S01:E06 "This Book is Good"

Pals, we talk about an essential tool for interpreting the world, and also wonder how much groveling is the right amount of groveling.

Pals, we talk about an essential tool for interpreting the world, and also wonder how much groveling is the right amount of groveling.

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Why is a job candidate supposed to thank an interviewer, rather than the other way around?

https://theoutline.com/post/7304/business-insider-is-wrong-about-thank-you-notes?zd=1&zi=6ojxqz7m

Response to https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-thank-you-email-after-job-interview-2019-4

“As a hiring manager, you should always expect a thank-you email, and you should never make an offer to someone who neglected to send one.
Why?
The thank-you email reflects two important things:

It signals that the person wants the job — or rather, no thank-you email signals the person probably doesn’t want the job. The handful of times we’ve moved forward with a candidate despite not receiving a thank you, we’ve been ghosted, or the offer we make is ultimately rejected. A few times, the offer is accepted, but the person pulls out before their start date or leaves after a few months.
How someone presents in interviews might not translate to effectiveness in the role. While sending a thank-you note doesn’t necessarily guarantee the person will be a good hire, it gives you the tiniest bit more data: The candidate is eager, organized, and well mannered enough to send the note. It shows resourcefulness, too, because the candidate often has to hunt down an email address the interviewer never gave them. At Insider Inc., we look to hire “good eggs.” The thank-you email is a mark for the good-egg column.”

Literary Criticism

a basic understanding of literary criticism is an invaluable tool for engaging with the world

Q:// What is literary criticism?

A method and practice of (a) interpreting and (b) evaluating a work of art

traditionally, this means a written work, such as a novel, poem, essay, or short story.
However, it can also apply to all works of art such as films, music, paintings, sculpture, speeches, quilts, whatever




Q:// How does it work?

In Literary Criticism the critic takes on a careful and close reading of the text and then interprets or examines it through a particular lens.
For instance, one may read Les Miserables though

a historical lens, asking questions such as,

“what does this say about the time period?”
“how does the historical era explain the decisions of any given character?”
“is this work drawing on any historical precedent? What can we learn from that?”


a gender lens, asking questions such as,

“what ideas about gender appear in this work?”
“how does gender explain the decisions of a character?”


a marxist lens, asking questions such as,

“what ideas about class appear in this work?”
“how does this work depict the conflict between the workers and wealthy”?


a queer lens, asking questions such as,

“what relationships or decisions in this book can be explained or understood in terms of a same-sex or queer characters?”
“what does this work say about queerness?”


a psychological lens, asking questions such as,

“what does this work say about human psychology?”
“how might mental health or psychological disorders explain the behavior of any given character?”


Etc.




Q:// Why is it helpful?

Just like scientists can gain a clearer picture by examining an object through various lenses and tools, we gain a better understanding of the world when we examine it through different points of view.
An understanding of literary criticism leads to more constructive arguments.

Instead of, “is this good or bad”, we can draw out more meaning and more understanding of something.
Ex:// instead of seeing a Trump campaign ad and asking, “is this good or bad?” we can ask questions like,

How might this ad attempt to promote patriarchal gender norms? (feminist lens)
What messages about class is this ad attempting to share? (marxist lens)
What positions about ethnicity and race is this ad promoting? How does this ad value homogeneity over diversity? (multicultural lens)