Critical Theory Today

After receiving the book list for this class I was somewhat terrified. Not because of the number of books but the title of one, Critical Theory Today. My first formal introduction to literary analysis was disastrous. My junior year in high school the english department introduced a new class, AP Language. I enrolled in the class but wasn't quite sure what to expect. My first assignment was to annotate an article. After turning in 3 re-writes of my original work and several meetings with my teacher I still hadn't gotten anything out of the class. I dropped the class and moved into a lower level after I got the worst grade I had ever gotten on a paper. I quickly came to the conclusion that the class was useless and my teacher was taking the text to mean WAY more than it actually did. I was convinced that she was making connections that weren't really there. Once I read chapter 1 of Critical Theory Today I felt much more at ease. A quote from page 1 described my situation perfectly. "With notable exceptions, most theoretical writing...is filled with technical terms and theoretical concepts that assume a level of familiarity newcomers simply don't have." Even after meeting with my teacher several times she was never able to convey to me exactly what I wasn't doing right. All she was ever able to tell me was "You need to do more". My answer, "More of what?!" It is a comfort to know that I am not the only one out there that didn't quite grasp the subject. Tyson writes, "...in order to understand some things clearly we must restrict our focus in a way that highlights certain elements and ignores others..." (p.3). I now look forward to looking at literature in different ways and focusing on different aspects of it.