“Michael [English teacher] asks students to place a mark on a concentric circle graph that indicates where they are in relation to the center of money and power. There are five concentric rings: One is the closest to the center of power and money, and five is the most distant.” (Appleman’s Critical Encounters in High School English)
The above activity is presented in the text as an introduction to a discussion of the Marxist critical literary theory.
While I certainly support teaching literary theory in schools (as reflected in my previous post) I have some serious concerns regarding the application of this activity. Michael is asking his students to record their interpretation of their own socio-economic status, which seems incredibly personal. The text goes on to say that Michael has “carefully constructed this part of the activity so that students would reflect privately on their own economic status…” yet the discussion that follows reflects that some students are sharing information with their peers.
My fear is that such an open discussion of the status of individual students is distasteful, and potentially embarrassing. Obviously the social status of students is visible to some degree. For example, the clothes the student wears, as well as the car they drive all reveal this secret fact. However, having students mark on a handout where they feel their family falls on a socioeconomic scale just seems to have so many problems. What if students are not comfortable sharing this information (even just by silently marking the paper)? What if students run home and tell their parents that their teacher wanted to know how much money they earn? Could the same overall goal of the activity be achieved by instead asking students to just imagine themselves in a particular circle?
2 responses so far ↓
1 mchamberlain // Oct 4, 2006 at 12:37 pm
I also read this chapter, but never thought about it to the degree that you have and I feel that you have brought up some valid points. It might not be the best idea to have students mark on a piece of paper which ring they (or really their parents) fall in because this may be too personal and could cause some students to feel uncomfortable. I believe that you could draw the circles on the board and ask the students to just think about which circle they would fall in and how this might affect their interpretations or affections to certain literary characters, such as in Hamlet. That way students are not writing anything personal down and are not forced to share their perceptions unless they want to. I also like your idea of having students imagine themselves in a particular circle and how that would affect their perceptions and interpretations.
2 Ms. Best // Oct 4, 2006 at 11:47 pm
I agree with you. I felt the same way after reading this chapter. I don’t think this activity will help students undertand Marxist literary thoery. I prefer a method that entails the students researching what Marxism literary theory is on their own. A teacher could briefly introduce the theory and then have the students go home and research anything they can find out about the theory. On the following day the students could share their facts. The students could then apply their knowledge to the text they are reading in class. The teacher could then make a distinction between facts the students brought in that apply more to Marxist political theory and then Marxist literary theory. Making these distinctions while analyzing a Marxist-applicable text will bring a full understanding to the reader. Not to mention the student also contributed to the understanding of the theory through their outside research.