1. Tools for Becoming a Critical Reader Kirsten Ogden, MFA University of La Verne Kirsten Ogden, MFA University of La Verne

2. Acquiring the “Language of Reading”  Just like writing a sentence, reading has a set of conventions, patterns, codes and rules that readers can learn to employ in dealing with a piece of writing

3. Reading and Imagination  Here is why reading can be so much fun-- the writer offers only HALF of the experience; you, the reader, offer the other half of the experience through your imagination. What you see, feel, hear, taste, smell, react to and so on are REQUIRED if the text is to be successful. The writer doesn’t give you everything--just CLUES along the journey!

4. Fiction Conventions  Character types  Plot rhythms  Chapter structures  Point of View Limitations  Form  Rhythm  Character types  Plot rhythms  Chapter structures  Point of View Limitations  Form  Rhythm The novice reader asks: Who are these people? What are they doing? What wonderful or terrible things are happening to them? The first reading is often an “emotional” reaction. Go further.

5. Practiced Readers  Ask questions about these fiction conventions in order to deepen their understanding of the material of the text  Ask: Where did that effect come from? Whom does this character resemble? Where have I seen this situation before?

6. Think about it this way:  Our associations with the text will enrich both our entertainment and our understanding  Everything means something. And everything means something based upon our experiences, background and education levels. (This will figure prominently in our acceptance of and understanding of non- European literatures).

7. Try to see the literary text through a “critical lens.” Read both for pleasure and to see the text in a new light.

8. What separates the trained reader from the passive novice? A recognition of: Memory Symbol Pattern Recognition Metaphor Analogy Tropes Archetypes A recognition of: Memory Symbol Pattern Recognition Metaphor Analogy Tropes Archetypes

9. Learning to Read and to Think symbolically  1. Everything is a symbol of something until proven otherwise.  Ask about the metaphor; ask what each thing in the text might signify; see things as existing in and of themselves, but also representing something else.  1. Everything is a symbol of something until proven otherwise.  Ask about the metaphor; ask what each thing in the text might signify; see things as existing in and of themselves, but also representing something else.

10. You may be thinking...  Don’t writers just WRITE? Without knowing all that stuff? The answer is maybe, maybe not. The point of literary analysis, however, is to utilize our individual experiences and our education and knowledge, to widen our enjoyment of the text. Believe it or not, this process will make reading more fun!  Don’t writers just WRITE? Without knowing all that stuff? The answer is maybe, maybe not. The point of literary analysis, however, is to utilize our individual experiences and our education and knowledge, to widen our enjoyment of the text. Believe it or not, this process will make reading more fun!

11. Pattern Recognition:  Attempt to distance yourself from the story and look beyond the purely affective levels of plot, drama and characters.  What elements of the story add to the significance and resonance, and what elements do not?  Attempt to distance yourself from the story and look beyond the purely affective levels of plot, drama and characters.  What elements of the story add to the significance and resonance, and what elements do not?

12. Literature is FULL of PATTERNS! Lets look at several common patterns in literature throughout history:

13. THE QUEST: Every trip is a quest!

14. Can you think of any “Quests” you’ve read or seen? Quests= Hero, dangerous road, someone evil, someone to rescue, some treasure to find...

15. Think about:  The knights of the roundtable and the quest for the Holy Grail!  Frodo and Samwise heading off to Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings!  Huck Finn?  North by Northwest?  Star Wars?  Indiana Jones?  The knights of the roundtable and the quest for the Holy Grail!  Frodo and Samwise heading off to Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings!  Huck Finn?  North by Northwest?  Star Wars?  Indiana Jones?

16. Structuring the Quest:  1. A quester  2. A place to go  3. A stated reason to go there  4. Challenges and trials en route  5. A real reason to go there  1. A quester  2. A place to go  3. A stated reason to go there  4. Challenges and trials en route  5. A real reason to go there

17. The Real Reason For A Quest is Always Self Knowledge  Often the Quester doesn’t know she’s on a quest!  The real reason for the quest is often never stated, but usually involves  Self-knowledge and education for our hero/ine  Often the Quester doesn’t know she’s on a quest!  The real reason for the quest is often never stated, but usually involves  Self-knowledge and education for our hero/ine The stated goal of the quest often fades away as the story goes on, and the “real” reason for the quest leads to hero/ine redemption and new knowledge

18. THE COMMUNION Meals and food usually equal a communion of some sort

19. Can you think of any famous acts of communion?  “breaking bread” is a well-known phrase that is linked to the idea of “communion”

20. What does it mean to “break bread?”  It is an act of sharing and peace  It often signals how the characters are getting along with one another  Communion offers a realm of commonality- recognition between the characters  It is an act of sharing and peace  It often signals how the characters are getting along with one another  Communion offers a realm of commonality- recognition between the characters  It sometimes symbolizes what’s “eating” the characters too!  Communion or acts of communion DON’T NEED TO BE HOLY OR DECENT!

21. VAMPIRES! No, this isn’t a sci-fi class. Read on.

22. Ghosts and Vampires  You can take this literally, since many stories have the appearance of ghosts or vampires (think Jacob Marley in A Christmas Story! think Shakespeare!)  OR you can take this metaphorically (ah, there’s that word again)  You can take this literally, since many stories have the appearance of ghosts or vampires (think Jacob Marley in A Christmas Story! think Shakespeare!)  OR you can take this metaphorically (ah, there’s that word again)

23. Vampires and Ghosts: What do they do to us? “Suck us dry” often representing “corrupt” values or a “stripping away” of youth and “virginal” qualities--even a “destruction of the young!”

24. Vampires and Ghosts  It’s all about when someone grows in strength by weakening someone else  Exploitation in its many forms  It’s all about when someone grows in strength by weakening someone else  Exploitation in its many forms  “In order to remain ‘undead’ I must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own!”

25. OTHER NEAT THINGS TO LOOK FOR

26. Symbols and Metaphors: Weather  How does a rainy day make you feel?  What does it mean when you say you’re “in a fog”?  How come you feel happy when you see a rainbow?  How does a rainy day make you feel?  What does it mean when you say you’re “in a fog”?  How come you feel happy when you see a rainbow?

27. A Writer’s Bag of Tricks  It’s Never Just Rain: or snow, or sun, or wind. It all always means something.  Lets free associate:  It’s Never Just Rain: or snow, or sun, or wind. It all always means something.  Lets free associate:  Rain: Cleansing? Baptism? Noah’s Flood? Fresh? Restoration?

28. Any time you free associate in this way while you’re reading, you’re probably right on the money! Always remember though, that how you associate with a word or idea is based on your cultural norms, values and experiences.

29. Intertextuality: The dialogue between old texts and new texts--an ongoing interaction

30. The more you read, the more you enjoy  That’s because the more types of works you’ve read, the greater ability YOU have a a reader to have a “dialogue” with the text, and the greater ability you have as a reader to decipher the dialogue between the writer and stories from the past

31. Common “invoked” stories:  When in doubt, check Shakespeare--everyone steals from him  When in doubt, look to the Greeks and Romans  When in doubt, check myths and children’s fables  When in doubt, look to the Bible (or other non- western religious texts)  When in doubt, check Shakespeare--everyone steals from him  When in doubt, look to the Greeks and Romans  When in doubt, check myths and children’s fables  When in doubt, look to the Bible (or other non- western religious texts) “Reading is an activity of the imagination, but that activity is not the writer’s alone.” “When we recognize the interplay between these dramas, we become partners with the writer in creating meaning.”

32. Myths: A Body of Stories that Matter  Myths have been in every culture and society  “Universal” myths are often based on “European” ideas-- keep this in mind  Myths have been in every culture and society  “Universal” myths are often based on “European” ideas-- keep this in mind  Myths are a form of “intertextuality”  Myths contain any number of symbols and metaphors that serve as rich foundation for meaning in any given text

33. One Example:  Think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and try to come up with metaphors, symbols or story “tropes”  the serpent  the fall from grace  innocence lost

34. The Basic Law of Reading:  If it sounds familiar, if it feels a bit “tinny” in the ear, if it resonates, then look for allusions to bigger story ideas, bigger myths, well- known character ‘types’, familiar plots or journey patterns.