Home
Anmelden
Registrieren
Hörübung
Hörübung
/
Video
/
TED-Ed
/
Mining literature for deeper meanings - Amy E. Harter
Mining literature for deeper meanings - Amy E. Harter
Lernmodus auswählen:
Untertitel ansehen
Wort wählen
Wort umschreiben
Untertitel (107)
0:00
Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby
0:13
We often hear that studying literature
0:15
involves finding a deeper meaning to a text.
0:18
When writing about literary works,
0:20
we're expected to mentally dive below the surface
0:22
in order to come back up with big ideas.
0:24
But you may find yourself looking
0:26
at the flat page of a book,
0:27
wondering how deep it can really go?
0:29
How do we reach those ideas that turn into great essays?
0:32
Well, there are two crucial thinking steps
0:34
that can lead us in the right direction:
0:36
practicing insight
0:37
and acknowledging complexity.
0:39
Insight is the ability to arrive
0:41
at an intuitive understanding of a big idea
0:43
using only small clues to get there.
0:46
If you're practicing insight,
0:47
you'll able to use observations
0:49
about character behavior to figure out
0:51
their true emotions and motivations.
0:53
Pay attention to little things
0:55
because they add up to what is really meaningful.
0:57
For example, if you consider a character
0:59
like Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice,
1:01
who openly declares his dislike for Miss Lizzy Bennet,
1:05
you might, at first, assume he's just a mean guy.
1:07
But, using your powers of insight,
1:09
you're noticing other smaller things -
1:11
how Darcy's eyes linger on Lizzy's face
1:13
and how he seems all flustered when she's around.
1:16
Add to the mix your knowledge that Mr. Darcy
1:18
is in a much higher social class than Lizzy,
1:20
and your sense of insight should be telling you
1:22
that there's something more here.
1:24
In this case, it will tell you
1:25
that Darcy's surface behavior is in conflict
1:27
with his true feelings of attraction
1:29
because the difference in wealth between himself and Lizzy
1:32
makes him feel that it'll never work.
1:34
Thinking about all those small clues
1:36
gives us insight about some of the big, abstract ideas
1:39
within the novel that we can approach in an essay:
1:42
appearances versus reality,
1:44
the power of wealth and social stratification,
1:46
and the unpredictable nature of love and attraction.
1:49
Look at that! Deeper meaning.
1:52
The second step to a sophisticated analysis
1:54
is acknowledging complexity.
1:56
Let's face it. In both life and literature,
1:59
situations are complicated
2:00
due to social forces like relationships,
2:03
moral codes,
2:04
personal desires,
2:05
and power structures.
2:06
This means that there are, at any given time,
2:08
multiple factors that shape what is true.
2:11
In order to acknowledge complexity in your writing,
2:13
refrain from making broad generalizations about a text
2:17
or establishing quick, simple judgements about a character.
2:20
Explore each facet of your subject carefully
2:22
and make sure to consider multiple influences on events.
2:26
Explain the tension of multiple forces
2:28
that create the story.
2:30
For example, a basic analysis of Toni Morrison's Beloved,
2:34
where the protagonist has killed her own child
2:35
rather than allow her to grow up in slavery,
2:38
might sound like this,
2:39
"Sethe murdered her own daughter.
2:41
This act was wrong,
2:42
and causes the ghost of the child
2:44
to haunt her throughout the novel."
2:46
These observations are simplistic.
2:48
They don't acknowledge all the different forces
2:50
that contribute to what the character has done.
2:52
Try something like this instead,
2:54
"A culture of slavery disturbs the ability
2:56
to determine what is morally right.
2:58
Sethe's past experiences with violence
3:00
reinforce the fear she has for her child's fate,
3:03
and transform the murder into a protective act.
3:06
As the novel progresses,
3:07
Sethe is haunted both by the angry spirit of her daughter
3:10
and by the memories of everything else
3:11
slavery took from her."
3:13
Here, we see those influential forces at work,
3:16
and we've shown off our ability to understand
3:18
the complicated nature of the human experience,
3:20
which, again, allows us to access
3:22
those big ideas that reveal the deeper meaning of a story,
3:26
ideas, in this case, like the parameters of maternal instinct,
3:29
the consequences of injustice,
3:31
and the question of whether or not
3:33
ethics can even exist in a corrupted moral system.
3:36
It's impossible to sit down
3:37
and write an amazing essay about literature
3:39
without first thinking about it.
3:41
Before you hit the keys,
3:42
go back to the text
3:43
and fish out the small moments,
3:45
the complicated moments in the story.
3:47
Line them up in your mind,
3:49
practice insight,
3:50
acknowledge complexity,
3:51
arrive at some big ideas.
3:53
Before you know it,
3:54
the deeper meaning will be close at hand.
