Appleman ch 2.

As Appleman introduces the idea of bringing literary theory into the secondary classroom, she gives ideas on how to do just that. She includes three vignettes of classrooms and tecahers who brought in the idea of lit theory. I think that some of the ideas she brought up were helpful especially the first example of the students reading th epoetry differently to convey an alternative interpretation. This is something very practical that students can do in order to ease into reading literarture through the lense of a school of theory. It is important for students to slowly yet progressively study literary theory and I think this is a helpful way to assist students. The second vignette was of an assignment that stretched the imaginative muscles of students. The teacher asked students to look at fairy tales and short stories in a whole new light, from the perspective of various occupations. This seems like a fun activity and students may be intrigued with the variations. Certain theories call for students to read literature from a certain perspective and this is a step in that direction. My only concern is that students will only focus on the characters in a story and not the context surrounding the character. In using theory to dissect literature, it is important for teachers to give a sound description of what to look for in a novel that will appeal to the school of theory they are using. Otherwise, this chapter gives suggestions on how to introduce theory without scaring students away from the concept as a whole. She also talked about the defecits hidden within reader response but furthured this discussion in chapter 3.