Dog Latin

Before college, my idea of literary theory was about as fully realized as my idea of quantum theory. That is, I don’t think I ever did anything remotely close to literary theory analysis in my high school courses. This is troubling to me because I attribute a great deal of my motivation to become an English Language Arts student to my initial experiences in an American Lit: 1945-Present course that was based in using theory to analyze literature. The course was a tough one for me to get used to, but it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my college career. Using theory to explore texts gave them a relevance and vibrancy that I had never experienced, and it pains me to think that there are students in high schools right now that aren’t benefitting from the experience of actually interpreting a text and breaking down its meanings and themes. Using literary theory gives a modern context for any text being read because the theories used are still relevant and active within the intellectual sphere. Using literary theory in the high school English classroom can give students a taste of the larger world of literary analysis while still giving them something relevant that they can use to shape their own thoughts, theories, and visions of their world. Ever since that fateful American lit. class, I’ve used theory to make reading more interactive, and this is a lesson that I want to bring to my future students.