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In this unit, which most directly applies the theoretical framework presented in my Master's Thesis, I structure the building of interpretive, theoretical schemata, using a variety of texts, including critical theory. This unit assumes no prior knowledge of theoretical interpretation and offers an entry level primer to Feminist and Marxist interpretation, including historical contexts and sample essays modeling high level analysis in that framework. These frameworks are applied in readings of the following main unit texts which structure the unit: "The Yellow Wall-Paper" by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman for the feminist lens, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald for both the Marxist and feminist lenses. As complements to these main texts, the unit includes several lessons on contemporary texts (texts broadly meaning artistic pieces for interpretation), including paintings, photography, and other visual media, as well as contemporary literary and journalistic sources.
Enduring Understandings
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- We can develop multiple interpretations of a single work of art by reading it through various lenses.
- Theoretical texts expose us to new ideas and modes of interpretation.
- Art reflects the society that creates it.
- Social class is determined by access to financial capital, social capital, and cultural capital.
- Societies develop stories and systems of values that attempt to justify inequalities.
- A work of art can either challenge or reinforce social circumstances and ideologies.
- Oppressions and ideologies often overlap, and the intersection of lenses can yield even richer interpretations.
- Active reading and class discussion are the first stages of the pre-writing process.
- An analytical essay is a creative and argumentative work where you can articulate and defend your interpretation of a text.
Goals
- Students will conceptually understanding reading literature through a lens.
- Students will read theoretical texts.
- Students will refine key ideas and assumptions from a theoretical text.
- Students will apply these key ideas in their reading and interpretation of literature.
- Students will theorize the intersections of multiple lenses and use these ideas in interpretation of literature.
Assessments
- Class discussion, group presentations, Do Nows, and exit tickets will provide touchstone formative assessments throughout the unit.
- The letter response to “Perilous Stuff” (due T, Week 1) will provide an initial task gauging students’ understanding and application of the feminist lens.
- CRQ on “The Yellow Wall-Paper” (due T, Week 2) will provide a more formal assessment of students’ ability to apply theoretical concepts in interpretation of a text.
- Characters/Power worksheet (due F, Week 3) will assess early understanding of Marxist themes in The Great Gatsby and scaffold further application of the Marxist lens.
- Gatsby essay, to be completed in a structured writing workshop (~1 week) at the end of the unit, will provide the final, summative assessment of the unit.
Reading Schedule & Major Due Dates
This is very much a bare-bones unit outline that assumes an ideal environment for the sake of concision. In my experience, the breakneck speed of this reading schedule would mostly succeed in making a class of 11th graders hate the texts we were working with, so, in practice, I elected to space it out, usually giving a few days between each chapter and round of dialectical journals. When I taught this unit, it actually took closer to eight weeks. Clickthe link below the schedule for full lesson plans.
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