Blog #1 - Deeper Reading Ch. 1, Critical Encounters Ch. 1 & 2

For my first ever ECUR 498 blog, I am going to discuss my thoughts about Chapter 1 in the Deeper Reading Text and Chapters 1 and 2 in the Critical Encounters text.
First I read "Why Reading is like Baseball" in Deeper Reading. Kelly Gallagher certainly had some interesting thoughts about learning baseball strategy as a metaphor for learning deeper meanings in literature. On the surface, the game of baseball is easy to understand, similar to reading. Any person can watch baseball or read a book. However, not everyone understands the intricate strategies used in baseball or the metaphorical language used in literature. Using a metaphor was a clever way to start off a textbook that will ultimately deal with teaching students to think metaphorically about the literature they are exposed to. Deeper Reading provided a clean-cut introduction to why it is important for students to dig deep into text to discover the layers of meaning. Students will be more enriched by literature if they understand that interpretations can vary.
In Critical Encounters, the other textbook written by Deborah Appleman, she essentially discussed the same thing as Kelly Gallagher but in more depth. Although I believe that both Appleman and Gallagher raise important points about why it is important for youth to be able to deconstruct literature, I do not think this is as "radical" a thought as they believe it to be. At my high school, our ELA teachers strongly encouraged my classmates and I to look at literature through different lenses. We microscopically examined readings until there was nothing left to pick apart. There were few (if any) sections of literature assignments where we did not discuss race, class, gender, or other social issues. In fact, it was heavily reinforced that looking at literature through different lenses was the proper way to read literature. Perhaps my school was fortunate to have progressive ELA teachers.
After I completed the readings I checked to see what year these textbooks were from, and found that Critical Encounters was published in 2009 and Deeper Reading in 2004. I graduated from high school in 2007 and teaching literary theory was already in full force. I actually had to read over the section about literary theory in Critical Encounters more than once to make sure that I wasn't missing some kind of other meaning of the term because it was a concept I was already so familiar with coming out of high school. My classmates and I were encouraged to develop our own interpretations of text.
Although I don't necessarily agree that literary theory is as revolutionary as the textbooks would have us believe, I absolutely agree that teaching literary theory is important. Where I really found importance in Chapter 1 of Deeper Reading was the section where Gallagher discussed the fact that he noticed students having more trouble understanding simple texts such as newspaper and magazine articles, speeches and textbook passages. Anyone can read a few paragraphs in a newspaper or textbook, but few people truly grasp what they are reading. This is a trend I can see happening among younger people, although I'm not sure why. Perhaps I'll find out if I am ever hired as an ELA teacher! I fully intend on continuing the legacy of my high school ELA teachers by teaching students that literature, not unlike art, music, and other facets of life can have endless interpretations and there is often more than one truth.