Prompt #1
The type of reading individuals engage in on a day to day basis is labeled as "affective" reading. This is when one checks the news or perhaps reads some of their novel and only understands it on the exterior. Foster is trying to get the reader to dig deeper into the interior and mine for a greater meaning. It is not an easy skill to learn so Foster teaches it to his students like grammar. Grammar is the first thing a student learns in a foreign language class because it provides the foundation on which they can build upon. Much like a person attempting to become fluent in another language, a good reader must learn the fundamentals before understanding a new language. The author of this particular novel does an excellent job at explaining the basics. He teaches one how to look at every raindrop, blind man, hero, or symbol and severely dissect it.
Once the reader has learned to look beyond the surface they can start understanding the language. They first must learn to notice that there is a symbol before moving on to understanding why it is there. One of Fosters students was curious as to how they know if an object is really a symbol or just an idea the author threw in their story, to this Foster replies, "I would say that if you are reading carefully- not skipping pieces or inserting words that aren't really there- and you see something, you can assume its really present" (page 279). The true value of reading like a professor is simply going beyond what is there in ink and deciphering the message that lies beyond the surface. Reading is a "highly intellectual activity" because it requires so much more than just an understanding of words. It requires the reader to consume the language and search for not a mere meaning, but an interpretation.
Once the reader has learned to look beyond the surface they can start understanding the language. They first must learn to notice that there is a symbol before moving on to understanding why it is there. One of Fosters students was curious as to how they know if an object is really a symbol or just an idea the author threw in their story, to this Foster replies, "I would say that if you are reading carefully- not skipping pieces or inserting words that aren't really there- and you see something, you can assume its really present" (page 279). The true value of reading like a professor is simply going beyond what is there in ink and deciphering the message that lies beyond the surface. Reading is a "highly intellectual activity" because it requires so much more than just an understanding of words. It requires the reader to consume the language and search for not a mere meaning, but an interpretation.
I can really agree with the way you describe it as building foundations. Despite being an avid reader myself, I have never really had an eye for symbolism unless I was specifically going out of my way to check for it. This really shows that, at least for some people such as myself, looking for deep philosophical meaning is not just something that comes as naturally as walking or breathing. Like Foster was saying in the book, it requires years of practice to be at his level, but before you can even practice you need to have some basic idea of what you are doing. You cannot just take somebody who has never baked before, give them the ingredients to a cake, and expect a satisfying result.
ReplyDeleteI was recently speaking to my mother about phonics and reading. She said until third grade, you learn to read, but from third grade up you are reading to learn. Even though from a young age students are reading to understand another idea, it takes a lot of time and effort for them to begin to understand the text meaning something deeper than what is on the surface. Like most behaviors, this is learned therefore a student does not instinctively know how to do this they must work and struggle with it over time. As high school seniors, we are still learning how to understand a deeper meaning to a text.
ReplyDeleteEverything is built upon a foundation, just as you have explained. As readers we do not start off looking for deeper meanings in the text, we are taught how to understand text, which is actually grazing the surface when there is a more intellectual understanding. Foster says that it takes time to really read into a text which comes with learning and building on a foundation.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your assertion, but to make someone a fully "affective" reader one must be able to connect texts within their thematic elements and other works of art. The fact that you pointed out how certain authors make readers see characters in a new light and face contexts of different novels at a different standpoint than before also displays how one must keep changing their reading habits to define themselves as an intellectual to a literary standpoint. Reading, as the intellectual ability that you stated it was, fully defines how one must always work towards connecting to a text as Addison stated.
ReplyDelete