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Way back when I was working through a few different degrees at a few different universities, I learned the "trick" to getting an "A" in all the literary analysi
by bane 5y ago
Way back when I was working through a few different degrees at a few different universities, I learned the "trick" to getting an "A" in all the literary analysis assignments was to:
- Assume the author didn't just mean what they wrote (and suppress any possible evidence to the contrary such as interviews where the author specifically stated that they meant simply what they wrote)
- Impose a binary oppositional worldview onto the text to "find meaning". I used to flip a coin or roll a dice to select "communism vs. capitalism", "fascism vs freedom", "gender politics", "racial politics", etc. It didn't matter what it was, you simply had to pick one. In advanced classes you pick two or more. So an analysis might be themed around "gender politics as viewed by the anti-fascist communist author".
- Direct the analysis to favor the more leftist viewpoint(s) unless it was specifically understood that the author favored the alternative.
- Evidence to support your views are generally direct quotes from the text, liberally interpreted to fit the assumed analysis.
then
Mechanically create paper, receive "A" grade, be asked to sit in the advanced analysis, and gender studies lit classes the next semesters.
- pcmoney 5y agoGrade AAA gold coated bullshit is the life blood of most of those departments. It defines their careers. Way to give them what they want.
- wolverine876 5y agoWhat makes your comment more than that?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- wolverine876 5y agoIf that actually worked, and you still believe it, you missed out on all the substance of an education. Dismissals are always a signal of ignorance.
- bane 5y agoI actually think it's a shame. It seems that many English Lit departments (and associated K-12 pedagogy) have arrive at a kind expected & trite monoculture of thought. There's a tremendous value to being able dissect a text, form an argument, and defend it. But what students ultimately find is that executing this well and demonstrating the validity of a viewpoint is not really the primary evaluation point but rather that the content conforms to pre-decided avenues of thought. These departments have the trappings and ceremony of rational thought, but none of the ability to face the revelations of diverse truths and viewpoints that challenge the established status quo. As a result millions of students leave the classes without the tools to read and analyze for comprehension and to form coherent and rational opinions that reflect the things that are important to them. Even worse, when they are presented with these cognitive models, they've "learned" to reject them. These tools can not only reflect thought, but also help shape it. Critical thinking results from it.
- mlyle 5y ago> Dismissals are always a signal of ignorance. Only a Sith deals in absolutes! (As you dismiss all dismissals). Literary criticism has reached increasing levels of "sophistication" where frankly a big fraction of it deserves to be dismissed. Conversely, people who dismiss looking for literary intentions, possible alternative interpretations on other axes of thought, and reasons that the structure works are foolish as well. I think where one goes awry and too far is when one insists that a specific interpretation is particularly valid without any real evidence of authorial intent or that other readings don't make sense. The lit crit world is buried in these insistences.