Webb, Literature and Lives Chapter 5

In Webb's chapter 5, I found it to be not in line with my beliefs on classroom instruction and how to look at a work. I can see where he is coming from, but his views on how Shakespeare should be taught was very confusing to me. He mentioned that in order to understand his work you had to look at the historical facts about his time period. I think that is simply not true, the themes and ideas expressed within Shakespears dialogues are still present in todays society and are relavent to students today just as much as they were in his time. To understand Shakespear is to understand human nature, is how i feel about his work.
When I am teaching history to high school students, new historicism could be a double edged sword. On one hand I want my students to make connections about what is happening in their world currently to how this relates to what happened in the past. An on the other, I want my students to not be confused about what i expect of them. This approach to new historicism is a great way for students to tie current problems in the world to historical ones through novels and stories, but is also hard to understand if the student does not have proper instruction on it. Students should be given a lesson on how this approach should work and how it is beneficial for them to know. This way students will have the best oppertunity to succeed in your lessons. Questions that should be posed to students are, "How does the text apply to the conflicts as a whole?," "How was this book or story recieved at the time it was written?," or "What were the oppinions of this book or story from the point of views of the middle class, upper class, ethic groups, or immigrants?" by doing this I think students should be given the oppertunity to criticise books and what they stand for.

Webb, Literature and Lives Chapter 1

Webb's book is constructed in a way that is benificial for teachers as a resource. Each chapter has a reference section that allows the teacher to view many different materials that can be used in the classroom that relate to the material you are going to present to your students. In chapter one, Webb's approach to reader response is similar to Appleman's in that this theory should not be taught soley by itself but in conjuncture with other practicing theories in literary education and interpretation. When discussing reader response and cultural studies Webb connects two great theories that at first seem like they will just not work together. In Webb's classroom however, the theories worked extremly well together and I got a feeling like the students in his classroom responded to the mixture in a way that I too hope to experience when I teach. Cultural Studies usually is taught by studying a crisis or other extreme matter, but if there were a way to teach it without always using these controversial topics I think that students would truly gain the value of this approach. Challenging students view of the world is extremly important and I feel is the reason I got into teaching in the first place. I value learning and growing when they are developed together and helping students understand the world and helping them gain this realization on their own is a admirable trait in a teacher that i hope to one day embody. I found it to be a great resource to hear Webb discuss his experiences as a new teacher and how he never gave up his drive to constantly change his ways of teaching. His thoughts on classroom discussion were impressive and really gave me insight into the impact of respecting student responses to questions and directing the discussion in a desired direction.

Appleman, Critical Encounters Chapter 3

Applemans chapter, "The Lens of Reader Response: The Promise and Peril of Response-Based Pedagogy," expresses a need for the teacher to be open minded when it comes to reader response. When we as teachers set off to teach a text or work of poetry we often forget how its practice may have diverted from its intentions. This is a very important point that Appleman discusses because it is all to familar for me when one of my teachers expresses an activity and the activity gets caught up in a direction that wasn't intended and the meaning gets mixed up. The reader-centered approach in my mind connects students to the text in ways that they create and that they develop. This approach allows students to be their own detective in a case that they can solve on their own. When students read a text when this approach is being taught, they are activly searching for meaning as they read which offers many interpretations and ideas that they can apply to their lives. This however can seem too perfect, when you know your students can relate to the story and are personally connected to it, but something is missing. Sure the students can relate to the story, but what about the context of the story and how that relates. This point is often neglected in the classroom, and is the downfall of reader-centered approaches. In my classroom, I hope that my students realize the importance of being personally related to the story, but i also hope that they know the context in which the story is relating to them. That is the key, in teaching reader-centered approaches to students.

Appleman, Critical Encounters Chapter 2

Applemans Chapter, "Through the Looking Glass: Introducing Multiple Perspectives" gives great teacher examples of how four different teachers presented their styles an stories on how they would approach teaching literary theories. I find it very interesting that students can read into a poem or story and find meanings that are correct at first glance but, while using literary theories become completly wrong. Students need practice when working with literary theory and the best way I feel is to teach lessons on how to use them. We as teachers can not just jump into looking at a poem a certain way and then have our students follow suit. An appropriate set up strategy must be developed first in order for students to understand what you as a teacher are looking for. Students need entertaining and fun activities to get engaged in a work or text, but they must learn the motives and directives behind the excercises that you incorporate. The strategy he discusses about having a court case that examines the plot and characters, as well as themes of the story, is an interesting way of looking at interpreting a story. The students must truly know the story and the characters in order to act them out. This is one activity that I should be seriously looking at practicing in my classroom.
The quote from the text that struck me to be very moving and the basis for literary teaching in the classroom is, "They should be able to see things from other viewpoints, heartily argue positions that they don't believe in, inhabit other ways of being or habits of mind. She wants her students to analyze their lives and texts, not just from inside out but from outside in." I think that this is an important statement about education and a great way for students to get engaged and motivated in a class, if they know what is expected of them and can relate to the works.

Appleman, Critical Encounters Chapter 1

Appleman's chapter, "The Case for Critical Theory in the Classroom," explains a lot of interesting points that may or may not be great classroom instruction tools. Literary Theory was rarely taught in my high school classrooms and approaches to it seem hard for students to understand. Applemans approach to literary theory is right on however when he discusses that literary theories keep us understanding that different styles and interpretations are good for learners to realize. Readers also gain a great understanding of other cultures and different ways of looking at the same text. Using critical lenses to discover there world as Appleman puts it is an interesting thought, since adolescent students are always questing for more knowledge and experiences to understand their world and where they fit into it.
Reader Response theory is mainly the only theory that was addressed in my high school classroom. Unfortunately, this was the only one, but I feel that through reading Appleman and his points of incorporating many literary theories can be beneficial for students in a high school classroom. By looking at his questions on pg. 9, I realize that a good planning approach is the best way to develop teaching literary theory to my students. The question he asks, "which contemporary theories seem best-suited or most age-appropriate to high school students? Are some more teachable than others?" are great questions to develop answers for, because you as a teacher are more prepared to handle the topic and the students will be greatful as well.