Week 8 - Appleman Ch. 8

Chapter Eight - Critical Encounters: Reading the World

"Critical encounters with theory help students and teachers re-evaluate what counts as knowing in the literature classroom, Contemporary literary theory helps students reshape their knowledge of texts, of themselves, and of the worlds in which both reside. (Appleman 139)"

"Students' ability to read texts, the world, and their own lives is enhanced not only by the study of individual theories themselves but by the notion of multiple perspectives. (Appleman 141)"

I think using theory within the class would be helpful in understanding the text and multiple perspectives. I think this could be enhanced further by combining the theories and teaching them together.

I think this book is a great resource for better understanding literary theories and multiple perspectives. It has certainly helped me understand the purpose of theory within the classroom. Although I don't like all of the theories or fully understand all of them, I can see myself returning to this book for help and guidance.