1. What We Teach and Why: Reading the Word and the World with Adolescents Deborah Appleman, Carleton College The Puente Teacher Component Training. February 22, 2007

2. The paradox of education is precisely this—that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions…. But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society. If a society succeeds in this, that society is about perish. The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it—at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change. - James Baldwin

3. The main reason for studying theory at the same time as literature is that it forces you to deal consciously with the problem of ideologies... There are many truths and the one you will find depends partly on the ideology you start with. [Studying theory] means you can take your own part in the struggles for power between different ideologies. It helps you to discover elements of your own ideology, and understand why you hold certain values unconsciously. It means no authority can impose a truth on you in a dogmatic way—and if some authority does try, you can challenge that truth in a powerful way, by asking what ideology it is based on... Theory is subversive because it puts authority in question. - Bonnycastle, In Search of Authority

4. In essence an ideology is a system of thought or “world view” which an individual acquires (usually unconsciously) from the world around him. An ideology determines what you think is important in life, what categories you put people into, how you see male and female roles in life, and a host of other things. You can visualize your ideology as a grid, or a set of glasses, through which you can see the world. - Bonnycastle The term ideology describes the beliefs, attitudes, and habits of feeling which a society inculcates in order to generate an automatic reproduction of its structuring premises. Ideology is what preserves social power in the absence of direct coercion. - Ryan Ideology

5. Ideological common sense is common sense in the service of sustaining unequal relations of power. - Fairclough

6. Until lions tell their stories, tales of hunting will glorify the hunter. - African Proverb

7. The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

8. Contemporary theory holds that there is no such thing as an innocent, value-free reading. Instead, each of us has a viewpoint invested with presuppositions about ‘reality’ and about ourselves, whether we are conscious of it or not. People who deny having a critical stance, who claim they are responding “naturally” or being “completely objective” do not know themselves. - Staton, Literary Theories in Praxis No Such Thing as Innocence

10. A man with one theory is lost. He needs several of them, or lots! He should stuff them in his pockets like newspapers. -Bertolt Brecht

11. Deconstruction Formalist Reader Response Feminist Marxist Critical Theories

12. Biographical Stylistic Response and Analysis Archetypes Historical Critical Theories California Style Political

13. Upon Seeing an Orange Feminist theory asks... 'What possibilities are available to a woman who eats this orange?' Formalism asks... 'What shape and diameter is the orange?' Marxist theory asks... 'Who owns the orange?’ Who gets to eat it?’ Postcolonialism asks... 'Who doesn't own the orange?’ ‘Who took the orange away?’ Reader-Response asks... 'What does the orange taste like?’ ‘ What does the orange remind us of?' Structuralism asks... 'How are the orange peel and the flesh differentiate into composite parts of the orange?’ Deconstruction asks... 'If the orange peel and the flesh are both part of an "orange", are they not in fact one and the same thing?’ http://www.geocities.com/litcrittoolkit/defin.html

14. It is not that we shouldn’t care about individual students and texts. We should, and I do. We also recognize, however, that students and texts are embedded in huge, living, sometimes contradictory networks, and if we want students to understand the workings of textuality, then we have to think about those larger systems. - Bruce Pirie

15. Reading the World The relationship between the text and the world is not simply a fascinating problem for textual theory. It is, above all others, the problem that makes textual theory necessary. - Scholes Being an ‘enlightened witness’ means becoming critically vigilant about the world we live in. - bell hooks

17. Jenny’s Response

19. Matt’s Response: Ethiopia Versus Tiffany & Co. Description After we talked about Marxism and Of Mice and Men, I was looking at the NY Times A section and saw these two items facing each other. There’s a long article about famine in Ethiopia—I didn’t copy it all. Then right across the page is this ad for diamond earrings. I thought it was ironic enough and then I saw the price of the earrings, $10,500! Analysis Capitalism can be found alive and well in every corner of this paper. The news alternates with ads for luxury goods. The Marxist lens makes me think about the haves and have-nots as represented by these two artifacts. Where is the middle class? Conclusion I found the ad obscene next to the famine article. I wonder if the editorial staff even notices this stuff. Are people who can afford to buy earrings interested in the famine article? Do people who care about famine in Ethiopia tolerate earring ads? The typical reader of the NY Times lives between the earrings and the famine.

22. Bridget’s Response

24. Sarah’s Response

26. Juliette’s Response

28. Ashton’s Response J eremy’s Response

29. Re-reading Romance

30. Deconstructing the “Prince”

33. “Yes, but it’s too much work; almost anything can be looked at through a critical lens.” “Yes, texts are used every day and everywhere to influence us and reinforce ideas of society.” “Yes, but not every- thing in the world should be critically viewed. We need to be able to use lenses but not to over analyze.” “Yes, it helps a lot to try to analyze things from different perspectives.” Can We Use Critical Lenses to Read the World? “No, we cannot use the critical lens to read the world. We must endure what we are in. By analyzing too much, the feeling we have is sucked out.” “Yes, they are necessary to determine the complex and varied messages being thrown at us every day.” “Yes, it gives us many perspectives on the same thing. It basically makes it possible to see more than just the obvious.”

34. “No. We can use critical lenses to interpret the things we read in the world, but we read at face value first. When we read, we subconsciously use lenses anyway.” “Yes, but it may be overwhelming if you do it all the time. I do think we do it a lot without knowing it.” ”Yes, but we can’t focus on one lens or over-analyze everything, or we will not get anything done.” “Yes, you have to, because nothing is ever direct, you always have to read between the lines to get the entire message.” “Yes, we often use multiple ones every day; however, looking at only one at a time can lead to seeing a muted view of what is happening.” “Yes, although it can be carried away. It is necessary so you don’t buy in to stereotypes and products that would be fulfilling false stereotypes.” “Yes, in a complex world where groups and individuals are vying for power, it is important to analyze the interests of the creators of media that form culture.”

35. Deborah Appleman Carleton College dapplema@carleton.edu Handouts for this presentation can be accessed at http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular/ educ/faculty/Appleman/index.html