Transcript Melczarek’s Rules for reading and interpreting literature

Melczarek’s Rules
for reading and interpreting
literature
in his classes
SLOW YOUR READ
For assigned texts, test questions, everything: slow down. Read too quickly and
you miss details, mistake words, etc. This class is about reading for analysis
and thought, so be ready to devote some time to it. You may think that you can
read quickly and catch details, but the likelihood is that you’re dead wrong.
Even if that got you by in high school, this isn’t high school.
We call the first time you read a text the “plot-reading”—you read to
familiarize yourself with the plot, characters, all the basics. Then starts the
“real” reading, called rereading. After the plot-reading, you’re not distracted
by the plot’s newness, but can pay attention to smaller details or bigger
structures that you missed the first time through. You read the text differently
because you already know what happens. You can hang on to your initial
reaction from the plot-reading, but subsequent readings supersede it.
TAKE NOTES AS YOU READ
Want to remember what you read? Take notes:
-- make character lists: who, related how to whom, details
-- track the plot: what happens when and to whom
-- mark passages that stand out to you for any reason, then any we discuss in class
-- summarize each paragraph’s idea/content in the margin
-- look up all unfamiliar words in the OED at least on the second reading, record
their definitions, and then reread those passages with those definitions in front of you
TAKE NOTES BOTH IN THE TEXT
ITSELF AND ON SEPARATE
PAPER/DOCUMENT
Correlate the two sets of notes:
-- notes in the text itself show you exactly where on the page you’re talking/thinking about, the
specific material itself
-- notes on separate paper or in a separate document allow you to expand on whatever you
wrote in the text itself, and should point you to that page/section of the text (so remember to
write down page, paragraph, first few words, etc)
Taking these double notes helps you to think, but also makes writing your papers easier since
you will already know what quotations you want to use to illustrate your argument, and where
you can find them
WRITE IN THE TEXT
Write in the text itself so you can find material on the page, and on blank paper for your own
notes to expand on what’s in the text. Correlate your own separate notes to the text itself.
Get used to writing in your text (especially if it’s a PDF). If you’re concerned about selling
back the book at the end of the semester, ask yourself
How does the money I’ll get back from selling this book stack up
against how much it cost me to register for this class, and the
grade I could get in this class? Is as little as $4 from book
buyback worth it, compared to the A-grade I could have gotten if
I had just written in the book instead?
THE INTERNET IS NOT
YOUR BRAIN.
Don’t look up commentaries about the text on the internet. I’m not grading you on
your use of the internet. You didn’t pay the internet to take this class for you.
I can usually spot an internet-derived interpretation or response to a question . . .
frequently because it’s completely stupid, if not factually wrong. Do you know who
wrote that material on the internet? Then why would you trust it? Do you walk up to
random strangers on the street and ask them to do your assignments for you and still
expect to get an A?
The answer is not on my face,
but in the text and your notes.
If I ask you questions in class, especially basic plot/reading questions, don’t
just stare at me. I won’t provide the answer — I’m not a vending machine.
Instead, look in your texts (that you should write in) or your notes (that you
took while reading). Answering questions in class counts toward class
participation, and also smacks your brain and gets you to think. You’re here to
learn and think, so do it.
(My questions will of course presume that you have, indeed, read the day’s
assigned text to start with. I can tell when you haven’t read from the answers
you give. I can also tell when you’ve pulled potential answers from the
internet.)
The text ALWAYS wins.
Interpretations can vary wildly from each other, but all have one thing in
common: it works only if there is material in the original text to support it. If I
ask your interpretation of something, you must qualify your response by
finding what you base your interpretation on in the text itself. Be ready to point
to a page, or an image, or a statement. If there’s no textual basis or evidence to
support your interpretation, then the interpretation is invalid. Remember also to
keep in mind when a text was written, especially if your interpretation hangs
on a specific word—words change meaning over time, and what a word means
now is not necessarily what it meant when the writer wrote .
The text. Always. Wins.
Always.