Dearest Daughters,
Today's lesson is in critical thinking.
What's that?
Here's something from my teaching days, stolen (as teachers tend to do) from my Social Studies Methods teacher, Brian Gibbs (no relation). When reading, for example, but also when looking and listening, there are four levels of questions that can be asked to help you learn about something. Asking questions about things, that's called critical thinking.
We'll use this as our "text":
(source)
1. The "text" - things contained in the "text" (could be a literal text or more abstract, a painting, a group of individuals, an advertisement), the answer can be found RIGHT THERE in the text. For example, Belbel and Danjo, what color is Belle's dress? Blue.
2. The "text" and itself - you have to look two or more places in order to infer the answer. For example, Belbel and Danjo, do Belle and the Beast like each other? Yes, because they are making eye contact and smiling.
3. The "text" and me - you need the text and your thoughts. For example, Belbel and Danjo, do you think that Belle and the Beast have a healthy relationship? No. Although they appear to like each other, Belle is reading to the Beast, and the Beast looks friendly, really their relationship is a result of Belle placating the Beast, attempting to "kill" the beast in him with kindness, while suffering his imprisonment.
4. Just me - your opinion, not so much on the text, but maybe a theme in the text. These are questions that you keep asking yourself after you've digested the text and you might ask them about other texts, situations, etc. For example, Belbel and Danjo, should Disney be perpetuating images of imprisoned women in emotionally and physically abusive realtionships? And how does this affect your own views of women and relationships? I'll let you stew on that one.
Oh, Disney. How I love to deconstruct the messages you send. In 7th grade I wrote a paper about what a racist and sexist film Aladdin is. Seventh grade. I've been fighting the man since seventh grade!
And yet, I let you watch Disney movies. Where did the middle school humanist, womanist, counter-culture revolutionary in me go?
I think she turned on Tangled, set her two year old and and seven month old daughters in front of the televsion and went to take a nap, leaving them the above primer in critcal thinking of course.
Children, Tangled. Imprisonment. Blond hair/blue eyes. Long hair/infantilization. Criminal love interest, tamed by a barely-legal, shoeless, under socialized princess.
Discuss.
(Also. I love that movie.)
Love,
Mommy
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