Texts and Contexts: Writing about Literature with Critical Theory

by Steven Lynn

Book Overview

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0205716741
• ISBN13: 9780205716746
• Release Date: July 2010
• Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
• Length: 267 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Favorite Intro Lit Textbook

A number of years back, Mortimer Adler, he of the Paedeia Program and the wonderful Great Books Series, probably the last publically successful canonical venture before we starting deconstructing the canon, wrote a bestseller which was at the time regarded as a classic: "How To Read a Book". Lynn has written the book that Adler was trying to write. After years spent reading and teaching the humanities, I've learned that we don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about how we read. That conclusion, in simple, funky Americanese, is, in as many words, what, I think, Jacques Derrida was trying to say in a lot more. And if words are, in a sense, metaphors, it's that much more imperative that we get a handle on our method of reading, that we become mindful of our processes of comprehension. Teaching mindful comprehension, a method of reading that sticks, is the main task of college level pedagogy in the humanities. Lynn's book is a masterpiece of organization and concision. He begins by briefly describing the seven + basic approaches to reading which, in contemporary academic parlance, go under the rubric of critical theory, and then proceeds to devote a chapter to each, examining, in simple, clear, and accessible terms and demonstrations, what value the particular approach under discussion has for understanding the text. Lynn's writing is lucid, accessible, exemplary. His citations are edifying, central. His examples are, well . . . textbook. The book as a whole is remarkably comprehensive in a svelte, easy-to-hand, state-of-the-art format. I challenge Freshman English or Language Arts instructors to find better than what we have here.

Clever but too simplfied

I assigned this book in an undergraduate course that included an introduction to critical theory. The book is cleverly written and is intended to be accessible. It features sample analyses for each of the theoretical approaches, and keeps things light with occasional jokes and cartoons, which help keep theory from being intimidating. Indeed, the book is frequently entertaining. It outlines six major schools of literary criticism (New Criticism, Reader-Response, Deconstruction, Psychological criticism and gender criticism), and the chapters are well-organized. The front cover features a useful set of summaries for each approach: its assumptions, practices, and typical questions. All this is good. I found, however, that the book is so intent on summarizing the theories briefly and clearly that it oversimplifies and leaves out important points. I therefore found myself filling in the gaps and sending my students to supplementary readings from other textbooks that I had NOT adopted and had instead put on reserve as supplementary readings (Lois Tyson's Critical Theory Today and Charles Bressler's Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Literary Theory and Practice). So I'm back to looking for a text for my class. I would recommend Lynn's book as a back-up (the way I used Tyson and Bressler) and as brush-up reading for people who already have some background in theory.

Simply Amazing Book!

Reading this book makes you feel like you are reading a story book. Its that engaging and interesting. The more you read, the more you can see how much you really didn't pay attention to while reading. A must read!

A great introductory text for AP English

I use this book to introduce literary theory to my AP high school seniors. The explanations of the theories are accessible, the sample essays provide great models, and the suggested strategies for critical writing effectively allow my students to engage with both work and theory. Impressive... AND the author maintains a sense of humor which adds to the readability. Wow!