Page 134 - ELA_CA_HighSchool_Sampler_Flipbook

54 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Senior English
ACTIVITY 1.16
What Is Cultural Criticism?
PLAN TEACH
LEARNING STRATEGIES:
Discussion Groups, Rereading, Marking the Text
TEACHER
Literary Terms
Cultural Criticism focuses on
the elements of culture and how they affect one’s perceptions and
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
To marginalize someone is
to relegate or confine that person to a lower or outer
limit. A dominant group is the more powerful one, and it may
perceive the marginalized, or
subordinate, person or group as having a lower social status.
ACTIVITY 1.16
Suggested Pacing: 1 50-minute class period
1 Activate prior knowledge by asking students (1) to define culture (the shared beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a group of people), and (2) to identify elements of culture (religion, class, politics, family, gender, foods, music, nationality, ethnicity). Introduce Cultural Criticism by asking students to predict what the theory is about, based on their understanding of the word culture and their prior knowledge of critical theory.
2 Break students into four small discussion groups, each to discuss one of the four common ideas about the use of Cultural Criticism. Students will then present summaries of their discussion to the class. Ensure that the class discussion clarifies any misunderstandings.
3 To prepare students to read the Luis Rodriguez poem and consider its cultural framework, focus students’ attention on the culture of their school. Ask them to consider which school rules they would change and why they would change them if they were able to do so. After a few responses, ask students why the school rules would look different if they, rather than the current administration, were in charge. Point out that those in power make rules and that power can have its
own culture.
4 Have students study and discuss the image in pairs. Ask them to consider how someone using Cultural Criticism might view the image and what new understandings might emerge from using this lens.
TO TEACHER
You may want to refer students back to Kincaid’s essay as an excellent example of a text that benefits
from an understanding of Cultural Criticism.
understanding of texts.
My Notes
Learning Targets
• Analyze an image by applying the elements of Cultural Criticism.
• Explain how the assumptions of Cultural Criticism are used to analyze a poem for meaning.
Cultural Criticism
In the first part of this unit, you learned about literary theory and the Reader Response Criticism as one method of analyzing a text.
Another critical lens through which a text can be viewed is Cultural Criticism. This form of criticism examines how different religions, ethnicities, class identifications, political beliefs, and individual viewpoints affect the ways in which texts are created and interpreted. Cultural Criticism suggests that being a part of—or excluded from—a specific group or culture contributes to and affects our understanding of texts.
The following statements reflect four common ideas about the use of Cultural Criticism as a lens for understanding literature:
• Ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual identity, and so on are crucial components in formulating plausible interpretations of text.
• While the emphasis is on diversity of approach and subject matter, Cultural Criticism is not the only means of understanding ourselves and our art.
• An examination or exploration of the relationship between dominant cultures and marginalized cultures is essential.
• When looking at a text through the perspective of marginalized, or subordinate, peoples, new understandings emerge.
Cultural Criticism examines texts from the position of those individuals who are in some way marginalized or not part of the dominant culture.
As you look at the picture below, think about the many aspects of culture that influence the interactions and perceptions of the people in the photograph. Share your thinking with a partner. Using language from the explanation of Cultural Criticism and details from the photograph to support your thinking, work with your partner to summarize the theory and discuss how someone using Cultural Criticism might view this image.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Additional Standards Addressed:
RL.11–12.3; RL.11–12.6; W.11–12.2a; W.11–12.4; SL.11–12.1a; L.11–12.6
Focus Standards:
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RL.11–12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
RL.11–12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
54 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Senior English
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.