AP Language Class Notes
Period 2 juniors and seniors, although your discussion of critical approaches today was less animated than your period 5 peers’, it was no less rich. As many of you from both periods enter your four- or two-year post-secondary careers, you’ll come to have at least a passing knowledge of most of the critical theories you’ve surveyed over the last couple of days; some of you will be expected to tow one of the critical lines to please your instructors, and, in extreme cases, attempts will be made to indoctrinate you into a particular mode of thinking.
The former isn’t so in all cases, but no matter, you’ll be expected to defend your beliefs in the marketplace of ideas in class and on campus. And it’s vital that you be able to understand the foundations, assess the claims, and argue the validity of a variety of worldviews, most importantly your own.
Among the questions our discussion (I hope) might have engendered in your brains include:
- Which of these approaches, if any, are reasonable?
- Which, if any, are accurate reflections of reality?
- Which, if any, contain internal contradictions?
- Which are better than the others? Are any of them good or useful at all?
- What select principles from each can be applied to analysis?
- What consequences does adherence to each carry?
- Which, if any, is true?
Notice the singular on that last question of the non-exhaustive list; recall that they can’t all be true or equal in the same way according to our friend the Law of Non-contradiction. We’ll continue to discuss ideas and worldviews as we begin Things Fall Apart and commence your next major paper. Be sure to check back sometime later in the break for details.
Have a great, safe, relaxing, and productive break, kids. See you for last nine weeks soon.