Wednesday, May 27, 2009
When I Read
When I read a book, I want to read for the story and not pick apart the story. I'm very much enjoying Gatsby, but every class we talk about the book, I feel like we tear the book apart to the point where it is no longer fun reading the book. I know that in English class, we are supposed to read critically, but to me it tears the book apart when we shred away the story and look more for meanings than understanding the novel. We look for every parallel, contrast, symbol, and foreshadowing meaning we can. To me, it ruins the book because people start making predictions about the story and then the book is not fun anymore. When we read Huck Finn, to me, it seemed like a more relaxed read and that there was not much reading into the story as it was making sure everyone understood what happened in the last few chapters. I'm fine with saying that "this" represents "X" and "that"represents "Y," but I really do not want to read into the book so far that I can see the fibers that make up each page. I want to see a story for what it is and not making interpretations for what "opening a window" means. In the end, I think that some connections that have been made are very far fetched and have started to make Gatsby very undesirable to keep picking up.
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3 comments:
Matt, I think this post is really interesting. I agree, to a certain extent. I think that in this course we have definitely learned to "rip apart" a book, rather than just simply reading it and getting the basic story line. However, I have found myself looking at the world and literature much more critically and really analyzing things, rather than "skimming". I think that over-analyzing can be something good, not necessarily bad.
If you are interested in just reading book without analyzing them I think you will love the Bernstein Bears books. You could try that or taking English 2E next year.
Analyzing a book is where you can make more indepth comparisons or contrasts. As much as it can be a little painful to deeply analyize a book, it really is essential to thinking critically. I to have began to look at the world more critically and not just see what is on the outside. I have to agree with Adam as well, we are in a level 9 AS class. This is an accellerated course where you have to know how to look and think critically about books or other things around us. In a level 2 class i believe there is less in-depth thinking, which isn't neccessarily wrong but its just not as difficult.
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