At some point in our lives, almost all of
us have read literature for the sheer joy of it. While I hope
that this couse in no way diminishes the pleasure of reading
for any of you, I will be challenging to read beyond that level
of enjoyment and think analytically about literary texts. Analytical
reading requires time, patience, and somthing of a shift in
how you think about language and literature.
To do this kind of critical reading, you
will need an "it's ok to write on this" copy of everything
we read in this course. Writing on, around, over, and about
a text allows you to physically interact with it in a way that
mirrors and facilitates the intellectual interactions you should
have. So, scribble on and mark up your text. Highlight it; takes
notes on, about, and around it. Use the method for physically
recording your observations about a text that best suits your
style.
Consider the following example of my own reading notes for
the first few pages of J.D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for
Bananafish":
As I read the text, I noted images, words,
and patterns that I thought significant or interesting. Typically,
I circle these words to make them stand out on the page. [If
I enounter a word I need to look up, I box that word]. When
I return to the text later, either for class discussion or to
write an essay, I can then quickly find patterns or locations
in the text that I can use cite during a discussion or in an
essay. Particularly moving, amusing, or odd quotes also attracted
my attentions. Identifying quotes that employ language in an
interesting way, participate in an important pattern of images
or ideas from the story, or raise crucial thematic or cultural
point sets me up for success in the classroom. The search for
these quotes challenges me to think analytically about the reading
and the identification of the quotes prepares me to contribute
to the seminar discussion. When my professor asks if anyone
found anything in the story they wish to discuss, I can turn
to one of my underlined quotes, raise my hand, and jump start
the conversation in class.
What should I look for when I read?
At the high school level, many classes focus
on your personal reaction to stories and then ramp you up to
a discussion of plot, character, and theme. These responses
to literature offer a starting point for college literature
instruction but in this course you will need to move beyond
these levels of reading and focus on the language, structure
and cultural contexts of a text.
Language
Closely reading the language of a text means
search thinking carefully about the meanings and patters of
words, images, figurative language, rhymes, and sound patterns
As you think about the language of a text
you read, consider the following:
What words, images, or figures of speech
have a particular resonance in the text and why? (Do some words
have especially significant connotative associations, to some
stand out as particularly central to understanding a character,
theme, or cultural issues?)
How do the words, images, and figures of
speech in the text connect to each other. What kinds of patterns
and relationship do you see? And to what broader questions of
character, theme, or culture do these patterns lead you?
binary oppositions
aporia: "The text is not some neatly defined object, but
it is marked to its very heart by numerous contradictions, tensions,
inconsistencie, gaps in the logic...such gaps, such aporia (are)
"the very condition of narrative itself -- the aporia of
the narrative foreground the gaps, the silences , the elisions
which occur in our culture, whether within the ciroculture of
the family or the macro-culture of society...9
ostensible aims and the subversion of those aims
narratological
rhetorical
metonym
metaphor
Framing these observations of the text with
an understanding of its cultural contexts, the critical reader
draws conclusions about the philosophical, political, psychological,
sexual, and aesthetic issues explored by a text.
Given recent trends in literary criticism
and the emphasis in this class on the aesthetic category of
"literature" and the question of national identity
and character, the following may serve as useful prompts for
you while you read:
- What relationship does the text have
with the cultural assumptions of its day? Does it challenge
and question or endorse and sustain? Some mixture of the two?
What does the text in its context tell us about culture and
society?
- About which philosophical questions and
issues does the text seem particularly concerned?
- What issues of gender and sexuality does
the text raise given its cultural contexts?
- Does the text struggle with moments of
contradiction and tension on the levels of language, logic,
or ideas? If so, where and why?
- Which passages in the text strike you
as particularly powerful or effective and why?
- How would you characterize the language
and style of the text? Which passages or lines stand out as
exemplary or representative of the style and method of the
writer? How do these questions of style and language intersect
with the broader political, philosophical, and aesthetic questions
raised by the text?
Step 2: Investigate any
unfamiliar references and vocabulary in the text
You should have a few handy desk or computer
references that you refer to regularly--a dictionary, a one
volume encyclopedia, thesaurus/synonym dictionary etc.--to find
out the meaning of vocabulary, names, events, dates, and terminology
with which you are not familiar. For those who study frequently
while on-line, bookmarking the Encyclopedia
Britannica (http://www.search.eb.com/) can serve the same
function (this site includes both a great encyclopedia and a
so-so dictionary).
If you have tried to figure out a reference
on your own and cannot find anything, please do not hesitate
to bring it up in class or over the email conversation before
and after class.
Step 3: Organize and/or
refine your thoughts and ideas
Before you venture out of your room, library,
Jacuzz i (or whatever other den of quiet pleasure you t urn
to as your reading sanctuary) and venture forth to our classroom,
you should think about what you hope to accomplish in the eighty
minutes we will spend together discussing the material.
- What opinions have you formulated and
how will you share them?
- Which passages from the text most intrigued
you, alarmed you, puzzled you, or inspired you? (you may wish
to use stickies to note these passages so that you can find
them quickly during a class discussion)
- What do you want to know more about or
what would you like to have clarified? (if you really want
to wow your instructor and advance the conversation in class,
try doing some of the leg work on these questions yourself.
Perhaps you will find a quote from a critic or a term, concept,
or idea from history that will spark the class in ways your
humble instructor might never imagine)
Step 4: Send an email
Because l iterature invites so many alternativ
e readings and approaches, the quality of our course will depend
upon the degree to which you share with each other your readings
of and thoughts about the texts. Sending an email out before
class gives everyone else a chance to think about the text in
a way they may not have imagined. Others may choose to pursue
or disagree with your line of reasoning, but either way your
sharing improves everyone's reading.
Those of you who have completed your exhaustive
studies of the syllabus will recognize these emails as a course
requirement (sometimes gentle persuasion works, but other times
you just have to make a good idea a requirement).
I hope the ideas I have shared in these
pages help you better prepare not only for class but for the
writing you will do in this class.
The unifying idea here: pay close attention
to the text!! Scrutinize the language and search out patterns
and related ideas.
