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Interpreting Literature |
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The first two steps involve gathering data about the work by paying close attention to details in it without interpreting them yet. The third step involves taking account of all the collected data and offering a tentative analysis of the work based on that evidence. The fourth step involves combining your tentative analysis with the work's context, leading you to an interpretation of the work that considers the work's internal structure as well as relevant cultural issues in the author's society. You cannot interpret a work without first completing steps 1-3.
I. Step 1: Defining and Summarizing A. Make sure you understand the basic "plot" of the work. 1. Who are the main characters. 2. What actions or events take place 3. You should be able to “summarize” in a few sentences what happens. B. Know all the words in the work. 1. Make note of each and every word that you don't know. 2. Look them up in a dictionary. 3. Write down a brief definition. a. Writing down the definitions will help you remember them later.
II. Step 2: Describing A. Look for words or phrases that seem to be particularly important or unusual and consider them more closely. 1. What are the specific connotations of the word, and how does it differ from other, similar words? 2. Speculate about the author's attempted effect in using this particular word instead of another. a. For example, the word "saunter" is related to a word like "walk," but it connotes a particular kind of walking: a relaxed, leisurely stroll (in contrast to a hurried, quick stride, a proud strut, etc.). B. Look also for larger images that seem to be important. 1. For instance, if an author spends a lot of time describing people's eyes, think about what eyes might connote. (did you have to look up the word “connote”?) a. Vision, reading, possibly blindness, etc. b. Don't try to interpret the meaning of a whole work based on these images, though--just write down a few ideas that you have about the image(s). c. Remember: here, you're still gathering data. C. To find key words and images, try reading the work aloud and listen for rhythms and sounds. 1. Look also at features like punctuation and, for poetry, line and stanza breaks.
III. Step 3: Analyzing A. Look for connections between the variety of words and images that you identified (step 2), as well as between them and the basic plot of the work (step 1). 1. For instance, if a character "saunters" whenever certain events occur in the work, how could that be important? 2. What might it say about the character? 3. If the same character gets a certain look in his eye at those same points, what might that mean? 4. How does "sauntering" relate to the look in the eye? 5. How are that character's eyes similar to or different from other characters' eyes? B. These particular questions are just examples intended to model the general process of looking for patterns in a work to arrive at a preliminary analysis of it. C. In building your analysis, remember that the author does not necessarily agree with his or her characters. 1. The author might be trying to illustrate an idea through the characters, even making fun of them to make fun of what they represent. 2. Many authors use irony, so they may not actually mean what their works say on the surface.
IV. Step 4: Interpreting A. Look for links between the patterns of the work's imagery and plot (step 3) and issues "outside" the work itself. B. Consider biographical information as well as the social and artistic movements mentioned in the work's introduction or our anthology's general introductions. Read about the author’s life and about the time in which the author lived. 1. How might the author be referring to these outside issues, whether directly or indirectly? a. For instance, was there some scientific theory about eyesight at the time the work was written that helps to explain a writer's concern with eyes? b. Reconsider your preliminary analysis of the work in light of these other issues to arrive at an interpretation of the work's meaning in its original context. C. Look for connections between the work and other works you have read. 1. Does the work seem to respond to the ideas or issues in other authors' works? a. If so, how? b. What is the response?
Source: Natasha Sinutko / Fall 1996
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