Journal Assignment no. 1

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

What is reading? – give your thoughts on the following questions:

• what are different reasons for reading literature?
• do we have any expectations of the literary text before we start to read it? any preconceived notions?
• is reading ‘for pleasure’ different from reading ‘for school’? how?
• is reading more of a puzzle solving (the puzzle question being “what did the author have in mind?”) or is it rather a dialog between the reader and the writer?
• what does it mean to read something critically? who/when/why would do it?
• is there such a thing as one correct interpretation to a given piece of text?
• what, if any, sort of questions should you ask yourself when trying to ‘understand’ a piece of literature?
• which of the following should one do while reading fiction/drama/poetry:

v     mark important passages,

v     summarize main ideas in your notebook,

v     trace main/recurrent themes n your notebook,

v     look up words/names/ideas you do not understand in a dictionary/encyclopedia/glossary,

v     mark/take note of technical elements of the text (what are they?).

ad.1 I reckon that the main purpose for reading literature still is entertainment. However, nowadays, people read less and less. That leads me to a conclusion, that in the sphere of so-called “low-culture” books are being replaced by other media. Knowing that, we could presume, that someone who puts it in for reading, seeks for at least a bit of cultural development.

ad.2 As we suffer from constant lack of time in modern world, we cannot afford to waste much of it. That’s why it’s really rare for one to read just random books. Before starting to read, we seek for some reviews and recommendations, so we could make sure, we’ll gonna like it. That includes also the topics covered there. This is the reason, why I think that people seldomly get to read a book prediction-free.

ad.3 It depends on book. When it’s good, everything’s fine, but when we do not enjoy it at all, we have to force ourselves to read, which is rather unlikely to leave a good impression. What’s more to it, is the fact, that there some books, which simply cannot be understood thoroughly, unless you are provided enough time to analyse. It’s obvious, that usually school’s deadlines don’t meet this circumstance.

ad.4 I reckon that in general art is mostly about the impression it leaves on the recipent. That’s why I’d say, that reading books is rather a dialog between the reader and the writer. It’s up to an author, how complex would his creation be and what will it take to understand it.

ad.5 To read critically means to seek only for pure and certain truth. Criticall reader doesn’t accept any facts, unless all the reasonable doubt is eliminated. He often has to check information in more than one source and check any possible factors that could affect the text. This kind of approach is required in scientific jobs. First of all, it’s good historicians’ duty to read critically, so they could remain as objective as possible. However it’s also good for common people to read everything critically, in order not to get their minds manipulated.

ad.6 I am perfectly aware that I’m expected to give “no” answer, but I’d like to admit it with a good deal of reservation. As it’s impossible for an author to predict what the reception of his work would be, I could risk a statement, that many people would simply miss his intentions, for example because of not having a proper cultural preparation. That is something I would call a misinterpretation and a simple waste of time.

ad.7 When I’m trying to understand a piece of literature I try to find situations which are not obvious and state questions I won’t be able to give straightforward answers to.

ad.8  I reckon, it really depends on type of literature one is reading. However there’s one general rule I believe. The purer reception is, the better. It means, that we should try to avoid any activities which would divert one’s attention from the book. If I were to decide, I’d recommend to read the book first and than if need be make anything, what could possibly help us understand and remember it.