Of course, you already know how to read, or you wouldn\u2019t be reading this post. But if you\u2019ve come to this page, you probably want to become a better reader.<\/p>\n
The best way to become a better reader is to interact with the text. Underline passages, circle key words, and take notes in the margins, asking questions and recording your responses. Talk back to the text. Books are like the Velveteen Rabbit: they don\u2019t come to life until they are well loved and well worn. To make your books come to life:<\/p>\n
How to Read Poetry<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot of people are afraid of poetry, and I used to be, too. In college, I thought I might declare an English major, but worried that I couldn\u2019t because I didn\u2019t \u201cget poetry.\u201d Fortunately, I enrolled in a freshman writing course recommended for potential English majors. It was taught by Professor Robert Hill, and all we did was read, talk, and write about poetry. One lesson I learned in that class is that reading poetry isn\u2019t any harder than reading \u00a0novels. In fact, most poems are shorter and more concentrated. So you just concentrate your attention and trust your reactions. If something isn\u2019t making sense, chances are it\u2019s not because you\u2019re not smart enough to understand the poem, but because the poet is trying to deliver meaning in an unusual way. So when you get confused, pause and ask: why am I confused? what\u2019s \u201cwrong\u201d with this line? how might that wrongness be a deliberate move\u2014an attempt by the poet to estrange language from ordinary usage in order to communicate ideas in a new, fresh way?<\/p>\n One of the biggest myths about poetry is that it\u2019s full of hidden meanings. The meaning of a poem isn\u2019t hidden. It\u2019s all there on the page, right before your eyes. Read it, and instead of looking for hidden meanings, join the process of making meanings.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a handout to help you make sense of a poem:\u00a0ReadingPoetry<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re willing to commit a bit more time, read Edward Hirsch\u2019s\u00a0How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry.<\/em> The first chapter is online and free<\/a>.<\/p>\n How to Read Secondary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n One of my favorite assignments is the \u201cSecondary Source Report<\/a>\u201d (SSR), which teaches you to understand your sources holistically. It helps you become a more efficient and effective critical reader. The \u201cforest\/tree\u201d analogy is helpful here. If you approach a large forest from the edge and try to wend your way through all the trees, it will likely take you a long time, and you may come out with little sense of the overall lay of the land. But if someone gives you a map of the whole forest first, you\u2019re likely to find your way through it more efficiently, and you might even have a better grasp of the landmarks you\u2019ve passed on the way. An SSR is like a map of the forest. It helps you navigate a dense argument or theory. Once you\u2019ve written a few SSRs, this approach to reading may become second nature to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOW TO READ Of course, you already know how to read, or you wouldn\u2019t be reading this post. But if you\u2019ve come to this page, you probably want to become a better reader. The best way to become… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-268","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1101,"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions\/1101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.suzannechurchill.com\/eng394-f17\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}