1. One Text – Many Ways of Seeing It
Literary Lenses
One Text – Many Ways of Seeing It

2. What are Literary Lenses?
The different perspectives we use to understand and interpret texts.
We bring different “angles” to texts.
We bring different background knowledge.
We focus on different parts of the texts.

3. Why are Lenses Important?
By focusing our reading attention on different parts of the text, we can move closer to understanding the text’s theme
Remember that theme is the author’s comment on the human condition!

5. Types of Literary Lenses
Historical
Feminist
Marxist
Formalism
Reader Response

6. Historical Looking at a text through its connections to history.
The Crucible - Cold War
Of Mice and Men - The Great Depression
Focuses on the social, political, and economic climate of the event

7. How to Look Through the Historic Lens
Examine the historical connections of the text.
Social, economic, political
What is the author’s role in the text? Consider background information on the author.

8. Feminist Looking at a text through how gender is shown.
Males / females
Stereotypical gender roles

9. How to Look Through the Feminist Lens
Consider the gender of the author.
Consider the gender(s) of the characters.
What roles do gender and sexuality play in this work?

10. Feminist Lens Are gender stereotypes reinforced or challenged?
Imagine yourself as the opposite gender while reading this piece

11. Marxist Looking at a text in terms of power
Oftentimes, power is related to money
Who has money; who doesn’t
Who has power; who doesn’t
Who is “rich”; who is “poor”

12. How to Look Through the Marxist Lens
Consider who has the power and who doesn’t
Consider who has the money and who doesn’t

13. Marxist Lens What role(s) do power, money, or class play in this work?
What happens as a result of these differences?

14. Formalism Looks at the text AS a TEXT.
Meaning is discovered through close reading
NOT by examining outside sources

15. How to Look Through the Formalist Lens
Look at words, literary terms, symbols.
Analyze how parallels are established and create a unity within the text.

16. Reader Response Looks at how the reader responds to the text.
Individual meaning is derived as the reader reads

17. How to Look Through the Reader Response Lens
Ummm….just read (no…seriously)
Track what you think and interpret the text to mean!
Bring your own thoughts, moods, and experiences to the text.

18. So What is the Point? Literal level Interpretive level
Notice these structures for each lens
Point out the history, the women, the powerful
Interpretive level
Answer the “so what…” question
What might the author be implying with a powerful woman, a class conflict, or similes throughout….. the THEME

19. Example to Ponder - The Lion King
Historical
Made in 1990s
Time of great political upheaval in world
Theme – “right” governments can overcome adversity?

20. The Lion King Feminist Helpless females
Females provide food and care for the young yet males have ALL the power
Nala is stronger than Simba, but she does not inherit the crown
Theme – Strong men should rule in the world while women support them?

21. The Lion King Marxist Males have all the power (Mufasa, Simba, Scar)
When Mufasa dies, Simba is the ONLY one considered for the crown.
Lions retain power over all other animals
Hyenas are weak (lower-class)
Class rebellion leads to the conflict of the film
Theme – Class distinction should be eliminated?

22. The Lion King Formalist Examine songs and messages? Examine artwork?
Different with movies than with written texts.

23. The Lion King Reader Response I like it because…. It reminds me of….
This connects to Hamlet….

24. In addition to reading through literary lenses…
We need to evaluate the reliability of our narrator.
How will we do this?

25. Evaluating Narrator Reliability
A narrator, especially a first person perspective, may change the events when telling the story because
the narrator has misinterpreted what was seen or heard.
the narrator wants the reader’s empathy.
the narrator is untrustworthy.
the narrator is too immature to understand the events as they are happening.

26. The Reader and the Narrator
The reader enters a contract with the narrator when reading the story.
The narrator will tell me what I need to know.
The reader will have a response to the narrator.
Can be positive or negative
The reader must decide if the narrator should be trusted.
Should everything be taken at face value?

27. Questions to Ask How much does the narrator know?
Do events take place now or in the past?
Is the narrator a participant in, or a witness to, the action?
What is the motivation for telling the story?
In a nutshell: Who are you and why are you telling me this?

28. The Reliable Narrator
Can be trusted by the reader, although the reader may not agree with the narrator
Is honest even if the telling of the story is offensive or unpleasant (unbiased or equally-weighted descriptions)
Understands the plot
Provides events that may actually happen for any particular occurance
Usually 3rd person…rarely 1st person

29. The Unreliable Narrator
Cannot be trusted
Misleads the readers
Distorts the truth
Makes the reader evaluate the story and read between the lines
Speaks or behaves in a manner which is not consistent throughout the story
Usually 1st person…rarely 3rd person

30. What else…. In addition to all of your already awesome active reading-annotation skills…. Focus on….
Make connections, Text-Text, Text-Self, Text-World
Character Development: Track how characters develop over the course of the text, track how your opinions of characters change as you read.
Enter the conversation….Be your own literary critic!