There are many different types of literature whether it be a novel, short story, poem, play write, and to each of these our interpretations vary. I believe that with each its own. By that I mean to say that several readers can all come up with a different interpretation of the same story. When a person reads a piece of literature it is up top their creative imagination to decide how far they will run with it. Some readers are simply reading to identify the theme , the plot, and the story line, however they fall short when it comes to identifying key parts of the literature. Other readers are concerned more with the details and the reason behind certain phrases and scenes rather than the overall story line. However both readers are reading that piece of literature for a specific reason, and they get out of it what they put into it.
When it comes to discovering new literature it is important to have a point of reference so that you are able to identify better to what you are reading. If one of your favorite authors is Nicholas Spark, you would be more apt to picking up one of his books off the shelf in the book store. This is because you have a reference point, you may have read his books before or heard a review on one and you know you would be interested. If you are going to expand your horizon and your literary choices it is a good idea to gain some insight on the artist and or the book itself. It is important when you are reading a piece of literature to analyze it. Literature is much like an onion, in that it has several different layers, you must peel those layers back one by one. While reading I challenge myself to look closely at the context of the story, the form in which it is written and to make the story come to life. Once you master the art of analyzing literature then reading as you know it will change for the better. Once you are able to actually feel as those you are in the novel or play in which you are reading you will have a whole new outlook on literature. Critically analyzing literature is not an easy task, but once you are able to do so you will reap the reward. You will no longer have to wait until the book goes to film to really "see" it. Just by spending time reading and rereading the story you will begin to "see" it in your imagination. The idea of being able to take something that is in print and recreate it in your mind to be a visual imagine is extremely captivating and moving. I know that as I continue to learn how to critically analyze a piece of literature I will gain more insight and understanding as to what the author was trying to convey. Literature is a very powerful art form which has the ability to send your imagination on an amazing journey of twist and turns and the whole time keep you on your toes, all of this through a piece of literature, simply amazing.
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I enjoyed reading your blog. I would have to agree with many of the things that you said. The first being how different readers can come up with different ideas and interpretations on what they are saying. I think that it is very interesting, and I'm sure that most of us have seen this happen before, like in English 101. I liked what you said about how readers can be reading for entirely different reasons, and both can gain something from their readings. I think that this shows the versatility of reading literature, and how we can gain so many different things from it.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the point you brought out on reference points. Where you said that we may pick up a book because we are familiar with the author. I think that it is something that can be very useful, and its something that we do often, whether we notice it or not.
I love how you related literature to onions. It sure makes a lot of sense, and yes, literature does contain many different layers. Time consuming yes, but I believe that overall experience is a positive one. For one could never gain the full meaning without taking a deeper look at it.
“They get out of it what they put into it.” Brilliant. This basically sums up how people may react to literature. By putting a lot of effort into analyzing it, you get a deeper understanding of what you’re reading than you would just reading and enjoying it. And to a certain extent, I think that most people when reading are automatically analyzing, just not in such a severe way to where they break down phrases and quotes. For me, analyzing definitely takes the fun out of reading for me, but when it comes to school work it can be necessary sometimes so that you actually understand what’s in front of you. And I totally relate to how books can literally change you and make you feel like you’re walking in a movie with your favourite characters. And I think that movies can really butcher the scene you had played out in your mind (but New Moon was amazing as opposed to the book lol). Anyway, I think you’d make a great English teacher because you already sound like one :). You sound like a very intelligent person with the greatest appreciation for literature.
ReplyDeleteI really like what you said that readers get out what they put in, I had never really thought about that before. I know that for me, assigned reading is rarely very appealing or interesting to me, and so I do not really try to get into it. This explains why I rarely like said books, but the ones I pick up on my own I dive into headlong and get a lot out of them. This idea is really an encouragement to me to try harder to actually dive into even my assigned readings, so as to actually gain from them and not just complete the assignement. I really enjoyed your blog very much!
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