{"id":42,"date":"2019-12-12T00:21:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T00:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/chapter\/when-interpreting-avoid-relativism-because-i-think-so-american-literature-i\/"},"modified":"2019-12-13T16:45:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T16:45:58","slug":"when-interpreting-avoid-relativism-because-i-think-so-american-literature-i","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/chapter\/when-interpreting-avoid-relativism-because-i-think-so-american-literature-i\/","title":{"raw":"When Interpreting, Avoid Relativism (Because I Think So)","rendered":"When Interpreting, Avoid Relativism (Because I Think So)"},"content":{"raw":"<div id=\"when-interpreting-avoid-relativism-because-i-think-so\" class=\"chapter standard\">\r\n<div class=\"ugc chapter-ugc\">\r\n<p class=\"nonindent\"><strong>Get the title?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"indent\">So that we avoid the major problem of relativism, heed the following warnings:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>If you don\u2019t happen to resemble an author\u2019s audience, don\u2019t attack the audience that writer appealed to<\/li>\r\n \t<li>What I often see in essays based on model reading assignments is reactive rather than flexible reading.\u00a0 For instance, I often teach skeptic Michael Shermer\u2019s book <em>The Science of Good and Evil<\/em>. \u00a0In online discussion posts, I\u2019ll see people react with \u201cWell, he is sarcastic but people already agreeing with him would find that funny.\u00a0 I just find it offensive.\u201d\u00a0 Then the student writer proceeds to do that Samuel L. Jackson \u201cAllow me to retort\u201d move from <em>Pulp Fiction<\/em> (Tarantino), trying to match snarkiness with Shermer or to refute him.\u00a0 When they get really desperate, they go to the web and find attack sites.\u00a0 \u201cAllow me to retort!\u201d is not our purpose in most academic writing.\u00a0 Later in the course, though, we will cover refutals, which are appropriately-handled counterarguments.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cIt\u2019s true for me\u201d doesn\u2019t work here.\u00a0 I see this happen a lot in definition or rhetorical analysis essays that often start courses.\u00a0 If the writing is rhetorical analysis, cut out one\u2019s views from this process . . .\u00a0 it is supposed to be about form, not content, so if you start getting too much into content, you\u2019re not doing a formal analysis.\u00a0 In fact, to the extent that you go off (or gush in support) at the writer, you\u2019re not doing your job of analyzing.\u00a0 And definitions\u2014while they may not seem arguable\u2014actually contain areas of genuine, ongoing disagreement that we would do well to recognize.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Academic writing is public, not private.\u00a0 Don\u2019t overuse <em>I<\/em> or <em>you<\/em>.\u00a0 Filtering this through the self is a bad idea.\u00a0 As Charlton Heston says of the mystery food in the movie <em>Soylent Green\u00a0<\/em>\u201cIt\u2019s people!\u201d (Fleischer).\u00a0 Don\u2019t serve us yourself . . . your friend Willie Wonka says \u201cBut that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies\u201d (Burton).\u00a0 I\u2019m having fun with this, but the idea remains: The chapter is the source, not the self.\u00a0 Subjectivism pushes discussion only through our limited selves.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">I realize I am only going against the whole of American culture by stating this. . .<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption alignnone size-medium wp-image-390\"><a>\r\n<img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-390\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4984\/2019\/12\/12002159\/mob-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up photo of four plastic figurines, in the shape of men holding axes, pitchforks, and muskets. Figures are in silhouette against a sunset backdrop\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" \/>\r\n<\/a><\/div>\r\n<p class=\"indent\">In interpreting literature, you may be right. . .\u00a0 just not only because you think so!<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"licensing\">\r\n<div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div>\r\n<ul class=\"citation-list\">\r\n \t<li>Avoid Relativism (Because I Think So). <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joshua Dickinson. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Jefferson Community College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu\">http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: American Lit 1. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\" rel=\"license\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div id=\"when-interpreting-avoid-relativism-because-i-think-so\" class=\"chapter standard\">\n<div class=\"ugc chapter-ugc\">\n<p class=\"nonindent\"><strong>Get the title?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"indent\">So that we avoid the major problem of relativism, heed the following warnings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you don\u2019t happen to resemble an author\u2019s audience, don\u2019t attack the audience that writer appealed to<\/li>\n<li>What I often see in essays based on model reading assignments is reactive rather than flexible reading.\u00a0 For instance, I often teach skeptic Michael Shermer\u2019s book <em>The Science of Good and Evil<\/em>. \u00a0In online discussion posts, I\u2019ll see people react with \u201cWell, he is sarcastic but people already agreeing with him would find that funny.\u00a0 I just find it offensive.\u201d\u00a0 Then the student writer proceeds to do that Samuel L. Jackson \u201cAllow me to retort\u201d move from <em>Pulp Fiction<\/em> (Tarantino), trying to match snarkiness with Shermer or to refute him.\u00a0 When they get really desperate, they go to the web and find attack sites.\u00a0 \u201cAllow me to retort!\u201d is not our purpose in most academic writing.\u00a0 Later in the course, though, we will cover refutals, which are appropriately-handled counterarguments.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIt\u2019s true for me\u201d doesn\u2019t work here.\u00a0 I see this happen a lot in definition or rhetorical analysis essays that often start courses.\u00a0 If the writing is rhetorical analysis, cut out one\u2019s views from this process . . .\u00a0 it is supposed to be about form, not content, so if you start getting too much into content, you\u2019re not doing a formal analysis.\u00a0 In fact, to the extent that you go off (or gush in support) at the writer, you\u2019re not doing your job of analyzing.\u00a0 And definitions\u2014while they may not seem arguable\u2014actually contain areas of genuine, ongoing disagreement that we would do well to recognize.<\/li>\n<li>Academic writing is public, not private.\u00a0 Don\u2019t overuse <em>I<\/em> or <em>you<\/em>.\u00a0 Filtering this through the self is a bad idea.\u00a0 As Charlton Heston says of the mystery food in the movie <em>Soylent Green\u00a0<\/em>\u201cIt\u2019s people!\u201d (Fleischer).\u00a0 Don\u2019t serve us yourself . . . your friend Willie Wonka says \u201cBut that is called cannibalism, my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies\u201d (Burton).\u00a0 I\u2019m having fun with this, but the idea remains: The chapter is the source, not the self.\u00a0 Subjectivism pushes discussion only through our limited selves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">I realize I am only going against the whole of American culture by stating this. . .<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption alignnone size-medium wp-image-390\"><a><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-390\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4984\/2019\/12\/12002159\/mob-300x210.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up photo of four plastic figurines, in the shape of men holding axes, pitchforks, and muskets. Figures are in silhouette against a sunset backdrop\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"indent\">In interpreting literature, you may be right. . .\u00a0 just not only because you think so!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"licensing\">\n<div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div>\n<ul class=\"citation-list\">\n<li>Avoid Relativism (Because I Think So). <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joshua Dickinson. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Jefferson Community College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu\">http:\/\/www.sunyjefferson.edu<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: American Lit 1. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\" rel=\"license\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":53936,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-42","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":208,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/42\/revisions\/335"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/208"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/42\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-jefferson-english102\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}