(By: Ms. Rivera Soto)
For the past three years, I have taught a research unit in English II--and have heard sophomores ask, "Why do we have to do this?" at least once a day during that unit. After the first two years, I decided to revise the final assignment for the unit and add this introduction to the assignment description: Research skills are essential in order to be an informed member of society—which is why the focus of this unit has been learning and practicing research skills. Moreover, being able to communicate information in writing in a clear and professional way is necessary in any career, which is why the final product of this research unit requires compiling the information and presenting it to an audience (myself). Yet when the question came from my evening school students, this time about literary theory, I did not have a ready answer. Why, indeed, should we study literary theory? Moreover, why should we practice literary criticism? I do not think that most, if any, of you are planning on becoming English majors or art/film/literary critics--so this is not something you are likely to spend the rest of your life doing. My default response of "because you should know this!" wasn't cutting it anymore, and so I have added this blog section to the website to collect some possible answers. As for my own answer? We study literary theory to acquire the skills that we need to critically analyze the media that we consume every day. We practice literary criticism to improve our arguments, to sharpen our analytical skills--and to practice stepping into other perspectives, switching lenses, so that we can understand points of view other than our own. |
Why Lit Crit?Once you have completed your project, answer the following question in a blog post: ArchivesCategories |