#1: Criticism and Theory

In “Summary: Theory for Beginners,” Michael Ryan makes the case that criticism is important in daily life. He persuades his readers to look at their surroundings critically rather than accept everything they see and hear without consideration. Ryan wants his readers to see how much they are influenced by socialization, through stories and even individual words. For example, when children learn history in school, it is presented to them through a lens. Someone chooses what to put in a history textbook, and how to say it. Someone decides which events and stories are important enough to include, which aren’t, and what perspective to take on each event. After all, there are many, many ways to talk about the same occurrence.

Something that Ryan doesn’t really address in his article is that, although certainly “not all stories are true,” there may not be one true version of history and current events (167). Instead of one true story, there are many stories from many different perspectives. That is not a bad thing, either, because having more perspectives creates a more complete picture. Of course, as Ryan demonstrates, some perspectives are given more credit than others. People with power often want to present one side of a story as the only valid side, because it supports the position they represent. For example, President George W. Bush was not interested in legitimizing any other perspective on America’s “War on Terror” than the one he held, because other perspectives would not have supported the action that he wanted to take. As Ryan says, “groups with power. . . seek to promote norms that preserve their power” (162). George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” is a good example of why it’s so important to learn to see an issue from different perspectives. This skill, which Ryan addresses in the section, “Learn Arabic,” is essential for cooperation with other people, or, on a broader scale, that ever elusive cliché “world peace.” We all need to learn to question the common assertion that there is one true way of seeing the world.