Prompt: In Part 1 of the essay, explore the origins and purposes of established
Prompt: In Part 1 of the essay, explore the origins and purposes of established literary theories. For
Part 2, create a literary theory, drawing inspiration from the foundational principles and objectives that guided the development of existing theories. (think of it more as a cultural or contextual theory, it doesn’t have to reflect literature).
Part 1 Literary Theory Analysis
– Choose 1 (at least): Structuralism, Deconstruction, Postmodernism, Psychoanalysis, Feminism and/or Queer Theory, Marxism, New Historicism, and Post Colonialism.
– Using at least one established “Critical Literary Theory” of your choosing, construct a “lens” with which to analyze one or more short stories from Stories of Your Life & Others by Ted Chiang. Three direct quotes minimum from Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang.
– (At least) one direct use of at least one Literary Theory presented in Telescopes and Spyglasses: Using Literary Theories in High School (no direct quotes mandatory)
– One reference to a scholastic, peer-reviewed source (this can be a quote, data, or summary)
– Analyze at least 1 short story from Stories of Your Life & Others from the class using one or more Critical Literary Theories that you chose.
Part 2 Make Your Own Literary Theory
– 2 paragraphs minimum. This is meant to be a creative and fun exercise where you can use your analytical mind to analyze something, find the critique, and turn it into a “theory” of some kind. It can be serious in tone but it can also be goofy and silly if that’s easier for you.
Guidelines:
Understanding the Foundations: Reflect on the historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts that shaped the creation of the literary theories you studied. Consider the problems or gaps they aimed to address and the principles that guided their development.
Developing Your Theory: Create a new literary theory that responds to a current need or gap in literary, media, or cultural analysis. Your theory should be informed by the foundational principles of existing theories but should also introduce your innovative perspective.
Theory Tenets: Articulate the key principles or tenets of your new theory. Explain how these tenets offer a unique approach to interpreting literature and how they relate to the foundational principles of the theories you studied.
Critical Analysis: Analyze the motivations behind your theory’s creation. Compare and contrast your theory’s objectives and approaches with those of the established theories, discussing how your theory builds upon or diverges from traditional literary analysis.
Application: Apply your theory to a specific text of your choice (TV, movie, or other is fine too). Demonstrate how your theory sheds new light on the text or offers a novel interpretation. Use examples from the text to illustrate your theory’s application.
Name Your Theory: Give your theory a name of whatever you think is a good fit and describe why. Please avoid overly controversial content, however, remember this is just an exercise.
Don’t overthink it. Take your Literary Theory, make it a ‘portable idea’, and then see if and how it shows up in Stories of Your Life & Others.