What's the Lens?
In "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, what lens highlights the way expectations for women’s behavior are socially constructed?
Feminist
The plot of most every rom-com ever; it follows a similar pattern to Man in a Hole. The protagonist meets their dream partner, experiences momentary bliss, screws everything up, and then fights for redemption and wins. This plot is 95% of Netflix’s holiday programming strategy, and it works.
Boy Meets Girl
“Ignore the author and your feelings; focus only on the text.”
What is the Formal lens?
Conflict between “the haves” and “the have nots.”
What is the Social Class lens?
In "The Lesson" by Toni Cade Bambara, what lens best explains Miss Moore’s lesson about inequality and economic oppression?
Marxist
Although it’s called ________, the protagonist can start anywhere on the Fortune Axis. The only rule: things need to keep getting worse and worse. These are the stories that often haunt us.
From Bad to Worse
“We must examine how characters are treated based on ability.”
What is the Disability Studies lens?
Conflict between “normal” and “abnormal.”
What is the Disability Studies lens?
In "Young Goodman Brown," which lens could examine Goodman Brown’s inner conflict and subconscious fears of sin?
Psychoanalytic
Someone living a good life runs into serious trouble and needs to get out of it. A story we can’t get enough of!
Man in a Hole
“Power is unfairly divided between the colonizer and colonized.”
What is the Post-colonial lens?
Conflict between a dominant and marginalized culture.
What is the Cultural Criticism lens?
In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," which lens would focus on the old man as a mythical figure symbolizing otherworldly wisdom?
Archetypal
The character(s) goes through a series of seemingly random ups and downs. Often, the overall line slopes up despite the constant zigzag.
Which Way is Up? (The Complicated One)
“Let’s explore how gender roles are reinforced or broken.”
What is the Gender lens?
Conflict between historical time period and text meaning.
What is the Historical lens?
In "Young Goodman Brown," which lens helps us connect Puritan religious anxieties with the story’s themes of guilt and morality?
Historical
Characterized by cycles of good fortune and bad fortune, but typically ends in a downward direction. Think of it as a series of ups and downs that finally go down.
Old Testament
“Our reactions as readers shape the meaning of a text.”
What is the Reader lens?
Conflict between masculine and feminine expectations.
What is the Gender lens?