Throughout reading The Things They Carried, my understanding of particular literary theories has vastly increased. The main lenses in which my group used to interpret the novel was feminist, psychoanalytical, and postmodernism. During the first block, it was more difficult to determine which lens to look through, and a lot of thought had to be put in when reading the block as a whole. But, as the book progressed, I began to pick up on particular instances and immediately recognized which literary lens it belonged to. Therefore, during our groups reading of the block as a whole, it was much easier to read it through a specific lens. From the beginning of the book to now, the way in which I read has changed. Now when reading, I am noticeably looking at each chapter through a specific literary lens. Before, I would read, and then have to reread the section if it needed to be analyzed through a specific lens. Now when reading, I pick up on specific examples that would fit under a particular literary lens. This change can be attributed to the practice, and time spent on each section. When our group had the first reading, we would read our assigned chapters. Then, we would read the block as a whole and look at through a predetermined lens. This process helped me be able to pick out examples more easily as we continued through the novel. As for interpreting, I think my skills in this area have also increased. This could be due to the smaller group discussion settings, which
