Critical Encounters Ch. 8

This is totally trivial, but when i was reading this chapter i was thinking "man, this sounds like a really good conclusion of everything we have read in the book so far". Little did i know that it was the conclusion, and when i found that out i felt a little silly, but Appleman really does a good job about concluding everything from the previous chapters. I also like how she broadens using the literary theories and the use of critical lenses into looking at our lives, and how we fit in the world. This is actually how i have always thought of literary theories. It is easier for me to relate them to things in the the real world than relating them to a text. A lot of the time, while i am reading i will relate the theory to something in my life, then use reader response, almost, and relate that thing in my life to the text. i know it is a little skewed, but it seems to work for me. The activity that Appleman did with her students to have them look at things in the world around them, i thought to be very beneficial to the students. It seems so obvious, that i think a lot of kids might over look these things in every day life, but when told to look for it, it is so hard to miss, and it will give them a more critical look at everything in life, and might help them out in the long run.
One topic that Appleman covers in this chapter that i really agree with didn't come from her. It is the idea about critical lenses being like a prism from Henry Louis Gates Jr. I think this is a great metaphor because it seems to visually fit really well with what literary theories makes the reader do to a text. I also think that this is supported by what the kids have to say about using many different ones on one text, and being able to pick out which ones work better for a given text.