In An Essay Titled “The Future of Criticism,” Edward W. Said Made a Remark That I First Took to Be a Platitude: “Criticism exists only because critics practice it. It is neither an institution nor, strictly speaking, a discipline” (165). On further thought, I began to see the strength of this assertion and the implication that practices cultivate continuity and certain ways of seeing. People are in many ways products of their historical and cultural contexts. For example, while I initially resisted starting my reflections on teaching literature by discussing how I was taught the subject in my early years, I know that my story will be incomplete if I do not at least devote a paragraph or two to that experience.