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"It is the reader's job to uncover the truth of literature not by "consulting the oracle", but by looking carefully at the internal evidence of the text's form. " William K. Wimsatt & Monroe C. Beardsley
There are a handful of lessons in my class that ask students to reexamine everything they've been taught in English - since they began kindergarten. Today's activity is one such lesson. Up until college (though I'm sure it happens occasionally there as well) teachers will talk about what an author meant when they wrote something. What was their purpose? Similarly, past authors and artists are shunned (canceled) because of their horrible behavior - no matter what their art says or stands for. It is as though their hateful acts have somehow infected the words that they wrote. William Wimsatt and Monroe Beardsley propose that the art and the artist are two very separate things. Furthermore, you (or even the author) can never know what they "intended" or "meant" if even such a thing exists to begin with.
The students' reading for today is actually the shortest and most approachable of this Unit. They have read a summary of Wimsatt & Beardsley's paper, "The Intetional Fallacy". They have also read a short excerpt from Forest Carter's book, The Education of Little Tree" as well as some glowing reviews from readers on Amazon - who have no knowledge about the author's life - or his real name for that matter.
When they come to class for today's lesson (after the quiz) they find out so much more about the author of The Education of Little Tree, his despicable past (he was a grand dragon in the KKK and a speech writer for segregationist, George Wallace. They then look at some reviews of readers on Amazon who had found out about his past and those reader espouse a hatred for the book. But the question is - "Has the text changed"? The students are asked to put the idea of the fallacy of author intentionality to the test with a real life example.
Lesson Overview - Literary Criticism Day 5 - The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
Lesson Overview - Literary Criticism Day 5 - The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
The Readings for today (students have read these FOR today on their own time)
The Readings for today (students have read these FOR today on their own time)
As I mentioned in the introduction - the readings for today are shorter than they have been: An inset box briefly describing this approach to criticism, a two-page abridgment of Wimsatt & Beardsley's article, a description and short excerpt from the young adult novel, The Education of Little Tree, and some reviews found on Amazon from readers who had no idea about the author of Little Tree's true biographical information.
What's Done in Class
What's Done in Class
The Quiz
The Quiz
As soon as the students arrive I hand them a quiz so that they can get started on it right away - and then get into their groups. After the first day students start arriving very early to get the quiz done - to maximize the time they have in class to work on the lesson. These quizzes are particularly hard to write (especially when we get to Deconstructionism). See my page on quizzes. Because I don't want to ask "understanding" questions - and because Literary Criticism is so intellectually challenging - it presents a special difficulty in asking questions that thread the needle between having done the reading - and understanding what it means. As soon as students turn in the quiz - you'll want to start grading.
Today is different. Because this lesson is so important - and because it is so important that students find out about the REAL LIFE of Forest Carter together - I allow students who did not do the reading (or the journal work that is due today) to get into a group anyway.
Group Work
Group Work
(see the actual Group Work for the questions - though I do give you more details for today's lesson than I have in the past two lessons).
First, students make sure they understand what they read last night about the Fallacy of Author Intentionality (this is where having groups really comes into play - how the students can educate each other).
Next - groups each (at the same time - so you'll have to coordinate this) send one representative up to get a copy of their reading packet for today - and they are instructed to read pages 8 & 9 - where they will discover some shocking biographical information about the author of The Education of Little Tree. While students are quietly reading this - you can feel the sense of shock and outrage growing in the classroom. The author of The Education of Little Tree was, in fact, not part Native American - but he was a grand dragon in the KKK and a speech writer for George Wallace - and he famously wrote the lines: "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Next, they read some Amazon reviews from readers who DID know about Forest/Asa Carter's past (and who hate the novel).
I ask them how their impression of Little Tree changed as they learned more about Asa Carter - and to compare the reviews of people who did and didn't know about him. I try not to hit them over the head with any of this - letting them make most of the connections to the fallacy of Author Intentionality.
They look at some reviews from Amazon of people who knew - and decided to look past Carter's past.
Now they have tie it together with what they've studied so far in Literary Criticism. Do all of those schools still make sense in this modern framework?
Tough Question that originally came from a student - If you were a parent and knew the worst about Asa Carter - would you let your child read the book? Would you tell them before they read? After? We then directly connect this to what we found out about John Gardner accidentally killing his brother AFTER we read his novel, Grendel.
Another example using Daniel Barenboim playing the music of Wagner in Israel.
See the Group Work for the complete questions. My intent (if I'm allowed to have one) was not to get them to like the book or accept the ideas of the Fallacy of Author Intentionality - but to get them to at least question the ideas that they've held so dear for so long - that an author can "mean something". Which author? Asa Carter? Forest Carter? And if we spend time learning about an author to better understand that work - what happens when we find out that the information we believed to be true about that author - turns out to be completely wrong. What is the point?
I will admit that this is the one lesson in this unit that I actually would mingle among the groups - I wanted to hear what they thought. Would they let their child read The Education of Little Tree? Why or why not? Do they listen to music by artists who have done bad things in their life? One of my favorite questions on this group work came from a comment a student had made about Lady Macbeth and the note she imagined carrying during her sleep walking scene and he said that he would bet that even Shakespeare didn’t know what was on the paper. I ask the students (in the Group Work) what they think about that comment.
What's Done at Home
What's Done at Home
If they have any time left after the Group Work, they may get started on the homework segment of this lesson (beginning with the Solo Work).
Solo Work (see the actual Solo Work for those questions)
Solo Work (see the actual Solo Work for those questions)
After finishing the Group Work - or at home, they need to do the Solo Work. Far fewer questions (and less in depth) - these questions are designed to build upon what they did as a group - only by themselves - giving the students confidence and a deeper (and different understanding) of this school of Literary Criticism.
Questions for Today
Questions for Today
(labelled as Questions for Tomorrow in their binders as it is the very first entry in the next day's Literary Criticism Entry). See the actual Questions for Today for that content.
Two or three very short questions, that should be done BEFORE the next day's reading - to give them some ideas to be perculating in their brain - based on what we've already done in class this year - that will pertain to their reading for the next day.
The Next Day's Reading
The Next Day's Reading
Their final homework is to do the reading for the next day. By now (this time in the school year) they should be proficient note-takers. This is especially important with something as challenging as Literary Criticism where note taking is, for most students (and myself for that matter) the only possible path to having understanding of the reading.
Reading for Day 6: "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell (a break from straight-out Literary Criticism - but important fodder for what is to come - and it gives students time to get caught up on their journals - by now, there would almost certainly be a journal check - and I allow students to revise for a better grade). Students are also urged to start reading their Deconstructionism readings given that topic's difficulty. Those readings are: A summary from Rex Gibson and M.H. Abrams and an article, "Calling Out the Law" by J. Goldberg.
Today's Reading - Literary Criticism Day 5 - The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
Today's Reading - Literary Criticism Day 5 - The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
REMEMBER - THE ORDER THAT THESE READINGS ARE DONE IN - IS VERY IMPORTANT
Literary Criticism Day 4 Handouts: The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
Literary Criticism Day 4 Handouts: The Fallacy of Author Intentionality
See the description above - this is a two-sided handout with the Group Work, Solo Work, and that are related to today's school of Literary Criticism and the Questions for Today that are related to the next day's school of Literary Criticism. There are also informational boxes interspersed on the handout to give them help and clarification when needed.
This is the handout that has the biographical information on Asa Earl Carter (the author of Little Tree) and the additional Amazon Reviews from people who know about him.
The Most Recent Quiz
The Most Recent Quiz
See above for more on the how and why (and difficulty of writing quizzes related to Literary Criticism). IMPORTANT: For today only - given the importance of them all finding about Asa Carter together - and wanting them to hear each other's opinions, I allow students who didn't read or finish their journal entries to stay in a group. Today only. This quiz is also very short - two questions and an Extra Credit so they can get right to work.
Though the readings are long - the quizzes only count for 100 points - for two reasons. One - if they don't pass the quiz they usually aren't allowed to get into a group - that is incentive enough to read. More points is given to their notes on the reading and all the writing that they are doing about what they've read than the quizzes - and I continually stress to the students that getting a bad quiz grade will not sink their Literary Criticism grade.
Remote Teaching
Remote Teaching
I did not do Literary Criticism the year we were remote - but really there is no reason not to - with the greatest challenge is having students work in online groups - but by this time of year, they should be accustomed to it.
Students are instructed to put this rubric on the first page of their Literary Criticism Binders. There are two check-ins - two grades for this unit - both of them unannounced - so students should be up to date at all times. In addition to being a rubric - it breaks down in great detail - exactly what is expected of them - including how many questions (or readings) there are for each part of each day's entries: Readings for that Day (notes are graded), Questions for Today, Group Work Questions, and Solo Work.
Because you don't want to deprive students of their Journals during this unit - I usually do the first check-in (Grading) while they are watching the first part of Exit Through the Gift Shop - I will only collect as many as I can get graded during that time - and will grade the rest the next day - during the class period - asking them to take out the work and readings that they need for that class. The second check-in is not so rushed and I usually collect the binders after the Final Exam to grade them.
NOTE: I always gave students a chance to revise their binders (journals) if they did it BEFORE the final. I told them that I would change the grade they got for Check-In #1 (the only checkin that I offered this) to an average of their original grade with what they would have gotten with the revised journal. In other words, if they got a 50 on the first check-in - and then they revised it, gave it to me (before the final on Literary Criticism) - and the new assessment of their Journal lands them what would have been a 90 - I will change the recorded grade for that check-in to a 70.
Since I've been teaching my Literary Criticism Unit, I've put "Shooting an Elephant" smack dab in the middle of it. Not because it directly speaks to its own school of criticism - but because instead it speaks to so many. Somewhere I must have my original text - covered with notes - but I'm not sure where that is, and frankly, it's just as well. I always felt, when having a class discussion about this essay, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of ideas and important words that are in Orwell's text. It was only when I stumbled upon Vertexts, those Power Point Presentations that allow the teacher to put quotes up on the screen in front of the students, that I felt I could do justice to the words. And it is the most recent Vertext that I give you here.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Day 4 - Literary Criticism - Exit Through the Gift Shop Part 1 - Movie & Questions
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
In many ways the class is never the same after this lesson. It is also SO interesting to see how the class is divided - some students think it doesn't matter what an artist does - some believe it is the more important than the art they produced. I don't try to convince anyone either way - but just present them with the ideas, some examples and the thoughts of their classmates so they can make up their own minds.
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