blog post 4

In English classes in the past, I admit that I definitely tended to follow my teacher’s interpretations of assigned literature when trying to determine what I personally thought of it… which doesn’t make much sense. It’s always slightly intimidating, for me at least, to express what I think a piece of writing is about. I’m always wondering “did I understand what they said correctly… did I read the sentences correctly, first of all… what if my interpretation is literally the complete opposite of what they were trying to say… now I’m going to sound incompetent and people will think ‘wow, how’d she make it out of third grade’” and then I just wind up waiting until the teacher gives their answer.
This happens more often with literature like Beowulf that take me four read-overs to even begin to understand what the text is saying, though. But I still tend to stay quiet during discussions, even when I have a well formed opinion on something. It’s much easier for me to write about my interpretations than talk about them, even though I fully believe that a story can have more than one interpretation. I agree with Teague’s statement that “interpretation depends on… the reader’s experiences, knowledge, and feelings”, and stories can take completely different directions if you’ve experienced or learned more or less.
Now, I don’t read every piece of literature with the intent focus I should. I’ve definitely never written notes in the margins, and I admit I could work on my critical thinking skills for pieces of work that don’t completely grasp my attention. But I try to approach any story or essay with an open mind. I’ve come to realize that reading anything that intends to send a message, though some may think it’s not meant to be, is very subjective. Literature is taken in different ways by different people because in the end, it all depends on the way you think, not how well you think.