For this blog, I will be telling you the various ways we respond to literature and how it might change our lives from critically analyzing it. There are so many varieties in literature, and each piece of work delivers a message in some form or fashion. I believe that the writers wrote these things because they wanted a response from the reader. The response may differ from person to person, but a response they will receive. It is very difficult if not impossible to give a proper response on a literary work without first understanding it. A complete understanding of the work may not come from reading it the first time. I often have to read something a few times in order to get a better understanding of what the author is trying to tell me. Yes this does take more time than I like to spend on these sorts of things, but I think it is better to take the extra time so that I can have complete understanding.
So, one of the first responses that I have towards literature is trying to answer the questions that arose in my mind from reading the text. When I read something thoroughly, I really cannot help but to have questions from it. If it were my own work I wouldn’t have to question my meaning. But being that it is someone else's thoughts, I wonder what they mean. Some meanings do not simply lie at the surface. Once I gain a better understanding, then I can formulate my own ideas and opinions on it. As I stated before, I cannot just breeze through the reading and expect to gain much by doing so. When it comes to longer pieces of work, I find that a summary is helpful for me to get the main ideas. It is impossible for me to remember all the little details, and some may be irrelevant to the main idea anyway. Some are put there just for elaboration and to keep the attention of the reader. So I don’t really mind all of the little details. I think that one of the nice things about literature is that we can formulate our own ideas and opinions on what the author was saying. You can go around a classroom full of students to see what their responses are from what they have just read. There can, of course, be a common thread in what each of the students are saying, but each student can glean something different.
Our lives can be changed in a number of different ways from critically analyzing literature. Learning how to critically analyze literature can help us learn how to take closer looks at other things in our own lives. It can help us to go further and dig deeper into many areas of our lives. Also, just the information that we can glean from reading different authors can help give us a broader spectrum on things in general. We may or may not agree with the message, but we can look at that positively in two ways. If we agree, we can add that information to the tools that we will find handy in life. If we disagree, then hopefully, that can strengthen our own opinions and/or beliefs.
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After reading your summary I agree and disagree with you on different levels. First I disagree that writers write these things simply for a response. I think there are numerous reasons people write such as pleasure, exploration, or memory. I would even go so far as to say most writers aren't doing it because they want people to respond to it but simply because it is what is in their nature to do. If people respond it's an added bonus but I think the writing would have happened all the same.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I like that you think something can be gained from literature even if you don't agree or particularly like it. I would definitely agree on this point. I think often times people don't read certain works because they disagree with the message or find in uninteresting but if they took but a moment to learn a little background it could become fascinating. It could definitely strengthen their opposition if that be the case, but at least this way they would have some grounds for their distaste. It's like saying you don't like a food you've never tasted, how do you know?