The legacy of the New Critics, including its historically male-dominated canon of poets, continues to hold influence, in part because its methods of reading preside over many college classrooms. New Critical readings stress careful explications, based solely on the evidence offered in the lines of the poem. This way of reading encourages careful interpretations, and requires students to pay attention to details of syntax, diction, symbol, metaphor, and imagery. Because the method sets the student who is reading a poem for the first time on an equal footing with more experienced readers, it is an effective way of introducing students to poetry. However, it can become unduly restrictive, at its underlying biases. Here the author notes that it is often difficult to encourage students to accept the fruitfullness of considering the ways each author chooses to construct his or her "self" as an autobiographical subject when considering which are the truths and which are the lies presented in their poetry.