Blog Post #4

I liked and disliked this article for reasons I will cite later. First off, the main reason I liked this article is because of the topic of which the author wrote about. All through high school I could not figure out the "theme" of a novel without looking one up on spark notes to tell me. Some of my classmates seemed to understand but then again maybe they were looking on spark notes too. Ever since I have been assigned my first essay, I've always wondered how teachers can critique another person's work. Because they are a licensed teacher? So what! I've always felt that no one should tell you that your interpretation or style of writing is wrong. A teacher should only give suggestions is what I believe, and they should be only suggestions. They should not have to be followed because you may not like their point of view. I believe that most students are turned off by their high school teachers because they do not read the pieces of literature that interest them. Also, I think that most teachers see it as a sign of disrespect if you tell them that you do not agree with their interpretation. I sometimes have a tough time making myself read what it assigned. When I approach a story or novel, I try to keep an open mind thinking that someone worked really hard on this piece of literature and I should at least give it a chance. I believe that stories should have many interpretations and that is the beauty of literature. A paragraph can have more than one meaning because we try to relate to the author's experiences and what he or she is trying to convey. No one's interpretation should be viewed as wrong, instead it should be respected. Throughout my high school literature courses, I would just write the interpretation that would give me and A instead of writing down my own opinion on the matter. However, that being said, if I did not like the piece of literature we were reading, I wasn't afraid to say so to the teacher. I solely believe that we should be taught to love reading and we should read the literature that interest us because eventually, as a reader, we will most likely end up reading the books that we would be assigned anyways. As a reader grows with age, so does his or her tastes. It is hard for a teenager to relate to a man such a Shakespeare who lived during the Renaissance.