Empirical analysis of literature can be a strange denomination of fun while reading. Viewing literature for its structure and organization is the essence of what makes being a bookworm so powerful and worth the effort. The ability to surgically splice and dice novels into their core elements and placing them in an organized fashion so that they can be later compared and contrast to other similar list in an effort to claim the positive or negative notoriety of a piece of literature is hardly a ticket to the amusement park. However, despite the initial lack of positives when analyzing literature in such a way, the end result can be a satisfying nature of finding out a portion of a puzzle. This data can be collected under many titles: literary devices, media, diction, language, basically anything in the actual text is up for grabs.…
Foster indicates that as readers “We tend to give writers all the credit, but reading is also an event of the imagination: our creativity, our inventiveness, encounters that of the writer, and in that meeting we puzzle out what she means” (Foster 107). Thus, when a reader…
Matthew Myers English 10 Honors Pre-AP Vidal September 2, 2016 How to Read Literature like A Professor Chapter Response Introduction Recognizing patterns can make reading easier by helping the reader to comprehend the more complicated parts of a book so the reader can get a deeper sense of what the book is trying to portray. By recognizing patterns in books it allows the reader to recall information from past experiences or texts to help them figure out what the book is trying to get you to understand. By recognizing the symbols and patterns of animal farm it allowed me to understand the deeper meaning of the book allowing the read to not be confusing, but fun and exciting.…
In this style of criticism, we focus on the piece of literature only, ignoring possibilities and intents in favor of what the text presents. Attempting to connect an…
According to Samer Chidiac, a man is genetically wired to be a "provider" so for him, being comfortable at work always drags to his personal life; while for a woman, who is genetically wired to be a "nurturer" will almost always be less productive (not necessarily lacking motivation) at work if she has issues at…
Reading Between the Lines of Night Since the dawn of humanity, people have been using the power of words to convey anything desired. From simple conversation to soul defining monologues, words possess the strength to touch individuals. The same goes for writing. The way a novel is written can cause one to conceptualize the author’s point of view, therefore allowing it to be read the way intended. For example, when reading Night by Eliezer Wiesel, one is intended not only to understand the historical events of the Holocaust, but also to visualize the author’s emotional state and changes.…
In “Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading”, Eve Sedgwick, attempts to evaluate the current modes of interpretation, not to criticize the methodologies, but instead illuminate the actualities of monopolistic forms of interpretation and its imposing effect on the utilization of an equally valid alternative. That form of interpretation is called paranoid reading. Eve Sedgwick begins the essay with a personal story of her casual experience with paranoid reading. Through that experience, Sedgwick illustrated the commonly unaware concept of the hermeneutics of suspicion. The concept focuses on recovering meanings that may or may not be hidden or repressed by their representations, or the surface of a text.…
Wanex 5-2 The Downsides of Hate Reading Pamela Paul’s article “Why You Should Read Books You Hate” is an intriguing read that focuses on the importance of reading books that are unappealing to the specific reader. She thoroughly explains that pursuing novels with subjects that do not interest the reader makes them a more skeptical and scrupulous critic. In addition, she details the pleasure that reading brings to all as well as the magnitude of the time commitment that it requires in comparison to other activities that expose people to new content.…
Because everyone differs from one another, each person’s opinions and interpretations of everyday events will vary based on how the information is perceived. These differences are especially noticed when reading and analyzing works of literature. Poems, for example, often lead to an audience with very different interpretations of the meaning being conveyed. Although Natasha Trethewey’s poem, “Artifact,” is a rather simply structured and straightforward poem, the connotations of the diction can cause a reader’s interpretation to be completely different than the poem’s intended meaning.…
Gender is a locus of power; Class is a locus of power; Age is a locus of power etc… if you need to discuss identity in relation to a text/topic offer something…
The authors, of “Rat’s in the Walls” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”, H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe respectively use their past and childhood experiences to allow a blurring of the lines on whether the narrator is trustworthy in his telling of the story or not. The era, that both Poe and Lovecraft were a part of, was the gothic era where it was the ‘craze’ to write these stories that enticed the fear of the unknown in us. This fear is what allows the reader to question whether it is reliable what they are reading from the narrator or not. In “Rats in the Walls” the narrator, a man by the name of Mr. Delapore, whereas our narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” is an unnamed man. The reliability and trustworthiness of these two narrators rely on the…
Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is structured specifically to create an aura of suspense and thrill. The prologue acts to give a fleeting insight to the mysterious character of Ethan Frome, but intentionally neglects to offer an explanation as to why he is in his current condition, thus keeping the audience on their toes. Such strategies used by Wharton create an overall effect of mystery and confusion until the very end. The switch of point of view to third person omniscient puts readers in a front row view of the lives of Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena, but prohibits them from knowing the characters’ true thoughts, keeping the level of suspense high. Wharton establishes a sorrowful mood in the novella by paralleling the weather with Ethan’s feelings and situation.…
“Should everybody write?” This is the question and title of Dennis Baron’s essay about the writers of today compared to the writers of the past. He provides examples of the first instances of writing used for communication in presenting the clay tokens that merchants used for tracking inventory. He then discusses popular opinions about writing from historical greats such as Socrates and Mark Twain. Baron provides commentary on both sides of the issue and how the development of new technology has always been the catalyst for change. During the course of the evolution of writing, Baron relates that “authorship” was an honor that was limited to only a select few.…
The manipulation of the readers in “The Collector” “The Collector” is a novel written by John Fowles and at first sight seems to be a simple story without subplots to divert our attention. After a carefully reading, the hiding meanings can be discovered and the words can be interpreted. This paper proves the reader’s manipulation and reveals a few devices which were used in order to control the people’s mind. “The Collector” has two points of view which can easily manipulate the reader’s response to the characters. This novel is presented from two perspectives, Clegg’s and Miranda’s.…
Literature has a way to reflect itself on the author who wrote the work. Many times reading a work of literature is not enough to understand what the author was trying to get across to the readers. “Tell-Tale Heat” by Edgar Allan Poe is a works of literature in which the reader must look more in-depth, specifically the author’s life in order to understand what he was trying to get across in his story. Using biographical and psychological criticism we will see that “Tell- Tale Heart” is a short story that reflects the life and subconscious desires of the author Edgar Allan Poe. Looking at his personal life we will compare his subconscious desires to the ones from the man in “Tell-Tale Heart” is which we will conclude that Edgar Allan- Poe’s…