Appleman, Chapter 1

First of all, I have always seen literary theories as somewhat of a pain. I have never really liked them and always perplexed me. I understand what Appleman means when he says that literary theories "provide students with a way of reading their world; the lenses provide a way of "seeing" differently and analytically that can help them read the culture of school as well as popular culture." I believe this is good for students, but students need to be taught in a new modern way. Multicultural literature is not only something that is becoming more popular but in my eyes, it needs to be a necessity. I believe that Wolf is right on when she says that literary theory helps give students a process to give a deeper and richer way of thinking about literary texts.
I am very interested to see how this book will not only portray different critical theories but answer questions such as, "What are the best ways to teach these theories?" or really go in depth of some of the leading ones.