Teaching students to analyze literature by using different critical lenses presents a challenge, but trust me: it’s so worth it! Students are sometimes intimidated by fancy-sounding theoretical frameworks, and it can be hard to bridge the gap between abstract concepts and what our teens can bring onboard and use. Not only that, but teaching lenses might sometimes be viewed as political.
However teaching these analytical approaches to reading and analyzing literature doesn’t have to be divisive, political, or overly hard for our students to grasp! In fact, the lenses are excellent tools that can make literature more relevant, interesting, and personal to our students, not less! And they don’t have to be taught in a politicized manner! How, then, do we transform these academic frameworks into accessible pathways for our students that will lead to genuine understanding and engagement?
This THREE-MINUTE read will explain it all!
[Grab my Critical Lens Lessons here!]
The Problem of Distance and Disconnection
First, we must acknowledge why students struggle with critical lenses; in my experience, my high schoolers often cannot see beyond (what they see as) intimidating terminology, and it makes them resist even trying to grasp the concepts beneath, even though they aren’t actually so far away from things the students already know, understand, and discuss in their everyday lives.
When we leap immediately into discussions of “post-colonial othering” or “critique of patriarchal structures,” we create a distance between theory and application, and this is a gap that is too wide for many students to cross. Many of them shut down and check out; they are confused, their essays end up being bland, and they think this stuff is boring and doesn’t matter in real life.
This distance, this separation between concept and application, creates a silence in the classroom where students are not engaged. Students describe texts in cursory ways but never truly engage with deeper meaning or real analysis. Here’s the problem with that: if we keep doing things that lead kids to this kind of superficial interaction with literature, where we can see that they are never really pushing past surface-level understanding, our students will never develop the analytical skills they need to succeed in the future.
Instead of accepting this intellectual avoidance, we must find ways to connect theory to texts students can readily understand. When we do this, it opens up new realms of possibility for our classrooms and students. THIS is the key to getting both better thinking and better writing out of our students. It’s also the key to helping them mature as readers.
Connecting Through the Familiar
As teachers, we need to establish connections between critical theory and the world students already know. Before analyzing The Great Gatsby or Dubliners through a class lens, we need to think about accessible connections we can make for the kids.
For example, if you want to do a class lens, begin by discussing The Hunger Games with the students. Talk about its clear depiction of societal stratification. Ask students to think about what familiar books and movies have to say about class. Try books like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Outsiders, or movies like Aladdin. THEN start digging into your literary/class novel choice. (For example, Mrs. Dalloway is a good whole-class to use with the class lens!)
Need another example? Before tackling the gender/sex/feminist lens as your class reads Pride and Prejudice or The Awakening, ask students to examine and discuss gender expectations in Mulan or The Hate U Give or Frozen, or another popular children’s or teen’s book or movie!
These connections can help you make abstract concepts more tangible for students, and they can help you transform theoretical frameworks into practical tools. When I guided my students through class analysis using examples from The Hunger Games, before applying the same questions to The Grapes of Wrath, for example, they had a much easier time getting into discussions about how economic power can shape character decisions and plot development!
This type of approach makes it so much easier for the kids to apply new understandings and ways of reading, discussing, and writing about literature to more complex, canonical texts. The familiar is a great gateway to the unfamiliar; popular culture becomes your bridge to analyzing classical literature & whole-class novels. It’s great for student buy-in, too!
Note: It helps to ask them what books and movies (and TV shows) were popular when they were in grades 6-8. Get an idea for what you can reference that many will be familiar with, and consider using popular children’s books and movies as well. It’s TOTALLY legit to reference a book for little kids (Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, and Dr. Seuss remain popular), Disney movies, or a popular show like Sponge Bob (or whatever it is they’re all familiar with)!!
Maintaining Academic Neutrality
Perhaps the greatest challenge in teaching critical lenses today comes in navigating the political landscape. We need to think about how we can teach students to analyze power dynamics in a text, like Lord of the Flies, say, without forcing particular political viewpoints. We need to find ways to explore gender representation in The Scarlet Letter without imposing contemporary political positions or making anyone feel singled out. We want to be able to talk about and use the lenses without making our classroom feel political, biased, or unfair.
The solution lies in keeping our focus squarely on textual analysis rather than contemporary applications. For example, when teaching post-colonial theory:
- Instead of: Discussing current political movements or controversial political figures
- We can: Analyze how The Lion King portrays colonization through animal kingdoms or how Avatar represents indigenous resistance, and then apply the lens to our chosen text for the unit, like Homegoing.
This is the approach I take with my handouts/lessons on the lenses themselves. It means I’m teaching analytical frameworks without forcing particular political viewpoints. Students learn to identify, for example, power/class/money/gender issues in texts like The Crucible or Crime and Punishment without classroom discussion devolving into partisan debate. They can then look into the representations of characters, settings, and conflicts without feeling that their personal values are under attack.
[Grab my Critical Lens Lessons here!]
Providing Structure for Success
Even with relatable examples, students need structured support to apply these lenses effectively. We must provide:
- Clear analytical questions that each lens poses to a text, guiding students’ initial inquiries
- Organizational templates that help students structure their analysis essays logically
- Quote integration lessons showing how to weave textual evidence into analysis
I feel that scaffolds like these are necessary in the modern classroom; rather than limiting creativity, they provide the necessary structure for students to develop confidence with unfamiliar analytical approaches. Just as we would not expect a novice carpenter to build a house without blueprints, we cannot expect students to construct sophisticated analyses without analytical frameworks!
The Result
When students truly grasp critical lenses, their relationship with literature fundamentally changes. Essays evolve from plot summaries to sophisticated analyses. Class discussions reach new depths of understanding. Most importantly, students develop intellectual flexibility—the ability to examine texts, and by extension the world, from multiple perspectives.
It’s why this is such a great activity for older high schoolers, AP Lit, and AP Lang!
Beginning the Journey
Start with just one lens that connects naturally to your current text. Build student confidence with familiar examples before challenging them with more complex applications. Remember that our goal is not to create literary theorists—it is to give students practical tools for deeper reading and more insightful writing.
By keeping our approach student-centered, example-rich, and politically neutral, we can transform critical lenses from intimidating academic concepts into practical tools students can use with confidence. We help them develop a way of seeing that extends beyond the classroom, a way of seeing that reveals connections and complexities previously invisible to them!
Looking for ready-to-use critical lens teaching materials? My comprehensive Critical Lens Essay Assignment Bundle features six different lenses (Reader Response, Psychoanalytical, Post-Colonial, Gender, Class, and Ecocritical) with student-friendly language, scaffolded writing supports, and engaging examples from popular books and movies that will transform how your students approach literary analysis!
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