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ci-theory-and-method

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Use to choose and deploy the theoretical framework and critical method of a Critical Inquiry (CI) essay so theory does real analytic work on objects. CI is a leading theory journal across the humanities; this skill helps select a lens (hermeneutic, deconstructive, psychoanalytic, materialist, postcolonial, media-theoretical, etc.), use concepts precisely, and avoid jargon-as-decoration. It guides theoretical craft; it does not invent sources.

When to use

• Choosing the theoretical frame(s) for the essay
• Using concepts precisely
• Making the method visible
• Deciding how much theory to expound versus apply
• Bringing a concept from one field to bear on another's objects
• Staging tension between two frameworks
• Building or refining concepts
• Testing manuscript against humanities reviewer expectations

When not to use

• Inventing sources
• Jargon as decoration
• Paraphrasing a theorist as a substitute for your own argument
• Applying a fashionable lens the object does not need
• A theory-dump introduction that delays the object indefinitely
• Misusing a concept stripped from its context

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