Critical Lenses to use with ANY Fictional Text!

Sometimes it takes a little tactile learning to grasp difficult concepts. This lesson uses fun props as a way to teach students how to analyze literature through critical lenses. This lesson also includes examples for each lens from Harry Potter.

You will get:
8 Critical lenses with explanations for each lens
*Religious Connection Lens
*Psychoanalytical Lens
*Feminist or Gender Lens
*Historian Lens
*Archetype or Narratology Lens
*Marxist Lens
*Reader Response Lens
*New Criticism Lens or Structuralism Lens
1 Harry Potter example for each concept

This lesson is great for group roles, close readings, and text analysis. Since students are finding evidence for their analysis, this activity can very easily progress to an analytical essay for any piece of fictional work!

For example, a way to extend this lesson into an essay for Lord of the Flies would be:

Using the psychoanalytical lens, write an essay about who represents the Id, Ego, SuperEgo in this novel. Or, write an essay analyzing how war affected the author's mental state while writing Lord of the Flies.

Using the feminist lens, write an essay exploring Golding's answer to why he used males rather than females to represent a micro world. Or, how would this story be different if females were included?

Using the religious connection lens, write an essay describing the religious symbolism behind The Lord of the Flies, Simon, and fire.


You can assign all eight lenses, or you can pick and choose based on the most prominent concepts found in a text. For example, the Religious Connection, Psychoanalytical, Historian, and Gender Lens stand out the most when reading Lord of the Flies.

Download the preview for an overview!

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Informational Text Lenses


Keywords:
Critical Lenses
Literary Lenses
Literary Theories
AP English
A Sampling of Literary Theories
Schools of Literary Criticism