How, then, do you study Literature?
apologies for those of you who returned to this blog only to find that I have not posted anything new since Sat. Let's just say that I am seeking inspiration in another land.
Let me go right to the tip. I shall in a very school-marmish way go into the basics and make no assumptions. The beauty of reading these tips online is that no one need ever know that you did not know these basics, so have no fear about acknowledging that this is new to you.
Secret No. 1:
There are different stages to the Reading of a text.
First you read it cold - in one sitting. Reason: you need to experience it as entertainment first. Should you decide to break up your first reading into lazy, half-hour attempts, or worse still into some practical division of 50 pages per sitting, I believe you will do well in many areas in life but at risk of offending you, I have to say, STOP IT!
Appreciate that the author of the short story or novel wrote it with a reader in mind. More than anything else, they want to MOVE you and make you think of the very issues that inspired them to write. And obviously because this text has been chosen, it is either part of a canon (a body of works adjudged to be worthy of study) or part of a list deemed useful in promoting some values. So no ifs and buts - one sitting accompanied by cookies and drinks, nothing else. You can rest the eyes periodically. One relative of mine finished The Da Vinci Code in one sitting and woke up from his self-enforced hibernation to greet the sun behind the curtains and - tore his retina as a result. So if you follow this tip, I disclaim all liability for zits and sebaceous breakouts in all pores and follicles and all manner of ill health. It's a small sacrifice for a good start.
THis first uninterrupted reading does a few things. You have a sense of the momentum of the plot and subplots. It is like you hopped onto an apparently popular ride in Movie World and completed it without chickening out in the first chamber. When someone wants to know if they should go on to this ride as well, you are now a judge, because your completion means something. Your first reading means, you can tell the changes in mood and circumstances. If there was any irony intended in the events that happened, you would not have missed it because of a "pee" break. Before you protest - yes, I can almost hear you - you have got it! Don't put down the book until you have finished the story.
Absolute NO-NOs?
Don't refer to a dictionary during the first reading. I have always thought that it is good to take note mentally of the words in a story that you can't figure out. Just keep it there and INFER from the context and further descriptions what the word might mean. You know how when we meet new people sometimes what they might choose to say about ourselves just drives us crazy if we don't know the meaning but the fact they do tellsbe us something about them? That could have been what the author intended so go along with it. I remember Harper Lee's Scout in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD referring to a relative as "taciturn" and me thinking "does it mean rude?". The mystery was good for me - I kept on reading and the word stayed with me till the end. And when I went back to the novel the second time round, the word made more sense. By then I had gotten to know Scout pretty well. I knew this was kid who understood adults very well and one who had a wisdom and wit beyond her years.
If you have never given the author the regard of a a full unbroken reading, do it now. Somewhere in this first reading, you will finally, definitely, hear the author.
Let me go right to the tip. I shall in a very school-marmish way go into the basics and make no assumptions. The beauty of reading these tips online is that no one need ever know that you did not know these basics, so have no fear about acknowledging that this is new to you.
Secret No. 1:
There are different stages to the Reading of a text.
First you read it cold - in one sitting. Reason: you need to experience it as entertainment first. Should you decide to break up your first reading into lazy, half-hour attempts, or worse still into some practical division of 50 pages per sitting, I believe you will do well in many areas in life but at risk of offending you, I have to say, STOP IT!
Appreciate that the author of the short story or novel wrote it with a reader in mind. More than anything else, they want to MOVE you and make you think of the very issues that inspired them to write. And obviously because this text has been chosen, it is either part of a canon (a body of works adjudged to be worthy of study) or part of a list deemed useful in promoting some values. So no ifs and buts - one sitting accompanied by cookies and drinks, nothing else. You can rest the eyes periodically. One relative of mine finished The Da Vinci Code in one sitting and woke up from his self-enforced hibernation to greet the sun behind the curtains and - tore his retina as a result. So if you follow this tip, I disclaim all liability for zits and sebaceous breakouts in all pores and follicles and all manner of ill health. It's a small sacrifice for a good start.
THis first uninterrupted reading does a few things. You have a sense of the momentum of the plot and subplots. It is like you hopped onto an apparently popular ride in Movie World and completed it without chickening out in the first chamber. When someone wants to know if they should go on to this ride as well, you are now a judge, because your completion means something. Your first reading means, you can tell the changes in mood and circumstances. If there was any irony intended in the events that happened, you would not have missed it because of a "pee" break. Before you protest - yes, I can almost hear you - you have got it! Don't put down the book until you have finished the story.
Absolute NO-NOs?
Don't refer to a dictionary during the first reading. I have always thought that it is good to take note mentally of the words in a story that you can't figure out. Just keep it there and INFER from the context and further descriptions what the word might mean. You know how when we meet new people sometimes what they might choose to say about ourselves just drives us crazy if we don't know the meaning but the fact they do tellsbe us something about them? That could have been what the author intended so go along with it. I remember Harper Lee's Scout in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD referring to a relative as "taciturn" and me thinking "does it mean rude?". The mystery was good for me - I kept on reading and the word stayed with me till the end. And when I went back to the novel the second time round, the word made more sense. By then I had gotten to know Scout pretty well. I knew this was kid who understood adults very well and one who had a wisdom and wit beyond her years.
If you have never given the author the regard of a a full unbroken reading, do it now. Somewhere in this first reading, you will finally, definitely, hear the author.
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