My initial experience with being a reader began with a Dr. Seuss book when I was a very young boy, a colorful book with walking-talking cats and dogs, treehouses, and a party. I am not incredibly confident that I indeed am able of correctly recalling the details of the book that got read to me or by me when no one else would just about every day for what might have been a whole year or just a few short months of obsession, either way the memory of reading that Dr. Seuss book stuck in such a way that it is my first recalled memory of being an active reader, of thinking about and considering the content and characters of a book. This book and many others from those early days were the catalysts that founded my later passion for literature. My
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This course unlike any other that I’ve taken goes deeply into the reading material and places the author themselves as a piece of the material, as something worth examining in the greater context of the literature. We were asked not only what was being said but why, why exactly did the author make note of that specific detail, of that specific quote or turn of phrase, what significance did that have on the author, and the memoir as a whole? I struggled with this style of literary analysis and I would say that to a degree I’m still struggling with it. As a reader we all struggle with the impulse to take the words at surface level, anything more takes a certain level of effort that often in our fast paced lives we aren’t accustomed to, this class has been a grand example of why careful, concise reading is a valuable skill. One way we can continue to hone ourselves into careful readers is to constantly ask ourselves how a particular section relates to previous sections, try to find patterns, and examine the piece as a whole as you go along. I intend on continuing to practice these critical thinking and thematic analysis skills beyond the immediate scope of this class as I feel even here at the end I haven’t quite become comfortable with that level of
This course unlike any other that I’ve taken goes deeply into the reading material and places the author themselves as a piece of the material, as something worth examining in the greater context of the literature. We were asked not only what was being said but why, why exactly did the author make note of that specific detail, of that specific quote or turn of phrase, what significance did that have on the author, and the memoir as a whole? I struggled with this style of literary analysis and I would say that to a degree I’m still struggling with it. As a reader we all struggle with the impulse to take the words at surface level, anything more takes a certain level of effort that often in our fast paced lives we aren’t accustomed to, this class has been a grand example of why careful, concise reading is a valuable skill. One way we can continue to hone ourselves into careful readers is to constantly ask ourselves how a particular section relates to previous sections, try to find patterns, and examine the piece as a whole as you go along. I intend on continuing to practice these critical thinking and thematic analysis skills beyond the immediate scope of this class as I feel even here at the end I haven’t quite become comfortable with that level of