Confident Criticism: Literary Philosophy, Student Choice, and Diverse Perspectives

Core to English Language Arts instruction is building confidence in students’ voices and unique perspectives. Yet we continue to approach critical analysis with bias that students may not be able to recognize or push against and take on as they mirror our modelling. Providing students with different philosophical perspectives that align with or perhaps challenge their unique worldviews strengthens the quality of their analysis and engagement. Through this, students are more capable of finding their way into the collection of voices within our discipline and the larger Humanities community. This session will outline a literature circle unit that I have used with English 20-1 classes. The unit pairs choice and voice, culminating in a critical analytical response to literature product which applies a particular literary philosophy.