General thoughts on Interpretation of Literature

Interpretation is the process of thinking about their details in order to see how the details interconnect and what ideas they convey.  When we interpret, we pay close attention to the potential meaning of the details.

The following are suggestion about ho to be active, interpreting readers:

–  Get the facts straight.  Look up words that are unfamiliar and track down allusions (references to myths, religious texts, historical and biographical events, other works of literature).  Read the text slowly to understand the details.

–  Connect with the work yourself.  Project yourself into the work and imagine how you would respond.  Some possible questions to ask yourself:

– How are things in the work similar to things in our lives?

– How does this work challenge our beliefs, and lead us to reconsider what we thought was true?

– What new issues does the work bring up for us?

– How does this work give us pleasure?

– What is upsetting or unpleasant about it?

–  Develop hypotheses as you read.  Generate ideas about them.  Ask yourself “Why” questions.  Such questions and tentative answers get us thinking, help us pick up important details that pop up later, and make reviewing the work both deeper and easier.

–  Write as you read.  Writing generates ideas and helps us think creatively.  By putting concepts in our own words, we make them our own and embed them in our memory.

–  Analyze the parts of the literature.  How do the parts interact?