Reader-Response Criticism: This type of criticism attempts to describe what happens in the reader’s mind while interpreting a text. A Reader-Response (RR) critic might also explore the impact of a particular text on his or her own ideas or values. For example, one might reflect on how a particular character seems admirable or unlikable and why. One might reflect on how one’s religious, culture, or social values affect readings. RR may consider any aspect of the text they find important to understanding the text. The job of the RR is to make-meaning of the text as a reader. Personal reflection is often a part of this analysis. Read More Here.
Formalist/Structuralist/New Criticism: “The text itself” was a phrase commonly employed by New Critics in the 1940s as a reaction to an overemphasis of many critical theorists (at the time) who looked to the author as the primary source for interpreting work. The concept of Close Reading also came thanks to the New Critics (NC). “Intentional fallacy,” was a term the NCs coined to explain what they thought was the mistaken idea that the author’s intention is the same as the text’s meaning. Instead, NCs believed a close reading and analysis of form could reveal the meaning of the text. New Critics looked for four primary devices in the text: paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension, but this practice is no longer regarded as complete. Many theorists believe that, although Close Reading remains vital, the text cannot be viewed as isolated from other forces that work to shape meaning, such as the context (both historical and ideological) in which the work was written. Examination of form and structure (Formalist Criticism) and Close Reading, however, remain valid today. For the purposes of this introductory class we will be grouping these closely aligned criticisms together, but for a more in-depth analysis of each separately, click here: Structuralism, Formalist, New Critics.
Gender Criticism: This type of criticism examines how sexual identity influences the creation and reception of literary works. Gender studies originated during the feminist movement (1970s), when critics began investigating the unexamined assumptions around gender in a piece of literature. Feminist critics explored how an author’s gender might—consciously or unconsciously—affect his or her writing. These critics may also explore how images of men or women in literature might reflect or reject the social norms around gender in a particular society. According to Bedford's feminist criticism has evolved over the past several decades and "Today’s critics seldom focus on "woman" as a relatively monolithic category; rather, they view "women" as members of different societies with different concerns. Feminists of color, Third World (preferably called postcolonial) feminists, and lesbian feminists have stressed that women are not defined solely by the fact that they are female; other attributes (such as religion, class, and sexual orientation) are also important, making the problems and goals of one group of women different from those of another." Read More Here.
Sociological Criticism: Like Historical Criticism, Sociological Criticism examines literature in the cultural, economic, and political context in which it is written or received. This type of criticism may analyze the social content of a literary work—the cultural, economic, or political values a particular text implicitly or explicitly expresses. Read More Here.
Biographical Criticism: Biographical critics explore how understanding an author’s life can help readers more thoroughly comprehend the literary work. Note: biographical critics are not concerned with simply describing the author’s life but instead with interpreting the literary work using the insights provided by knowledge of the author’s life.
Psychoanalytic Criticism: This type of criticism views the themes, conflicts, and characterizations of a work primarily as a reflection of the needs, emotions, states of mind, or subconscious desires of the author. Oedipus complex and Freud’s discovery of the unconscious play a big role in Psychoanalytic criticism. Psychoanalytic theorists also pay very close attention to dreams, drives (for love and life) and the role of family in shaping identity. Interested? Read more here.
New Historicism: New Historicist (NH) critics look at the impact of the politics, ideologies, and social customs of the author’s world on the themes, images, and characterizations of a text although a NH critic acknowledges that, like literature, history is a dialogue derived from culture. History is written, in part, with an awareness of an audience. Literature of the past, then has two audiences: one influenced its design in the moment of its creation and the other influences its interpretation in the present moment. This type of critic considers how our contemporary lens inevitably alters our interpretation. According to Bedford's, New Historicism "emphasizes the interaction between the historic context of the work and a modern reader’s understanding and interpretation of the work." Not to be confused with the "old" historical criticism of the 30s and 40s, New Historicism has flourished since the 80s and grew out of the 70s "post-structuralist and reader-response theories... as well as by the thinking of feminist, cultural, and Marxist critics..."
(Click here for a more in-depth look at NH).
9.9.10
Short Stories
We will be exploring six short stories before the mid-term. The first week you should read "Roque" by Dagoberto Gilb, "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The following week we will read "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, "Young Goodman Brown" and The Minister's Black Veil," by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Please read "The Story of an Hour" first as we will not get to the Hawthorne stories until we have finished all of the others. You will receive a Reader that includes all of the stories, except for Roque, which is only posted above. Please bring the Reader to class every day as it also includes a collection of poems and key terms that you will need to be familiar with in order to do well on the mid-term. You will need the Reader during the mid-term. I suggest you annotate the stories to prepare for the exam.
__________________________________________________________
Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid: Link to Audio
Kincaid Bio with in-text citations
Consider Applying: Formalist Criticism and/or Gender Criticism to this text.
Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Consider Applying: New Historicism or Formalist Criticism to this text (see Critical Theories page)
Fiction/Published in The New Yorker
May 10, 2010
Read the story:
Uncle Rock (Click this link for full text)
by Dagoberto Gilb
Consider applying Reader Response Criticism to this text.
Questions to ponder:
1. What is Sonny's attitude towards men in the first paragraph? How do you come to understand this?
2. What is the significance of "American" in the first paragraph? At what point do you begin to understand more about the implication of this word in the story?
3. Please identify the fragments in this story.
4. At the engineer's house why does Erick "not want them to think he like their food"?
5. Why does it matter that Roque prefers boxing to baseball?
6. Please identify two symbols that add meaning to this story.
7. What is Sonny's attitude toward Roque at the end of the story. How do you come to understand this?
I highly recommend and frequently teach Dagoberto Gilb's The Flowers.
Here is some interesting background, if you decide to read his novel.
Wikipedia
Setting: Watts and Watts Forty Years Later
1992 Riots
Fair Housing Act
"Shout," a short story originally published in Woodcuts for Women, by Dagoberto Gilb. The story is currently available in Sudden Fiction Latino, edited by Robert Shapard, James Thomas and Ray Gonzalez, published by W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.
____________________________________________________
An example of creative non-fiction can be found in the Sandra Cisneros short story, Pilon:
"I don't know how it is with boys. I've never been a boy. But girls
somewhere between the ages of, say, eight and puberty, girls forget they have bodies.
It's the time she has trouble keeping herself clean, socks always drooping,
knees pocked and bloody, hair crooked as a broom. She doesn't look in mirrors.
She isn't aware of being watched. Not aware of her body causing men to look at
her yet. There isn't the sense of the female body's volatility, its rude
weight, the nuisance of dragging it about. There isn't the world to bully you
with it, bludgeon you, condemn you to a life sentence of fear. It's the time
when you look at a young girl and notice she is at her ugliest, but at the same
time, at her happiest. She is a being as close to a spirit as a spirit."
Cisneros, Sandra. "Pison." Sudden Fiction Latino.W.W Norton. New York. 2010.
_________________________________________________________________
Short Story: Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper"
Consider Applying: Gender Criticism (see Critical Theories page)
Short Story:
The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin
The Awakening (Novella) by Kate Chopin
A Pair of Silk Stockings, by Kate Chopin
Consider Applying: Gender Criticism and New Historicism to this text
8.9.10
My Papa's Waltz
Poem 1: How do we make meaning from text?
Please read the poem, and respond to the writing prompt below.
*You can click on the title of the poem to hear an audio version read by the author.
My Papa's Waltz*
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
—Theodore Roethke
(1908-1963)
Question 1: Who is the speaker (narrator)?
Question 2: What is the speaker's attitude toward his father? Pick one or two words that describes this attitude and write them down in your journal.
Question 3: How did you come to this conclusion? Please reflect metacognitively about the process that you took to answer this question.
What specific details helped you to understand the text? Did personal experience help you to better understand the poem? Did you reread the poem? Did you look up words in the dictionary? Did you think about the context of the poem? Did you visualize the poem? Please write down the the step by step process that you went through to make meaning of this poem.
Never ignore the title. The title is considered by many to be the beginning of the poem and should not be overlooked as it is an integral aspect of the poem's meaning.
Poems are meant to be heard. Many poets argue that their work should be read aloud from beginning to end and that the reader must pay careful attention to the cues, such as punctuation, line breaks etc. supplied by the poet. Form is content in poetry.
It is not unusual to read a poem and feel perplexed by the meaning. Start with what you know. What concrete details help you understand the poem? What is the setting? What is happening in the poem, or what is the action? When was the poem written? Who is the speaker? What is the central conflict? Looking for a binary (opposites) relationship can also be helpful.
Identifying what you know about the poem and what you want to know (using KWL+) in is a great strategy to gain access into the poem. Once you establish what you don't understand re-read sections of the poem and write a reflection about what you think this section means, or what difficulty you are having in understanding the poem.
What would a formalist look for in the poem?
Irony is one device poets often use to increase complexity.
Is there a paradox?
Is there ambiguity?
Is there tension?
What else "the text itself" tell us. What might a New Critic (NC) consider?
A NC would look for patterns. These patterns might be grammatical, sensory (combinations of sounds, colors, or scents), or object related, evolving and changing from the beginning to the end of the poem. Start identifying the similarities and differences between the images, objects and/or patterns in the poem. Is there Rhyme? How does the Rhyme contribute to the meaning?
Identify Allusions. Often poets make references to other people, places or objects in their work. Taking the time to figure out these allusions will give you greater insight into the poet's intentions.
Read the poem again.
Find the climatic moments. Often a poem, like a story, has moments when the action rises, the direction changes, and the meaning alters.
Consider Compression and Repetition. Compression refers to the way words and images are blended together. Repetition implies both rhythm and emphasis. The space between stanzas can suggest time passing, scenes changing, and so on.
Reflect again on the title.
Write your analysis using specific language from the poem to back up your ideas. Often personal experience informs our meaning-making. Connecting the world in the poem to your own life often helps the reader gain deeper understanding.
Please read the poem, and respond to the writing prompt below.
*You can click on the title of the poem to hear an audio version read by the author.
My Papa's Waltz*
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
—Theodore Roethke
(1908-1963)
Question 1: Who is the speaker (narrator)?
Question 2: What is the speaker's attitude toward his father? Pick one or two words that describes this attitude and write them down in your journal.
Question 3: How did you come to this conclusion? Please reflect metacognitively about the process that you took to answer this question.
What specific details helped you to understand the text? Did personal experience help you to better understand the poem? Did you reread the poem? Did you look up words in the dictionary? Did you think about the context of the poem? Did you visualize the poem? Please write down the the step by step process that you went through to make meaning of this poem.
Tips for Reading Poetry:
Poems are meant to be heard. Many poets argue that their work should be read aloud from beginning to end and that the reader must pay careful attention to the cues, such as punctuation, line breaks etc. supplied by the poet. Form is content in poetry.
It is not unusual to read a poem and feel perplexed by the meaning. Start with what you know. What concrete details help you understand the poem? What is the setting? What is happening in the poem, or what is the action? When was the poem written? Who is the speaker? What is the central conflict? Looking for a binary (opposites) relationship can also be helpful.
Identifying what you know about the poem and what you want to know (using KWL+) in is a great strategy to gain access into the poem. Once you establish what you don't understand re-read sections of the poem and write a reflection about what you think this section means, or what difficulty you are having in understanding the poem.
What would a formalist look for in the poem?
Irony is one device poets often use to increase complexity.
Is there a paradox?
Is there ambiguity?
Is there tension?
What else "the text itself" tell us. What might a New Critic (NC) consider?
A NC would look for patterns. These patterns might be grammatical, sensory (combinations of sounds, colors, or scents), or object related, evolving and changing from the beginning to the end of the poem. Start identifying the similarities and differences between the images, objects and/or patterns in the poem. Is there Rhyme? How does the Rhyme contribute to the meaning?
Identify Allusions. Often poets make references to other people, places or objects in their work. Taking the time to figure out these allusions will give you greater insight into the poet's intentions.
Read the poem again.
Find the climatic moments. Often a poem, like a story, has moments when the action rises, the direction changes, and the meaning alters.
Consider Compression and Repetition. Compression refers to the way words and images are blended together. Repetition implies both rhythm and emphasis. The space between stanzas can suggest time passing, scenes changing, and so on.
Reflect again on the title.
Write your analysis using specific language from the poem to back up your ideas. Often personal experience informs our meaning-making. Connecting the world in the poem to your own life often helps the reader gain deeper understanding.
3.9.10
Key Terms for Literary Analysis
Terms Important for Discussing Fiction, but especially Short Fiction:
Protagonist- The main or central character in a narrative. The protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story, often in conflict with the antagonist.
Conflict- The central struggle between two or more forces in a story. Conflict generally occurs when some person or thing prevents the protagonist from achieving his or her goals.
Rising Action— The narrative "arc" of a story includes a series of conflicts and complications that continue to "rise" until the climactic moment.
Crisis—The point in a narration when the crucial action, decision, or realization must take place.
Climatic Moment—The moment of greatest intensity in the story, which almost inevitably occurs toward the end of the work.
Resolution—In plotting, the logical end or outcome of a unified plot, shortly following the climax.
Narrative Techniques
Foreshadowing—An indication of events to come in the narrative. The author may introduce specific words, images, or actions in order to suggest significant later events.
Flashback—A scene relived in a character's memory. Flashback allows the author to include significant events that occurred before the opening of the story.
Epiphany— A moment of profound insight or revelation by which a character's life is greatly altered.
In Medias Res— a Latin phrase meaning "in the midst of things"; refers to the narrative device of beginning a story midway in the events it depicts (usually an exciting or significant moment) before explaining the context or preceding actions.
Pattern—Repetition of symbols (a symbol is an object that gives a sensory impression. See definition below);in recognizing and analyzing a pattern, the reader can gain a deeper understanding of the work.
Here are some terms we will use in this first unit:
Point of View: The vantage point from which a narrative is told. A narrative is typically told from a first-person or third-person point of view; the second person point of view is extremely rare.
First-Person uses the "I"
Third-Person uses "He/she and they"
Second-Person uses "You" and addresses the reader directly.
Tone: The attitude of the author toward the subject matter of a literary work. An author's tone may be serious, playful, mocking, angry, commanding, apologetic, and so forth. A device through which writers reveal a range of attitudes.
Plot: The action that takes place; what literally happens.
Theme: Not simply the subject of a literary work, but rather a statement that the text seems to be making about that subject. The statement can be moral or may emanate from an unmoralized, or less obviously moral, perspective. (Source: The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, Click the link to view more terms)
Symbol: anything that represents or stands for something else. Often a symbol is something concrete that stands for something abstract. For example, a butterfly might represent both fragility, transcendence, and potential transformation. A symbol may be said to embody an idea. There are two general types of symbols: universal symbols that embody universally recognizable meanings, such as light to symbolize knowledge.
Ambiguity: If something is ambiguous, it is unclear. Often this is because information is simply left out and therefore the reader must make inferences (draw their own conclusions) or there is an intentional duality to the interpretation. Narrative gaps (information the author purposely leaves out) often cause ambiguity in a text.
Setting: That combination of place, historical time, and social milieu that provides the general background.
Style: Used generally, the way in which a literary work is written, the devices the author uses to express his or her thoughts and convey the work's subject matter.
Diction: A speaker's or author's word choice. The term may also refer to general type or character of language used in speech or a work of literature. In the broader sense, diction is divided into two components: vocabulary and syntax.
Figurative Language: Language that employs one or more figures of speech to supplement and even modify literal, denotative meanings of words with additional connotations and richness.
Types of Figurative Language:
Protagonist- The main or central character in a narrative. The protagonist usually initiates the main action of the story, often in conflict with the antagonist.
Conflict- The central struggle between two or more forces in a story. Conflict generally occurs when some person or thing prevents the protagonist from achieving his or her goals.
Rising Action— The narrative "arc" of a story includes a series of conflicts and complications that continue to "rise" until the climactic moment.
Crisis—The point in a narration when the crucial action, decision, or realization must take place.
Climatic Moment—The moment of greatest intensity in the story, which almost inevitably occurs toward the end of the work.
Resolution—In plotting, the logical end or outcome of a unified plot, shortly following the climax.
Narrative Techniques
Foreshadowing—An indication of events to come in the narrative. The author may introduce specific words, images, or actions in order to suggest significant later events.
Flashback—A scene relived in a character's memory. Flashback allows the author to include significant events that occurred before the opening of the story.
Epiphany— A moment of profound insight or revelation by which a character's life is greatly altered.
In Medias Res— a Latin phrase meaning "in the midst of things"; refers to the narrative device of beginning a story midway in the events it depicts (usually an exciting or significant moment) before explaining the context or preceding actions.
Pattern—Repetition of symbols (a symbol is an object that gives a sensory impression. See definition below);in recognizing and analyzing a pattern, the reader can gain a deeper understanding of the work.
Here are some terms we will use in this first unit:
Point of View: The vantage point from which a narrative is told. A narrative is typically told from a first-person or third-person point of view; the second person point of view is extremely rare.
First-Person uses the "I"
Third-Person uses "He/she and they"
Second-Person uses "You" and addresses the reader directly.
Tone: The attitude of the author toward the subject matter of a literary work. An author's tone may be serious, playful, mocking, angry, commanding, apologetic, and so forth. A device through which writers reveal a range of attitudes.
Plot: The action that takes place; what literally happens.
Theme: Not simply the subject of a literary work, but rather a statement that the text seems to be making about that subject. The statement can be moral or may emanate from an unmoralized, or less obviously moral, perspective. (Source: The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, Click the link to view more terms)
Symbol: anything that represents or stands for something else. Often a symbol is something concrete that stands for something abstract. For example, a butterfly might represent both fragility, transcendence, and potential transformation. A symbol may be said to embody an idea. There are two general types of symbols: universal symbols that embody universally recognizable meanings, such as light to symbolize knowledge.
Ambiguity: If something is ambiguous, it is unclear. Often this is because information is simply left out and therefore the reader must make inferences (draw their own conclusions) or there is an intentional duality to the interpretation. Narrative gaps (information the author purposely leaves out) often cause ambiguity in a text.
Setting: That combination of place, historical time, and social milieu that provides the general background.
Style: Used generally, the way in which a literary work is written, the devices the author uses to express his or her thoughts and convey the work's subject matter.
Diction: A speaker's or author's word choice. The term may also refer to general type or character of language used in speech or a work of literature. In the broader sense, diction is divided into two components: vocabulary and syntax.
Figurative Language: Language that employs one or more figures of speech to supplement and even modify literal, denotative meanings of words with additional connotations and richness.
Types of Figurative Language:
- Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration to achieve an effect, whether serious or comic. An overstatement.
- Metonymy is from Greek "change of name," a figure of speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with the thing, such as calling a monarch "the crown."
- Metaphor: A figure of speech that associates two distinct things; the representation of one thing by another.
- Simile: A figure of speech that compares two distinct things by using words such as like or as.
Verbal Irony: a discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or between what is said and what the reader knows to be true.
Terms Applicable to Fiction, But Especially Relevant to Poetry:
Syntax: the way words are arranged in phrases or sentences and the way phrases or sentences are arranged in paragraphs (fiction), speeches (plays), or lines and stanzas (poetry).
Rhythm: pattern of sound. Some writers use the rhythm of ordinary speech, while others use a regular pattern of beats.
Rhyme: the matching of final sounds in two or more words. Rhyming can be used to create emphasis or patterns pleasing to the ear.
Alliteration: the repetition the same consonant sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables. This poetic device is used to create harmony, unity, and musicality.
Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds. Like alliteration, assonance is often intended to create or reinforce a sense of harmony, unity, and musicality.
Allusion: a reference to a person, place, object, or event outside the work itself.
PPA—a Reading Strategy
One of the first reading strategies we will employ is PPA, which means Preview, Predict and Annotate.
How it works...
Before reading, readers make a prediction about the text based on previewing the title, chapter titles and descriptions of the book. Readers should ask themselves what is this book going to be about? What do I think will happen in the book? What is the subject of this book? Readers should then briefly reflect on what they know about this subject(s) before reading. This process activates the reader's existing schema. Simply stated, schema is a mental framework built from the reader's prior experience. (We will discuss schema theory in class). Annotating is the process of taking notes in the margins, underlining key phrases and highlighting key terms or vocabulary. Annotating is similar to talking with the text, only you are using the pen and your notes to record the conversation. Predicting, or revising and making a new prediction based on new information, and annotating continue all the way through until the end of the book. When you are done, you will have your notes and highlights to help you remember important passages. This will save you time when it comes to writing your paper and will also help you solve problems during our group work. Continuing to predict throughout the book, helps to re-activate your schema as your understanding of the book (and characters) continues to evolve.
Why does schema matter?
Advanced readers automatically go through this process of previewing and predicting, often without even being aware they are doing so. For example, when I am in a bookstore, I will examine a book's cover and thumb through the pages (preview). I will use this information to decide what I think the book is about (predict), and I will then evaluate whether or not I want to read (evaluate). At this point, I either buy the book, or place it back on the shelf.
In class, you don't have the luxury of re-shelving the book. Sorry! But this process of previewing and predicting still helps you to make a personal connection with the book before you read. Even if the prediction is wrong, by predicting you are activating your brain and giving it a 'heads up' as to what is coming next. Your brain likes this information because it can more efficiently interpret the words on the page if it already knows a little bit about the subject matter. In this way, your own schemata, or prior experience, improves comprehension. This active connection between you and the text allows your brain to better grasp the ideas conveyed in the text, to visualize the text, and get beyond a mere word by word decoding of the text.
There is, perhaps, a more constant re-evaluation done by the reader while reading fiction than in non-fiction because the reader's initial prediction is more likely to be in flux as the characters and the plot continues to unfold. Proficient readers go through this process automatically and might not even be aware of the work they are doing, but researchers have studied these readers and identified these habits as the keys to their success.
Hopefully, the book you are reading engages you and you will automatically PPA, but if you find your mind drifting along with your focus, then try PPA to make your reading more active. Active engagement with the text, through previewing (skimming), predicting (questioning), and annotating (evaluating/writing in the margins) has been proven to increase comprehension, which is especially important to college students because increased comprehension means higher scores on papers, quizzes and exams.
Did you know that reading slowly, one word at a time, decreases comprehension?
This is because the brain is bogged down in interpreting (decoding) words and not engaged in the bigger picture being conveyed by the words. Advanced readers tend to read three or more words at a time because clusters of words more quickly assemble ideas and better engage the reader in the story. If you think you are reading one word at a time, come and see me and ask me about Eye Sweeps—an easy reading strategy that will train your brain to read clusters of words. We will also talk about the link between vocabulary and comprehension.
How it works...
Before reading, readers make a prediction about the text based on previewing the title, chapter titles and descriptions of the book. Readers should ask themselves what is this book going to be about? What do I think will happen in the book? What is the subject of this book? Readers should then briefly reflect on what they know about this subject(s) before reading. This process activates the reader's existing schema. Simply stated, schema is a mental framework built from the reader's prior experience. (We will discuss schema theory in class). Annotating is the process of taking notes in the margins, underlining key phrases and highlighting key terms or vocabulary. Annotating is similar to talking with the text, only you are using the pen and your notes to record the conversation. Predicting, or revising and making a new prediction based on new information, and annotating continue all the way through until the end of the book. When you are done, you will have your notes and highlights to help you remember important passages. This will save you time when it comes to writing your paper and will also help you solve problems during our group work. Continuing to predict throughout the book, helps to re-activate your schema as your understanding of the book (and characters) continues to evolve.
Why does schema matter?
Advanced readers automatically go through this process of previewing and predicting, often without even being aware they are doing so. For example, when I am in a bookstore, I will examine a book's cover and thumb through the pages (preview). I will use this information to decide what I think the book is about (predict), and I will then evaluate whether or not I want to read (evaluate). At this point, I either buy the book, or place it back on the shelf.
In class, you don't have the luxury of re-shelving the book. Sorry! But this process of previewing and predicting still helps you to make a personal connection with the book before you read. Even if the prediction is wrong, by predicting you are activating your brain and giving it a 'heads up' as to what is coming next. Your brain likes this information because it can more efficiently interpret the words on the page if it already knows a little bit about the subject matter. In this way, your own schemata, or prior experience, improves comprehension. This active connection between you and the text allows your brain to better grasp the ideas conveyed in the text, to visualize the text, and get beyond a mere word by word decoding of the text.
There is, perhaps, a more constant re-evaluation done by the reader while reading fiction than in non-fiction because the reader's initial prediction is more likely to be in flux as the characters and the plot continues to unfold. Proficient readers go through this process automatically and might not even be aware of the work they are doing, but researchers have studied these readers and identified these habits as the keys to their success.
Hopefully, the book you are reading engages you and you will automatically PPA, but if you find your mind drifting along with your focus, then try PPA to make your reading more active. Active engagement with the text, through previewing (skimming), predicting (questioning), and annotating (evaluating/writing in the margins) has been proven to increase comprehension, which is especially important to college students because increased comprehension means higher scores on papers, quizzes and exams.
Did you know that reading slowly, one word at a time, decreases comprehension?
This is because the brain is bogged down in interpreting (decoding) words and not engaged in the bigger picture being conveyed by the words. Advanced readers tend to read three or more words at a time because clusters of words more quickly assemble ideas and better engage the reader in the story. If you think you are reading one word at a time, come and see me and ask me about Eye Sweeps—an easy reading strategy that will train your brain to read clusters of words. We will also talk about the link between vocabulary and comprehension.
Experiencing Reading—an Introduction to Reader Response theory
Fiction is defined as imaginary writing, not necessarily based on factual or historical reality, but instead is a product of the writer's imagination. "In the broadest sense of the word," according to Bedfords Glossary of Literary Terms, "any writing that relates imagined characters and occurrences rather than recounting real ones" is fiction. Non-fiction attempts to be factual, true. Memoir and narrative non-fiction live on the border of fiction and non-fiction. Most other genres are easily classified as either non-fiction, or fiction.
The process for examining fiction is similar to reading non-fiction, even though the story being told is imaginary. When considering non-fiction the reader must determine the controlling idea, or purpose and examine the claims and evidence; however, fiction readers engage in character and plot and, hopefully, consider what deeper themes are at play. Although consideration of the author's life and purpose is also relevant when reading fiction, this consideration is secondary to the meaning derived from the actual text. Non-fiction writers are more often judged on their credentials, or ethos, including their professional stature, degrees, and experience on a topic.
No matter if it's fiction or not fiction "making meaning" of the text is central to a "reader response" essay. According to Reader Response theorists, meaning occurs during the "transaction" of reading wherein the author's intention is skewed by the reader's interpretation.
Reading is an individual process of making meaning—and this experience of meaning making varies from individual to individual. Reader Response theorists root this variety in schema theory. Schema is a mental framework of knowledge built from prior experience. Each person's schema is different therefore interpretations of reading are multiplicitous because all reading is viewed through the lens of schemata.
In a Reader Response essay, a reader discusses her experience with the reading. This may include a discussion of how her interpretation of a text/topic differs from the author, or how the writing triggered a memory or deeper personal reflection on an aspect of the text or life in general, or how the text made her consider a topic in a unique and/or meaningful way, or how the act of reading itself unfolded, including challenges or difficulties with the reading. Ultimately, it is the reader's experience with the text that matters, and as long as the response is connected to the text, the sky is the limit as far as where this type of writing can go.
Read more about Reader Response theory and Stanley Fish.
Fish emphasizes the concept of Interpretive Communities and how agreed upon strategies in Interpretive Communities also have powerful influences over the process of making-meaning. One thing to keep in mind is that reading is a temporal process, according to Reader Response theorists, so the way a text unfolds contributes to its meaning. One way to pay attention to the temporal process of reading is to frequently make predictions (write them in the margins) as you read, then take time to think about how accurate previous predictions are about the reading.
Creative Commons
2.9.10
Week One: Students Please Read This!
Reading:
Writing:
Definition: In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.
This definition applies to texts published in print or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the work of other student writers.
According to the WPA website (note: this is attribution because I am using a signal phrase), "Ethical writers make every effort to acknowledge sources fully and appropriately in accordance with the contexts and genres of their writing. A student who attempts (even if clumsily) to identify and credit his or her source, but who misuses a specific citation format or incorrectly uses quotation marks or other forms of identifying material taken from other sources, has not plagiarized. Instead, such a student should be considered to have failed to cite and document sources appropriately."
Question: How do I tell my audience where I got the information?
Answer: You have several choices:
1. Explain where you got the information by incorporating a simple sentence before the excerpt.
2. Use a short signal phrase and quote the material, then explain the significance of quoted material (quote sandwich)
Example: According the Kresge College website, "insert quotation." The statement makes clear that, although the college supports the freedom of expression, the students of Kresge make a clear distinction between the freedom to express one's views and speech that infringes upon the rights of others, especially speech that targets individuals and groups of people who have been historically discriminated against.
3. Use a signal phrase with a brief explanation as to the reason you are using the quoted material.
Example:
According to the Kresge College Mission statement, Freedom of Expression has its limitations:
Kresge College, acknowledging that difference is integral to our community of students, staff and faculty, upholds the ideals of cultural, ethnic, sexual, political and religious diversity. Kresge realizes that freedom to decide and to express one's opinion and beliefs is of the utmost importance. However, attitudes of disrespect or intolerance of the beliefs, ideas, lifestyles or personhood of another are not conducive to the academic and social environment Kresge strives to create. Freedom of expression does not mean freedom to violate others' rights or cause harm to any individual or group of individuals. Acts of oppression, such as, but not limited to racism, sexism, and homophobia, violate mutual respect and undermine community trust. We, the Kresge community, along with the University, will not accept or tolerate such acts and will, with due process, hold accountable those whose actions are not in accordance with our expressed ideals. In choosing to be affiliated with Kresge, we affirm these ideals and make a personal commitment to practice them in our daily lives.
- Kresge College Students, 1988, UCSC
4. Use MLA style citations and a Works Cited page. For all of your Formal Papers this will be required.
Example: Acts of oppression, such as, but not limited to racism, sexism, and homophobia, violate mutual respect and undermine community trust ("Kresge Mission Statement").
5. Paraphrase the material using a signal phrase/attribution
Example: The Kresge Mission statement acknowledges the value of our first amendment rights as pertains to the freedom of speech, but the students also acknowledge that freedom of expression, in their college, does not extend to those statements that violate the personal freedoms (and choices) of others.
6. Paraphrase, attribute and incorporate specific language from the excerpt
The Kresge Mission statement acknowledges the value of student "differences" and the "freedom to decide and to express one's opinion and beliefs," while at the same time the Mission makes clear the distinction between "the freedom of expression" and "acts of oppression."
Week One: Homework:
Electronic Reading Journals (blogs) will make up a significant portion of your grade and require thoughtful written responses to instructor assigned prompts in an electronic, online format. We will be using the Blogger software platform. Students must post their written responses by Sunday at 5 p.m.. Student blogs will regularly be the subject of our class meeting and discussion. I will link all student blogs to our classroom blog. Please send me your entire URL via E-Mail so I can link your blog. See example below.
Example of a URL: http://instructorknapp.blogspot.com
In order to receive Full Credit for your Reading Journal blog, you must: write a minimum of at least one page with detailed references to the text (about 500 words), demonstrating that you have put some thought and effort into the exercise and post your blog entry by 5 p.m. Sunday. These entries are a significant portion of your grade (see assessment) and they should not be taken lightly. Since this is a writing class, always strive to write well. However, blogs are valued more for the ideas that you present and critical approaches you take to working with the assignments than for perfect grammar and vocabulary. In other words, don't get bogged down by the details - express yourself and your reactions to the readings. Clear expression of your ideas and thoughtful analysis are an integral part of good writing and these skills take practice. The blog prompts are designed to give you this practice. You can revise your Reading Journal blogs as many times as you like before the quarterly grades.
Audience: In using Blogger, you are writing for a living audience. Keep in mind that your analysis can be read by people outside of our classroom who are interested in literature and our authors. In the case of the first novel, your posts may even be read by the author. You blog may be passed around in literary discussions. Your blog may be read by anyone who searches for information on our author or the book (most likely using the Blogger search function). See example below. As a student Blogger, you have a living audience, which is one of the reasons I go to the extra trouble of setting up student blogs. I want you to take responsibility for your writing and realize that what you think does matter, not just to your instructor, but to a real audience of your peers and the public. Treat your words with respect. They have power.
Example of Student Blogger Inspiring a Debate in the Real World (Scroll down to: Ouch)
Often, we will begin class with a 10 minute silent reading period during which time I will check in with each student and log student page numbers (where you are in the book). I will break students into groups using this information. Always bring your book to class! You will be required to read three novels during the 16 week semester. Since this is an Introduction to Literature course, it is imperative that you plan your time outside of class to accommodate the assigned reading. All of your papers will be in response to our reading and discussion. You cannot write or discuss what you have not read, so stay on schedule!
Link to Class Blogs Fall 2011
Link to Class Blogs Fall 2011
Writing:
Improved writing requires practice. The goal is to write a minimum of 500 words on your blog every week. I suggest writing a rough draft in a Word document and then cutting and pasting, after editing, onto your blog. Think of your blog as a journal, a place where you reflect on the reading and practice a variety of skills learned in class, including paraphrase, summary, direct/indirect quotations and analysis, but your journal is also a place for your own personal reflection on the issues brought up by the assigned reading.
These blog journals are a place to either re-define or seek clarity on your own values and priorities, to examine personal connections with the reading topics, ideas and/or characters and to write about and build on lessons learned by people in both the past and present and thereby gain wisdom on your own life path.
You will have open access to other student blog journals and therefore may want to refer to your peers' responses in your own posts. Since you are required to read and comment on peers' blogs weekly, a rich exchange of ideas is what I am encouraging, however, your blog should be a representation of your ideas as a result of your own reading of the assigned literature and other student posts. I encourage you to reference other student work or ideas in your posts and (even in your papers), but it is vitally important to our Learning Community that you ALWAYS attitribute the author (who originally presented the ideas) that you are referencing in your post. Attribution is a key aspect of academia and understanding attribution is one crucial to your success, which is why we will spend extensive time going over attribution and the use of proper citations and quotations. We will also discuss important signal phrases, such as, "according to" and "the author explains" so that you have a very clear idea on the language to use when referencing someone else's work. If you have ANY questions on this topic, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Here is the definition of plagiarism as explained by the Council of Writing Program Administrators: (Note: if I had not attributed this source the following definition would have been an example of Plagiarism because I copied and pasted this directly from the WPA website)
Definition: In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.
This definition applies to texts published in print or on-line, to manuscripts, and to the work of other student writers.
According to the WPA website (note: this is attribution because I am using a signal phrase), "Ethical writers make every effort to acknowledge sources fully and appropriately in accordance with the contexts and genres of their writing. A student who attempts (even if clumsily) to identify and credit his or her source, but who misuses a specific citation format or incorrectly uses quotation marks or other forms of identifying material taken from other sources, has not plagiarized. Instead, such a student should be considered to have failed to cite and document sources appropriately."
Plagiarism Project:
Let's say I'm surfing the internet and I come across this very cool explanation of freedom of expression and the limitations of this freedom that I want to incorporate into my blog, so I cut and paste the information onto my blog. If I don't attribute this source correctly, I have just plagiarized. For a writer, plagiarism is the equivalent of stealing. For a student, plagiarism is cheating. In the Academic world, plagiarism is considered to be: stealing, cheating and lying. No matter how you want to look at it: plagiarism is bad. Is that a clear enough definition? If not, please see me.
Question: Okay, so what do I do if I come across a cool passage that I want to incorporate into my blog?
Answer: Attribute the source!
Question: What does attribute, or attribution, mean?
Answer: Tell your audience where you got the information.
Question: How do I tell my audience where I got the information?
Answer: You have several choices:
1. Explain where you got the information by incorporating a simple sentence before the excerpt.
Example: Here is the what the Mission Statement from the Kresge College website at University of California, Santa Cruz, says about the Freedom of Expression:
2. Use a short signal phrase and quote the material, then explain the significance of quoted material (quote sandwich)
Example: According the Kresge College website, "insert quotation." The statement makes clear that, although the college supports the freedom of expression, the students of Kresge make a clear distinction between the freedom to express one's views and speech that infringes upon the rights of others, especially speech that targets individuals and groups of people who have been historically discriminated against.
3. Use a signal phrase with a brief explanation as to the reason you are using the quoted material.
Example:
According to the Kresge College Mission statement, Freedom of Expression has its limitations:
Kresge College, acknowledging that difference is integral to our community of students, staff and faculty, upholds the ideals of cultural, ethnic, sexual, political and religious diversity. Kresge realizes that freedom to decide and to express one's opinion and beliefs is of the utmost importance. However, attitudes of disrespect or intolerance of the beliefs, ideas, lifestyles or personhood of another are not conducive to the academic and social environment Kresge strives to create. Freedom of expression does not mean freedom to violate others' rights or cause harm to any individual or group of individuals. Acts of oppression, such as, but not limited to racism, sexism, and homophobia, violate mutual respect and undermine community trust. We, the Kresge community, along with the University, will not accept or tolerate such acts and will, with due process, hold accountable those whose actions are not in accordance with our expressed ideals. In choosing to be affiliated with Kresge, we affirm these ideals and make a personal commitment to practice them in our daily lives.
- Kresge College Students, 1988, UCSC
4. Use MLA style citations and a Works Cited page. For all of your Formal Papers this will be required.
Example: Acts of oppression, such as, but not limited to racism, sexism, and homophobia, violate mutual respect and undermine community trust ("Kresge Mission Statement").
Works Cited
"Kresge Mission Statement." UCSC. University of California, Santa Cruz. Web. 11 Jan. 2011.5. Paraphrase the material using a signal phrase/attribution
Example: The Kresge Mission statement acknowledges the value of our first amendment rights as pertains to the freedom of speech, but the students also acknowledge that freedom of expression, in their college, does not extend to those statements that violate the personal freedoms (and choices) of others.
6. Paraphrase, attribute and incorporate specific language from the excerpt
The Kresge Mission statement acknowledges the value of student "differences" and the "freedom to decide and to express one's opinion and beliefs," while at the same time the Mission makes clear the distinction between "the freedom of expression" and "acts of oppression."
Week One: Homework:
- Create your blog Click Here to get started.
- Write your I am... introductory post and send me your blog URL address via e-mail: knapps7@gmail.com
- Check your course schedule for this week's Writing Prompts. All responses should be posted on your blog by Sunday night.
- Once you send me your URL, I will link you to your class blog and send you the link
- You can check out student sample blogs (scroll down to the right side) if you are unsure of how we will be using blogs as reading journal.
- All Reading Journals are public, so please write only what you are comfortable sharing.
Electronic Reading Journals (blogs) will make up a significant portion of your grade and require thoughtful written responses to instructor assigned prompts in an electronic, online format. We will be using the Blogger software platform. Students must post their written responses by Sunday at 5 p.m.. Student blogs will regularly be the subject of our class meeting and discussion. I will link all student blogs to our classroom blog. Please send me your entire URL via E-Mail so I can link your blog. See example below.
Example of a URL: http://instructorknapp.blogspot.com
In order to receive Full Credit for your Reading Journal blog, you must: write a minimum of at least one page with detailed references to the text (about 500 words), demonstrating that you have put some thought and effort into the exercise and post your blog entry by 5 p.m. Sunday. These entries are a significant portion of your grade (see assessment) and they should not be taken lightly. Since this is a writing class, always strive to write well. However, blogs are valued more for the ideas that you present and critical approaches you take to working with the assignments than for perfect grammar and vocabulary. In other words, don't get bogged down by the details - express yourself and your reactions to the readings. Clear expression of your ideas and thoughtful analysis are an integral part of good writing and these skills take practice. The blog prompts are designed to give you this practice. You can revise your Reading Journal blogs as many times as you like before the quarterly grades.
Audience: In using Blogger, you are writing for a living audience. Keep in mind that your analysis can be read by people outside of our classroom who are interested in literature and our authors. In the case of the first novel, your posts may even be read by the author. You blog may be passed around in literary discussions. Your blog may be read by anyone who searches for information on our author or the book (most likely using the Blogger search function). See example below. As a student Blogger, you have a living audience, which is one of the reasons I go to the extra trouble of setting up student blogs. I want you to take responsibility for your writing and realize that what you think does matter, not just to your instructor, but to a real audience of your peers and the public. Treat your words with respect. They have power.
Example of Student Blogger Inspiring a Debate in the Real World (Scroll down to: Ouch)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)