While there is much research on the definition of critical thinking, and an emphasis on the importance of incorporating it in school curriculums, educators still find it challenging how this is done practically (Kuhn and Dean, 2004). Bobkina and Stefanova have developed a pedagogical model that aims to develop critical thinking students in EFL teaching through literature (2016). Their model has included the working methods of reader response criticism and reception theory applied to the poem “If” by Kipling (1910). While Bobkina and Stefanova state that their model suits all types of literature, I argue that their model needs to be extended in order to better fit teaching novels (2016). The main reason for this is that their model in its current state is tailored for the analysis of a poem, and lacks a narrative perspective. A narrative perspective is necessary to include since authors convey and manipulate meaning through characters’ subject positions, or ideological perspectives. And students can practice their critical thinking through reflective scepticism of characters’ actions and world views. This essay will extend Bobkina’s and Stefanova’s pedagogical model by including the concept of the unreliable narrator, which enables such an analysis (2016). In the discussion section of the essay, I will show how this is done. Adding the concept of the unreliable narrator will yield other benefits to the teaching unit for teachers and students as well, as the essay will show. 

Two dystopian novels were chosen for this study, Feed by M.T Anderson, and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2012, 2005). This study aims to draw conclusions with regard to what type of novel is most suitable for developing critical thinking students in Upper Secondary School. This will be done through the analysis of the use of the unreliable narrator as well as the theme of consumerism capitalism in both novels, in the discussion section. A secondary research question for this essay is to investigate whether the genre of dystopian fiction and the theme of consumerism capitalism can be beneficial for use in the teaching of Upper Secondary School students.