Three literary-theory lenses — reader-response / formalist / historical-cultural

Quick think: when you read a poem, what do you pay attention to first? The words? The author's life? Your own feelings?

• Affirm: all three are valid starting points
• Tee up: three lenses make this explicit

Today we introduce three LITERARY-THEORY LENSES — starter frames for analysis. A lens is a starting question that shapes what you look at. Different lenses produce different (compatible) readings of the same text. LENS 1 READER-RESPONSE: what does the text DO TO A READER? What does it make you feel, expect, doubt? Reader-response analysis pays attention to YOUR experience — but disciplined: trace exactly which words trigger which response. LENS 2 FORMALIST: what do the text's WORDS, STRUCTURE, and FORM do? Formalist analysis pays attention to diction, syntax, imagery, structure, sound — the text's craft elements as the source of meaning. (Most of our close-reading work so far has been formalist.) LENS 3 HISTORICAL-CULTURAL: what WORLD produced this text? What does knowing the author's context add — their era, place, identity, struggles? Historical-cultural analysis pays attention to context. RULE: one essay typically uses ONE lens as its dominant frame. But strong essays often integrate moves from two lenses. (This is a Grade 9-10 stretch — we introduce as scaffolded lenses.)

• Reader-response stays grounded in textual triggers.

  model What does this vignette make you FEEL about your own name? Notice the line 'I would like to baptize myself under a new name' — does it land as longing, defiance, sadness?

  prompt Cisneros, 'My Name.' Reader-response question?
• Formalist is the workhorse — most of your close-reading is here.

  model Notice the repetition of 'name' as a structural anchor. Notice the fragment 'My great-grandmother.' Notice the diction — 'wild horse' vs. 'tame.' How do these CRAFT moves construct the speaker's relationship to her name?

  prompt Same passage, formalist question?
• Historical-cultural adds context without overpowering the text.

  model Cisneros writes from a Chicana experience in 1980s Chicago. What does knowing this context add to the line 'the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong'? The historical context reframes the personal as cultural pattern.

  prompt Same passage, historical-cultural question?

• Pair-share: which lens fits YOUR essay best? Why?
• Cold Call: name the central question of each lens.

M-7-S-RH-16-A Chart

MG-22 anchor: 3-column card with reader-response (R) / formalist (F) / historical-cultural (H) — central question + sample observation per lens. Visual: three different lenses (eyeglasses) over the same passage. Print-ready 11x17.

MG-22 Chart

Sentence-shape diagram tutorial anchor: 1-page reference showing how to visualize sentence shape. METHOD 1 — UNDERLINING: independent clauses underlined solid; dependent clauses underlined dashed; phrases (appositive, participial, gerund, infinitive) underlined dotted. METHOD 2 — BRACKETING: [main clause] {appositive phrase} (participial phrase). METHOD 3 — DIAGRAMMING: a simplified tree showing subject / verb / object / modifier hierarchy. WORKED EXAMPLE: 'Maya Angelou, a poet and memoirist, captured the texture of childhood with sentences that move like music.' DIAGRAM: [Maya Angelou {a poet and memoirist} captured the texture of childhood (with sentences) (that move like music)]. Bottom rule: 'Diagramming a mentor sentence reveals its architecture. Architecture is craft.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Apply all three lenses to a shared passage (Cisneros 'My Name'). Generate one analytical observation per lens.

  scaffold MG-22 anchor + 3-column observation worksheet
• Choose the lens that best fits YOUR essay. Justify the choice in 2 sentences. Mark your draft with the lens choice in the margin.

  scaffold Lens-choice template + sample justifications

• Name your essay's dominant lens. Justify the choice in 1-2 sentences.

• Restate: three lenses (reader-response / formalist / historical-cultural) — different starting questions, different (compatible) readings
• Preview tomorrow's pass-1 peer revision on the practice essay

• Identify a moment in your essay draft where a SECOND lens (not your primary) would deepen the analysis. Plan how to integrate it (without overcomplicating).