Essay Preview - Heads Up on the Unit Goal

As you choose your book, keep in mind the end goal.

At the END of this unit in sessions 4 and 5,  you'll be drafting and revising a critical lens essay using one of the following critical theories (explanatory handouts attached below): 

• Reader Response
• Gender Theory
• Social Class
• PostColonialism
• Deconstruction

Past students told me it would have been helpful to have this assignment at the start of the unit so that they could collect quotations as they read....Hence, you're seeing this here.  

As you read, think about which critical lens might work best to analyze your science fiction novel.  These questions might help:

• Which of these lenses do I personally identify with most?
• Which of these lenses could be an interesting way to analyze my science fiction novel?
• How might the experiences, plots, themes, and characters of my novel look if I tried on this lens?

You don't need to decide on a lens at this point. As you read, however, you can begin gathering ideas for how to use that lens to analyze your text.  Consider these questions:

• What quotes might be most interesting through this lens? 
• What characters might be most interesting through this lens?
• What themes might be most interesting through this lens?
• What conflicts might be most interesting through this lens?

Save your notes!  You’ll use them in the final sessions.