Literary Lenses

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Literary Lenses
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Literary perspectives

• Help explain why people interpret texts
  differently.
• Think of it as a lens though which we can view a
  text.

• No one theory is better than any other it is
  subjective to the reader.
• It is best to employ one at a time.

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While viewing this clip

• Try to view it using your assigned lens.
• Study the details, try to look beyond the
  obvious.
• Analyze this as if it were a visual, written text.

• Take notes and be prepared to discuss in your
  groups after viewing the clip about how you
  interpreted this clip using your assigned lens.

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The Three Little Pigs, 1933 (Disney)
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How it is viewed through the lens of a

• Historicist

• Feminist

• The simplicity of the art and cinematography of
  this cartoon is illustrative of Disneys earlier
  work adapting commonly-known tales into animated,
  visual texts.
• Portrayal of the frailty and desperation of the
  wolf representative of America (created during
  the Great Depression).

• These weak, diminutive, helpless pigs, who have
  always been traditionally male pigs, have these
  overly-feminized voices, implying to young
  readers that it is only women that are utterly
  defenseless.
• The smartest pig, the only one that has a house
  at the end, has the deepest voice, showing that
  he is more masculine.

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• Readers Response

• Psychoanalytic

• This video made me think about cartoons that I
  have seen recently and I cant help but note how
  dated this cartoon is. The music down to the way
  the pigs are dressed all drives me crazy, I think
  Disney is wrong for doing this to young children.
  

• These pigs are going around patronizing the Big
  Bad Wolf (by constantly singing the song)
  throughout this video and on some level maybe
  they subconsciously desired the negative
  attention or they wanted to test their bravery.

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Marxist

• The wolf is clearly starving and poor, his
  clothes are tattered and he is way too thin he
  is representative of the masses of Americans
  suffering at this time because of the Great
  Depression.

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Deconstructionists

• Why do we not question who is the implied villain
  and who is the implied hero, and why? Who is our
  narrator and is there some kind of bias against
  the wolf?

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The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!
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A Marxists View

• The wolf has the need to express his side of the
  story because society has deemed him as a
  deviant/villain for centuries.
• The wolf places an emphasis on purchasing a
  material good, something common to everyman to
  justify his deeds and gain the sympathy of the
  reader.

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A Feminists view

• This story illustrates a male-dominated society
  that emphasizes violence amongst one another.
• No female characters no gender equality.
• In both stories, for whatever reason, lives were
  lost and this is directly due to the patriarchal
  dominance of the text.

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A Historicists view

• The need for all sides of the story to be told is
  a modern idea, which this story clearly
  illustrates.
• Aim is to teach young children to take heed to
  all sides of the story before casting judgments.

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The New Critics view

• In this text, the language mimics that of the
  original story adding a cohesion between the two
  texts
• So I called, Little Pig, Little Pig, are you
  in? Im shaving the hairs on my chinny, chin,
  chin (Scieszca).

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The Psychoanalytic view

• The wolf, at some level of his subconscious,
  secretly desired to eat the pigs and that led him
  to destroy the pigs homes.
• It is because of the wolfs extreme desire to
  please his grandmother that he continues to
  terrorize pig after pig after pig.

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A Deconstructionists view

• This entire concept/book is an example a
  deconstructionists view
• While reading the original story, the question of
  the wolfs point of view should be questioned, as
  that is never clearly stated. Without
  questioning the objective of the story (to
  persuade children
• This text dismantles the

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A Readers Responses view

• While reading this text, I couldnt help but make
  comparisons to the traditional story. I had
  never thought about his (Alexander T. Wolfs)
  point of view. I did question his narrative
  throughout my reading and I still dont feel
  completely convinced that he is telling the
  truth. Critical readers question the validity of
  the author and I just cant trust Alex.

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Now in your group

• Read Sylvia Plaths poem, Daddy and complete
  the Activity, Literary Theory Prisms of
  Possibilities.