Either-or fallacy
How do we reconcile the two very disparate halves of our discipline? I know the key is to not think of them as separate, but I keep tripping over myself trying to choose between the two, so I want to write down somewhere exactly what I am thinking about. The study of literature is exposure and understanding. We read the things that should be read and see things from someone else's point of view. We improve reading comprehension. Why should students be able to tell me about the story after they read it? I want to know that they actually understood what they read. Why should they remember details about the story once they have demonstrated this? So they can talk about more complicated things with the details as support. If they forget the entire novel, how can they make an argument about it? And there it is. The key... Because writing an argument, analyzing a text, is the other half. They should be able to think about a complex issue and form a complex opinion about it, to go deeper ...