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Intro to Literature
18
An Introduction to Literature
Professor Henning
LIT 2000
What Is Literature?
Every day we are surrounded by the written word, from billboards and adverisements to social media posts and emails. The thing about these messages, however, is that we often don't even realize we're reading them; they pass through us, just as we pass through them.
What Is Literature, and Why Do We Read It?
Even though we are arguably reading and writing more than any other humans in history, that does not mean we are all reading what could be considered literature.
An Escape
One Definition and Why
Because literature exists beyond the bounds of "transactional" communication, for many, literature equals a kind of escape, a place for the imagination to roam free.
A Way to Understand the World
Another Definition and Why
Literature also allows us to explore and better understand other perspectives, other ways of being. The "life lessons" literature teaches us, then, reach out beyond the fictional realm and influence our own thoughts and feelings in real life. The world is both reflected in and shaped by literature.
Room to Think
And Another Definition and Why!
Unlike other forms of reading, reading literature requires sustained, thorough attention. What is most important might not be immediately apparent.
In this way, literature gives us invaluable space to think deeply and develop skills of introspection and analysis, qualities which are not always present in modern life.
Strategies for Reading Literature
Because literature requires us to read differently, there are certain strategies you can enact to best read (and therefore understand) literary texts.
How Do We Read Literature?
Our textbook suggests one of the most basic strategies, which is to slow down when reading. Don't race through the assigned texts, and don't read when you're distracted by something else. Give yourself the time and space to read!
The Value of Rereading
Read, Reread, and Read Again
Slowly reading a literary text once is often not enough to fully grasp its meaning. Our textbook acknowledges that in a literature class, you might not always have time to reread every text multiple times; however, rereading key sections of a work can help avoid the frustration that comes with not "getting" a story, poem, or essay on your first reading.
Active Reading
(Means Taking Notes!)
Active Reading and Note Taking
Active reading, which is also known as critical reading, requires you to thoughtfully consider a text. Instead of thinking about just the "what," you need to think about the "why." When you stop to consider why a text was written in a certain way or why an author chose to write about a specific topic, taking notes while reading/annotating a text is essential.
Asking Critical Questions
Asking Critical Questions
When reading a literary text, you should also ask yourself some critical questions about the work. Our textbook provides four different types of questions to consider: those about the text itself, those about the author, those about the cultural context of a work, and those about the reader.