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