Media Viewing and Analyzing
I have a creeping suspicion that one of the greatest challenges of my teaching career is going to be dealing with the "Death of the Author". On the one hand, once a writer let's go of the work it becomes the reader's to interpret. On the other hand, I've seen some really stupid, close-minded, and (in some cases) harmful interpretations of texts come from people who don't care to learn anything about the author. How many mediocre English teachers have crammed their personal interpretations of various works down their students throats with no actual evidence to back them up (a good example of this phenomena can be seen in Fun Home by Alison Bechdel)? I've seen people scream that other authors are fascist or racist in spite of the fact that there is nothing in either the text or the author's background to support it. I've seen people say the opposite about other writers, again, with ample evidence supporting it.
On the other hand, there are times when what the reader takes away from a work is far deeper and more poignant than what the author intended. Fahrenheit 451 is widely considered on of the greatest protests against government censorship and control put to paper. Bradbury wrote it to complain about television (although he's never been consistent on what he says the book is about. He's also said it was about political correctness and the Internet). But it was the idea of government censorship and the control of ideas that caught on with people for the first few decades of the novel's existence.
I think what it comes down to is communication. Any form of art is, first and foremost, an act of communication. Whether it be though words, images, sounds, or a mixture of all three. One of the things a writer has to do is try to communicate their ideas clearly while not subtracting from the story they're trying to tell. I've seen way too many stories that effectively turn into soapboxes for the author's views in a way that is not insightful but irritating even for readers that agree with the author.
Overall, when it comes to grading a text in all the matters a text can be graded, I always include a category for communication. Bradbury gets a D for Farenheit. Fun Home gets an A.
On the other hand, there are times when what the reader takes away from a work is far deeper and more poignant than what the author intended. Fahrenheit 451 is widely considered on of the greatest protests against government censorship and control put to paper. Bradbury wrote it to complain about television (although he's never been consistent on what he says the book is about. He's also said it was about political correctness and the Internet). But it was the idea of government censorship and the control of ideas that caught on with people for the first few decades of the novel's existence.
I think what it comes down to is communication. Any form of art is, first and foremost, an act of communication. Whether it be though words, images, sounds, or a mixture of all three. One of the things a writer has to do is try to communicate their ideas clearly while not subtracting from the story they're trying to tell. I've seen way too many stories that effectively turn into soapboxes for the author's views in a way that is not insightful but irritating even for readers that agree with the author.
Overall, when it comes to grading a text in all the matters a text can be graded, I always include a category for communication. Bradbury gets a D for Farenheit. Fun Home gets an A.
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