgot will be assigned a piece from my file; I will have copies of song lyrics and a few magazine advertisements. I will begin class by showing a five minute clip of the Tom & Jerry cartoon. I will then pose my theory that suggests a failed Marxist state, with the cat and mouse's struggle disallowing them to rise above their bourgeois owner. I will invite other interpretations using other theories as well. 10-13 minutes
Students will interpret, evaluate, criticize and uncover in their journals for five minutes or longer. 5-6 minutes
Each student will share their pop culture and journal entry with a partner. The partner gives a different interpretation, using the same or a different theory. This does not have to be written down. 8-10 minutes
Pairs who want to share one or both of their pieces may, but it is not a requirement. At this time, a video clip may be shown or song played (for the class to get the full effect). If there are still groups who want to go but do not have time, they will have the chance to go the following week (after the test). 20-30 minutes
Assessment
The true assessment of this assignment will come in assessing the students' tests. The students test must focus on a character, piece of setting, or plot element from a popular television comedy, and interpret that element using one of the four theories they have studied. I will look for a full explication of what they are focusing on, and a theoretical application that uses the criteria we have discussion (including the language). For example, in an episode of Friends, a student may focus on Rachel. They would describe (perhaps) the way she dresses, how she acts with men, etc. Following would be a brief discussion of her use of sex to succeed in a patriarchal society, and why the producers of the show might be suggesting that men and women are obviously different, and women need to make the best use of their gender to succeed.
Week 7
Whatever pop culture partners did not get a chance to go the week before and still want to should have signed up to go early this week. One day should be spent reviewing New Historicism in an active, small group format. The students will need the final two days of the unit to complete their WebQuest.
Supporting Materials for Teachers
Appleman, Deborah. Critical Encounters in High School English.
New York: Teachers College Press, 2000.
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Fehlman, Richard H. "Making Meanings Visible: Critically Reading TV." English Journal 81.7 (November 1992): 19-24.
Obbink, Laura Apol. "Feminist Theory in the Classroom: Choices, Questions, Voices." English Journal 81.7 (November 1992): 38-43.
Assessment Task
The Minnesota Graduation Standards Arts and Literature section
lists these four objectives for Literature and Arts Analysis and
Interpretation - Literature:
A. Describing the elements and structure of literature; the artistic intent; and the historical, cultural, and social background of the selected literature
B. Applying specific critical criteria to interpret and analyze the selected literature
C. Describing how particular effects are produced by the artist's use of the elements of literature
D. Communicating an informed interpretation using the vocabulary of literature
WebQuest
Students will be engaged in a WebQuest that will show proficiency
in A, B, and D. Each student will be given a choice of short poems
to analyze using the Biographical approach to literary criticism:
Langston Hughes' "Harlem," Emily Dickinson's "I'm
Nobody! Who are you?," Ha Jin's "To My Aunt," and
Adrienne Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers."
Their first Task under the WebQuest will be to go to web pages
that tell about the respective authors of the poem. Students will
jot down salient information about the author's life and philosophies
that might be pertinent to analyzing the poem. Then for further
information, students will go to pages to get information about
the world the author was living in: for example, if choosing "To
My Aunt," it would be pertinent to know what China was like
in the 60s and 70s.
Students will then apply what they have learned to create an interpretation
of the poem. In doing this, they will be asked to talk specifically
about artistic intent and how the author is conveying a particular
meaning.
Grading
There are six grading components for this unit. Each component
will be evaluated as follows:
Journal
In addition to the guided topics suggested in this unit, students
should be allowed to freewrite in and out of class. One suggested
topic and one freewrite per week will lead to fourteen journal
entries. Each entry should simply receive a check if it shows
honest reflection for suggested topics, and all freewrite topics
receive a check.
Journals are worth twenty points total.
Quizzes
Each of the four quizzes are worth five points.
Class Participation
For this overtly subjective component to be fair, the teacher
should pay attention to small-group as well as large-group participation,
and give every student a chance to participate. If a student has
an honest objection to participating when called on in class,
a short conference with the teacher can suffice. However, there
is no substitution for small-group participation, and those who
refuse to participate in small groups should be notified of the
effect it will have on their grade.
Participation is worth twenty points total.
Critical Paper
This component, described above, is worth forty points.
Criticism of Pop Culture Test
Thirty points.
WebQuest
Thirty points.
Scale
Journal (12.5%) 20 pts.
Quizzes (12.5%) 20 pts.
Class Participation (12.5%) 20 pts.
Paper (25%) 40 pts.
Test (18.75%) 30 pts.
WebQuest (18.75%) 30 pts.
160 total pts.
A 94 %+
A- 90-93%
B+ 87-89%
B 84-86%
B- 80-83%
C+ 77-79%
C 74-76%
C- 70-73%
D+ 67-69%
D 64-66%
D- 60-63%