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What are Shmoop Literary Critic Resources? 455 Views

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Description:

If there weren’t literary critics to help us understand what we’re reading and why, our copy of The Sound and the Fury might as well function as a drink coaster. At least it would keep us from getting all those frustrating rings on our coffee table.

Language:

English Language

Subjects:

Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:04
Literary Critics, a la Shmoop.
00:08
It's hard getting to know people.
00:09
We always have a tough time at mixers.
00:11
Usually, the truck driver just ends up shooing us away.
00:16
It makes it even harder to connect with someone when you've never actually met them.

00:21
Just ask our pen pal, Nam Pang... a panda at the Chengdu Zoo.
00:25
We don't want to rag on our new friend, but the conversation is fairly one-sided.
00:30
But when it comes to literary theorists, it's worth the extra effort to hear what they have to say.
00:37
As long as they... speak English and don't show up on any endangered species lists.
00:44
Literary theorists bring us new ways of reading our favorite books and poems...
00:48
...and they really want to get us thinking about what we read, how we read it, and why.
00:56
It's complicated stuff, and sometimes it involves some complicated language.
01:01
But with a little help from our trusty literary glossary, we can get through it.
01:06
Say you're at your favorite coffeehouse, dressed to the nines in
01:09
your favorite hipster scarf and ironic t-shirt...
01:12
...and you're doing your best to look the part by carrying around
01:14
a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses.
01:17
But then you think... hey, why not actually try
01:19
reading it instead of merely using it as a prop?
01:22
Unfortunately... it goes something like this...
01:27
Until, of course, Shmoop sprinkles its magical, literary theory fairy dust over you.
01:34
And just like that, Ulysses makes perfect sense to you.
01:41
Well, okay, maybe not perfect sense. It turns out that, when theorists go online...
01:46
...they really loosen up and tell you what's on their minds.
01:51
It can verge on reality TV.
01:54
"Watch as Roland Barthes live blogs The Bachelorette!
01:57
When you mess with a rose, you get the thorns..."
02:01
"Check out the confidential logs from Freud's therapy sessions with his most famous clients!"
02:09
"See Judith Butler's picks for Top 5 Gender Bending Films!"
02:14
"Find out why Stanley Fish hates Volvos!
02:16
And why Stanley Volvo hates fish!"
02:21
"Listen as Foucault lists his "Top 8 Most-Hated Institutions!
02:25
See if your school made the list!"
02:28
Their stuff can be a little sensational sometimes...
02:32
...but it's frequently provocative...
02:37
...and almost always allows us - or forces us -
02:39
to see things differently than we might have otherwise.
02:42
Of course, that's just our theory...
Full Transcript