Short Essay #5 – Exploring Theory
In the 20th century, literary criticism exploded into multiple fields of study. From the typical close reading and historical approaches came a variety of cultural criticisms: Feminist, Colonial, Post-Colonial, Animal Studies, Disability Studies, etc. There was a parallel explosion in Linguistic criticism: Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Deconstruction, etc.
These criticisms or theoretical approaches to literature chose to look at literature through different lenses. This allowed literary scholars to consider things like the impact of non-human characters in literature; the treatment of disabled characters; the role of women; etc.
For this assignment, you will explore one of these theories. You will start by reading an in-depth explanation of the theory you choose. From there, you will write 500 words covering any number of concerns about the theory:
* What do you understand about the application of this critical theory?
* Why do you think it is or is not important?
* In what general ways can one apply this theory?
* Discuss a way to apply your theory to a specific piece of literature.
