Studying Literature

 

"The best readers I know carefully mark every worthwhile thing they read. They are well read because they read well." --John Snider

Once upon a time I was a high schooler that loved reading, so naturally I took English classes that required a lot of reading. I enjoyed the discussions and definitely learned a lot about reading.

Later in college, I was trying on different majors before I ultimately graduated in Technical Writing. For a year I was a literature major, until I realized about the only thing I could do with that is teach. I had already tried Elementary Education and knew I didn't want to do that. (Funny, since now I teach all the time and love it!)

I wrote a lot of papers about books through high school and college. A lot. In the process I spent tons of time trying to remember what I had read and searching for quotes to include.

Out of college I still loved to read, and I got involved in neighborhood book groups. I wanted discussions like I had had in school, but they usually read surface level books with not much to talk about, or they would discuss briefly then move on to other topics.

After we started homeschooling, I helped mentor the youth. Our book discussions were much higher quality than our neighborhood groups, and though I wasn’t the one leading the discussions, I wanted to be well-prepared. Someone shared a tri-fold bookmark for note taking they found somewhere, and we edited it, then edited it more with questions, themes to watch for, a place for important characters, etc. I started taking really good notes. My study improved, and so did my preparation for these book groups.

Eventually I stopped using the bookmarks, and instead just used the book itself. I worried that note pages could be lost, but as long as I had the book, my notes were there.

Here is my method.

BLANK SPACE – YAY!

First, find those wonderful blank pages in the back of your book. If you don’t have any (honestly, the horror!), you can use sticky notes to cover whatever they thought was more important than beautiful blank space. Those books that end on the literal last page – rude. 

CHARACTERS

Either note characters as you go or google for characters in the book and make a list before you even start. Personally, I normally just dive in, but character lists will usually mention characters ranked by importance. Most books dive in with main characters, but some books start with minor characters you never see again. 

When something is going on with a character, I quickly note the page number. I also note if someone is referring to the character with someone else. When key moments happen with that character, I circle or star the page number, sometimes adding a tiny note.

THEMES

Every book has lessons to teach its reader, intended or not, just like we learn lessons from different people we encounter. When studying literature, we call these themes. Some examples of themes are right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, love, marriage, family, justice vs. mercy, beauty, deceit, God’s role in our life, forgiveness, legacy, revenge, etc.

You could try googling themes of a book before you start to read, but I usually note themes that are important to me as I read.

ASK QUESTIONS

When we notice a theme, we can then ask questions about the theme to discover what is being taught.

For example, a theme I noticed when I recently read Jane Eyre is home. Besides just noting that, wow, this book talks a lot about home, I started to ask questions to help narrow down the lessons.

What elements make a home important?

How does a person feel at home?

What makes a person feel not at home?

Why is a home important?

Mortimer Adler teaches about five types of questions to help pull lessons from what you read.

1. Knowledge - What is going on?

2. Meaning - Why is it significant? What does it mean?

3. Principles/Themes

4. Connections with other works.

5. Applications - How can I apply this?

DO I DO THIS WITH EVERYTHING I READ?

I honestly can’t help it anymore. No matter what you read, there are lessons to be taught. Sometimes my notes are extensive. Sometimes there are just a few.

MORAL OF THE STORY

Years ago I calculated how many books I could read if I read one book a week for the rest of my life. The number surprised me, and I decided not to waste time on whatever was the newest, shiniest, most talked about book. I became more careful with who I took book requests from, and I always research books before I decide to spend the time.

"The intellectual is, quite simple, a human being who has a pencil in his or her hand when reading a book." --George Steiner

Uniball Signo .38 RT are my favorite pens for book notes. I also love them in aqua and yellow, but amazon doesn't normally carry those, so look elsewhere for your favorite colors.

Some examples!