reflections on anthologies

With the assignment to make an anthology for Cabeza de Vaca’s narrative I became more aware of the kinds of maneuvering that an editor must do in order to make a coherent selection. The introduction will hopefully prepare the reader for the chosen selections and also introduce the theme or ideas that motivate the editors choices. I felt that the anthologizer gains a great deal of influence over the readers’ perception of a given work. For example, if he or she traced moment that only show the movement of the narrative an important themes such as the role of gender or religion may be neglected. At the same time focusing on a single theme might cloud the readers’ understanding of the work by not giving enough of the narrative. Anthologizing for a class setting should consider the ways in which a single selection can be discussed and how representative those passages are of the work as a whole. I had not given much consideration to the impact of passage choice on a given work, but now that I attempted to take that perspective in considering a work I look forward to the Carolina anthology. I think that both looking at anthologies and preparing an anthology have prepared me for this project. Awareness of the kinds of questions that need to be asked for making an anthology is key, and the work we have done so far has given me a good start for making that list of mental questions.