How to teach English lit: make the students read poorly-written fanfiction

I had a lot of trouble with English lit class. I read just fine (in the days before the internet I was a voracious reader) but the subject as a whole annoyed me. Why should that green light be symbolic? Why should that gun on the mantlepiece be important? Why should every word of dialogue be important? Life just doesn't work that way!

Of course, we all know that while all the business of everyday life does happen in the fictional universe, only the parts that are important to the plot or the characterization make it onto the page. Otherwise, the book is boring or just doesn't work.

I didn't understand literary analysis until I entered the Harry Potter fandom, where people were using literary analysis to try to figure out what was going to happen in the last three books. In school, we'd always do the analysis after we finished reading the book, at which point I didn't care. In Harry Potter, the story was still ongoing, so we were looking for clues! I could have done way better in school if I'd had an opportunity like that.

Similarly, I didn't understand how only the important stuff makes it onto the page (is there a literary term for this concept?) until I started reading fanfiction. Many fanfic authors do get this point, but when you encounter one who doesn't it's arduous to read! For example, I recently saw a fic where the general plot was "OMG, long lost relatives!" At least a dozen characters and their intricate degrees of relation to the protagonist were painstakingly introduced. And then nothing was done with them. The author just wanted to give the protagonist a big extended family.

So English teachers should make their students read a few things like that, dull and arduous fanfics that demonstrate what happens in the complete absence of the literary techniques being discussed.

Then compare that with the Harry Potter series, specifically in terms of the first three books and the revelations at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Then they'll be prepared to buckle down and discuss symbolism and foreshadowing and plotting and characterization.