How Is Interpretation Used In Literature

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Literary Criticism as a Tool for Interpreting Literature

What Is Interpretation?

In general, to translate something is to make it personally meaningful. Our brain takes raw information from the senses and makes it meaningful by relating it to our previous experiences. We may, for case, respond to a loud noise by saying "That sounded like a gunshot." When nosotros read or hear a judgement, we put the words together into a meaningful whole, rather than but noting their split lexicon definitions. Most everyday linguistic communication is adequately straightforward and requires little interpretation. A liberal and a bourgeois who read a newspaper editorial against the capital punishment may disagree with each other on that item issue, merely (unless the editorial is badly written) they will agree that the writer is confronting capital punishment. That is, they won't have different interpretations of what the article ways. Language usually requires special interpretation, however, when it is cryptic or unclear. In order to clarify a sarcastic statement, for example, we may inquire a question like "What did you mean by that remark?" or "Are yous serious?" Because literature (other than propaganda) presents us with more than than ane possible pregnant, interpreting literature requires more intendance and attention than does responding to an essay. Approaching literature with an inquiring attitude helps maintain this fruitful complexity.

What Kinds of Questions Aid with Interpretation?

Specific questions that allow only ane respond (like "What is the main character's nickname?") may enable a teacher to run into if a educatee has read or studied a story, but they rarely challenge the reader to see beyond the plot level. Because they respect the complication of your own experience and the author'due south vision, open-concluded questions are much more than useful. After seeing the film Schindler's List, in which the protagonist changes from a greedy businessman to the compassionate savior of over a thousand Jews in Nazi-held Poland, you lot might enquire "How and why does Schindler change?" Or you lot might reverberate on your ain values: "How would I react in this situation?" Clearly at that place is no unmarried answer for this kind of question, and your respond may alter each time you read or call back about the work.

Why Should We Translate Literature?

Although the interpretation of literature tin can exist challenging, it may too provide unique and important rewards. Authors of fiction, poetry, or drama choose literature for their expression considering they believe that there are at least ii valid sides to any major issue--not just a elementary right and wrong. Reading and interpreting literature, then, nourishes united states of america with a sense of the complexity of life's deepest mysteries-- love, hate, death, conflicts between the individual and society, and so on--so that when we arroyo these problems we exercise so with greater self-awareness and greater tolerance for the views of others. Nosotros may react angrily to a news feature almost physically abused children, but when we read a story similar James Joyce's "Counterparts" we are asked to empathise (without necessarily excusing such an action) the reasons why an adult would hit a harmless child. When nosotros interpret literature at this level, we are taking what we already know about human nature and adding in the experience and wisdom of the author (even if we don't share all of the author's convictions). Interpretation then is a social act--we bring to it all of our past experiences with people, and we come away with an even richer, more circuitous understanding.

What Is Literary Criticism?

Literary criticism is an extension of this social action of interpreting. One reader writes down his or her views on what a particular work of literature means and so that others can answer to that interpretation. The critic's specific purpose may exist to brand value judgements on a piece of work, to explain his or her estimation of the work, or to provide other readers with relevant historical or biographical information. The critic'due south general purpose, in near cases, is to enrich the reader's agreement of the literary work. Critics typically engage in dialogue or argue with other critics, using the views of other critics to develop their ain points. Unfortunately, when critics assume that their readers are already familiar with previous criticism, the statement may exist difficult to follow.

Why Is Criticism Of import for Students?

Equally a reader of literature, y'all may find the views of others very helpful in developing your own interpretations. When yous write an essay virtually literature, you lot will also detect criticism helpful for supporting your points. But criticism should never be a substitute for your ain original views--only in very rare cases would an assignment crave you to summarize a disquisitional work without including your interpretation of the literature. Likewise being useful, good literary criticism can be fun in itself, like listening to and participating in a lively discussion amidst friends. By reading the critic, you add together yet some other point of view to yours and the author'due south.

Is All Literary Criticism Valid?

Certainly if a critic has added to your appreciation of a literary piece of work, so that person has been useful. But equally you read a diversity of criticism on a given author, you volition notice that some criticism more useful than others, and you may find some completely useless, especially if information technology only summarizes the plot, focuses on an issue you lot're not interested in, concentrates too much on other critics or theories and not on the literature itself, or uses an unnecessarily technical vocabulary. As in all fields, at that place are those whose main goal seems to be to misfile or impress rather than to communicate. Still, an article or book that at first seems difficult or irrelevant may exist very valuable in supporting your opinion in one case you encounter the overall picture. Since your goal in reading the article is to enrich your view, you may find but function of the statement valid, and you may even challenge the views of other critics as a means of explaining and developing your own views.

When Practise I Utilize Criticism?

Occasionally, you may desire to brainstorm with some preliminary literary research to brand sure that there is enough critical commentary available, particularly if you're because writing nigh a contempo writer. You may as well want to basic overview or commodity in a reference work earlier beginning to read and interpret a particularly difficult piece of work. Even so, it'due south usually best not to worry about literary criticism until you've already developed your own bones interpretation of the piece of work. If you after find a critic who arrives at the same conclusion you've reached, y'all tin can still employ that critic every bit back up. Remember that the main purpose of your writing is to express and support your views on the original literature, not to quote as many critics equally possible.

How Do I Incorporate Literary Criticism into My Newspaper?

Just as it's usually all-time to read criticism after you've adult your own views, and so practise you normally refer to or quote criticism later on you've expressed an idea of your ain. A typical paragraph may consist of a topic sentence (expressing a portion or subtopic of your interpretation), followed past an elaboration of the thought, a reference to or brief quote from the work that you lot're analyzing, an explanation of how this passage illustrates your betoken, a quote or reference from a critic on this passage (or a like one), and perhaps a brief discussion of the critic's comments. In our reader, Literature and Ourselves, y'all'll discover several casebooks, containing essays about works of literature (the casebooks are on gray pages). Each casebook has a student essay that uses literary criticism for support. Observe how the virtually important part of every educatee paper is the educatee's own ideas--the criticism is used within the body paragraphs to back up the student's ideas. Although in that location is no single best manner to contain literary criticism into our paper, it would be unusual to base a long section of your paper solely on quotations or paraphrases from others.

How to Find Literary Criticism

You lot'll probably outset your search with an index or bibliography that targets the humanities. An all-purpose alphabetize like the Reader'south Guide to Periodical Literature does include articles about literature, simply these tend to be reviews from popular magazines. The two most useful indexes are the Humanities Index and the MLA Bibliography, which are available both in book form and electronically.

Book Form vs. Electronic Course

Although simpler, searching through books rather than computer databases has several disadvantages. Starting time, since print indexes consist of divide quarterly or annual volumes, you have to echo the same search many times. A figurer database may let you search through x-20 years of indexes by entering a single command or search give-and-take. Volume indexes accept rather limited subject headings, while estimator databases allow you cull non but subject but also key words (which are much less restrictive than subject headings). Computer searches also allow you combine subjects and primal words. For example, if you lot were using a impress index to find material on bloom imagery in Shakespeare's verse, you might accept to browse through all articles and books on Shakespeare'south poetry (perchance as many as 50 per twelvemonth). A estimator search, on the other hand, would allow yous to blazon in Shakespeare and poesy and bloom to find only the relevant information. Still in that location are times when you lot may need to employ print indexes (or a combination of electronic and print), especially if the electronic version does not go back far enough in time to encompass enough major criticism.

This essay by Steven Hale, Humanities Division, DeKalb Higher.
Last updated 3-iv-97. Return to Handouts page
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