3&4

Since I am presenting on these two chapters, I found myself reading like Klay. Carefully picking what topics I thought were relevant for my presentation. Overall, I felt like there was a plethora of interesting information within these 2 chapters (which you all will see because my handout is longer than it should be, whoops!).

I found the Ideology and Genre chapter more philosophical and critical, whereas the Literacy, Education, and the Reader chapter contained tons of interesting facts and information about literacy, education and readership during early America. Because I presented on Adorno and Horkheimer in Neil's Theory course yesterday, I found myself thinking deeply about our notions and definitions of Ideology throughout my reading. I was also fascinated by Davidson's discussion of the threat to authority and order novel reading posed, and how the production of the novel for the masses could be seen as a revolutionary tool. This is much more Benjaminian, but I began to think about all of the revolutions we've seen occur in the United States. Because Banned Books week was last week, I found myself considering what Banned Texts I considered revolutionary. "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg (one of my favorite pieces of American Poetry) came instantly to mind.  Davidson claims that literature can be Revolutionary and help the community recognize prejudices (racism, sexism, classism) and hopefully, help us to overcome unjust authoritative forces. I think that literature has this function, but I also think other forms of pop & mass culture help us to recognize and think critically about the prejudices permeating our culture. For instance,  I think it is important that we recognize that education and gender stereotypes still occur. I remember Teen Talk Barbie being pulled off the shelves in when I was younger (1992) because she said "Math class is tough" and my cousin desperately wanting one:
I'm an English Major...You Do The Math Barbie


Also, while perusing YouTube for Math-Makes-My-Brain-Hurt-Barbie, I found this ad for some creepy dolls! YIKES!
What To Show On Your TV During Your Halloween Party