Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents

by Deborah Appleman

Book Overview

Because of the emphasis placed on nonfiction and informational texts by the Common Core State Standards, literature teachers all over the country are re-evaluating their curriculum and looking for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080773974X
• ISBN13: 9780807739747
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

You Need Not Be a College Student to Learn Theory

Mastering Critical theory on a college level is sufficiently imposing so that to learn it on a high school level is seen as even more so. In CRITICAL ENCOUNTERS IN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH, Deborah Applebaum proves that the teaching of it and the learning of it need not be the insurmountable obstacle that many a harried college student often perceives it to be. Applebaum writes this text for the high school teacher who may not know much more theory than the very students whom she hopes to teach. Until recently, college courses in theory were not required for English majors and even for those who have taken a course or two, this book is a helpful reminder as to what theory is, how to apply it, and perhaps even more importantly, how to justify teaching it to teenagers who already groan under what they will undoubtedly see as simply one more "hard" subject to master in their senior year. The first chapter, "The Case for Critical Theory in the Classroom," is teacher-oriented in that Applebaum anticipates potential pitfalls for the teacher who wishes to include critical theory in a typical high school curriculum. She acknowledges that there is "tension between presenting literature as cultural artifacts...for those who favor a more progressive approach to education." This tension she suggests can be reduced by forthrightly examining "our notions of what literacy is, of what students should read, and of what it means to read well." Critical theory she sees as the lever by which all this may be done. In the second chapter, "Through the Looking Glass: Introducing Multiple Perspectives," Applebaum addresses the advantage that theory has over the standard one-size-fits-all paradigm of the typical approach to high school literary analysis that focuses on plot, setting, character, and symbolism. Since theory by its very nature is multi-dimensional, students can benefit by viewing texts under varying lenses, all of which require close reading, resulting in enhanced understanding of that text. Since this text is designed for high school seniors, Applebaum wisely decided to limit her choices of theory to Reader-Response, Marxism, Feminism, and Deconstructionism. Her analyses and examples of each school are sufficiently clear so that college students who desire a jargon-free text can look here for relief. Applebaum also has a most useful chapter, perhaps even more so for college students, on "Reading the World as Text," where her students describe how they used selected theories to understand articles, movies, books, and advertisements that might have otherwise resisted more conventional approaches. Reading the World is an ambitious undertaking, but Applebaum judiciously shows how high school teachers can expose their students to the literary side of it.

Another must-have addition for your shelves!

Like Wiggins' book on Essential Questions,Understanding By Design Expanded 2nd Edition Critical Encounters is a book that has changed my approach to teaching. Unlike Understanding by Design, this one applies directly to my role as an English teacher. There are so few books out there on methodology that combine theory and practice the way that Appleman's book does. It's worth the price for this alone. I agree with another reviewer about the over-emphasis on student work examples and anecdotes (I skimmed over many of these), but the practical strategies and lessons to use with high school English students are invaluable. Most get the students involved and doing the work. These strategies require students to think about what they read and to respond to what they read critically. If you're tired of the typical Reader-Response papers you've been requiring and/or receiving from students who are capable of much deeper thinking, buy this book!

Critical Encounters Book

This book is very useful in giving you ideas on how to teach literary theory to those who are unfamiliar with it. The great thing about this text is that the examples they give you can be substituted for any kind of book, whether it is adolescent literature or something in the curriculum that you are teaching. I am enjoying learning about teaching literary theory and I cannot wait to get into the classroom and use some of these ideas with my students!

It's Tuesday--This Must Be Deconstruction

There is nothing wrong with encouraging students to encounter literature from a variety of viewpoints and any worthy English teacher of literature should be adept in reinforcing this skill. In this respect, Appleman's book shows merit. She outlines approaches for teaching the literary theories of Reader-Response, Marxism, Feminism, and Deconstruction, with (ad nauseum) student responses and sample handouts. And of course we walk in a world of categorization and theory, so writing about teaching literary theory is somewhat of a "no brainer" since our brain organizes information this way; without this skill, one could not survive. In short, she attempts to bring the theoretical world of the critics closer to younger students. Who can criticize that? Yet.... When I was reading her book, I kept thinking that this information might be handy for a certain teacher who lacks confidence in his or her own ability to respond directly to literature. Having the lenses is a great exercise, especially if one wants their students to show well on "Jeopardy." Yes, they are indispensible to know if one is in an English graduate program. Knowing them would also help one appear more erudite at a literary party. So teach the students literary theory. Then teach them to respond with their own hearts and minds; to read with passion, voraciously, discarding the inapplicable and acting with courage on the true. Teach them to underline their books (their OWN books, of course) simply because they found a beautiful sentence. Teach them to read the Introduction to the novel LAST, after they have had a chance to read and develop their OWN lense--their own viewpoints. This takes greater courage, I believe. Students need to THINK the page. Robert Frost once said that "education in English is properly a slow process of just staying around in the right company till you can speak and handle a book in the author's presence without setting his teeth on edge" (as quoted in George Anderson's "Bread Loaf School of English: The First Fifty Years, Middlebury: Middlebury Press, 1969, p. 33).

Newest "Must Read" for English Teachers

Book Review Appleman, Deborah. Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents. New York: Teachers College Press, 2000. Deborah Appleman's book, Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents, recently published by the National Council of Teachers of English and Teacher's College Press, is a MUST read for all English educators and all teachers of high school literature classes. Appleman not only envisions a new way of teaching high school literature, she shows the reader (with practical classroom activities) HOW this is possible. Appleman's first line, "I'm stubborn" (xiii), grabbed my immediate attention. As a friend of Deborah's, I agreed and read on. What I found was not a stubborn approach to teaching literature, but rather a wonderful, open-minded, newly articulated approach to the teaching of literary theory in high school. Granted, Appleman might need to stubbornly insist that naysayers, those who say it can't be done in high school, hear her out, but by mid-point in the book, even those people will be considering the possibilities. In Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescent Appleman defines reader response, Marxist and feminist criticism, and deconstruction theory in an understandable manner. Within each chapter Appleman weaves together, through classroom vignettes, literary theory and literature. Appleman explains how the application of literary theory in high school provides students with an interpretive repertoire which enlarges their view of the world. This approach empowers students to think "beyond the boundaries of their own comfortable world" (63) and to "foster a knowledge of others" (29). In addition to being impressed with the linkage of theory and practice in Appleman's book, I observed it in action when I visited Paige Shreeve's Senior-to-Sophomore literature class at Becker High School. Shreeve read Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents the minute it was released. She then taught her class to apply these critical perspectives to the literature they read. The day I visited, the class discussed Frost's poetry. As I joined a small group discussion, I heard one student say, in reader response mode to "After Apple-Picking," "This tiredness is the way I feel after working a weekend at Subway." Another student, in keeping with a New Criticism approach, wanted to explore the symbolism of sleep. Yet another student, who apparently knew some background on Frost, told the group (using a psychological approach) that this poem was biographical and went on to explain why. These students were not directed by Shreeve to use literary theory; they had already internalized many aspects. Critical Encounters in High School English works. I suggest that you read and "try on" Deborah Appleman's new book. Chris Gordon English Education - St. Cloud State University