Appleman, Chapter 2

I cannot stress enough how important it is for teachers to encourage multiple perspectives. I cannot even remember how many times my teachers in the past have said that the meaning of a poem or short story has this one correct meaning. I like how Appleman stresses the fact that multiple meanings are key. She sums it up perfect when she explains how literary theory needs to be taught gently and with ease. I enjoyed reading about the four cases she pointed out. I believe that once students realize that there isn't one specific meaning to texts, they will open their critical lense and become more interested. A perfect example of this is when I was in my senior year of high school. I read the book "The True Story of Hansel and Gretel" by Louise Murphy. I had no idea that this simple childhood story had so much meaning especially being connected to a subject that I had a lot of interest in, being World War II.
It was very interesting to see how Appleman secretly observes and sees how her students theotrical journey is progressing. I believe that this a good method to achieve instead of habitually testing or quizzing all the time on theories.