Reading and Analyzing

by Raegan Densmore

Image reference: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/86/bb/0d/86bb0d9d46d06ed4e80d50d37332452c.jpg 

As the end of the school year approaches, naturally, I have numerous essays due in a span of a week. These types of essays mainly consist of reading and interpreting. Interpreting isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially in literature that is very dense, but at least this has allowed me to get into reading again, which has been a plan of mine for a while. 

When it comes to interpreting readings, and writing about it, I have come to believe my teachers would love it if I gave a wild claim, as long as I could defend it. You can’t be too literal. I find it easier to read the books assigned and interpret it myself beforehand. This is because after hearing my professors explain it, it can be quite hard to see it any other way. I think it's quite fun nonetheless. Interpreting writings myself, and then hearing other people’s interpretations or how the piece was meant to be interpreted. Whether I share the same view, or mine is totally off, it’s interesting how different minds work, how we put different statements together. And typically what my teachers seem to care about is how well you can defend your claim using evidence. 

I have had to read and analyze a variety of different types of readings in my courses. Whether that be ancient philosophy, modern philosophy, fiction novels, or historical news articles. With this, I tend to draw and compare the different readings together, which has often helped me get a better understanding of what I should be looking out for in terms of analyzing and then writing for an assignment. I have come to realize, admittedly, that I am not the biggest fan of comparison essays, as they can often be complicated and hard to narrow down into a certain amount of words. But, because I have written quite a few at this point, and along with reading and analyzing similar writings, my brain has eventually come to do it naturally.

Although humanities does not get enough credit in society as it should, I believe these skills I have been developing from reading and analyzing different types of literature will be beneficial for me in the future. With interpretations especially, not only do you have to think and interpret things yourself, but you become exposed to other views as well, which is a very beneficial trait to have in society. To learn for yourself, and to learn from others in this diverse world. Ultimately, although my plate is filled with loads of assignments, I have been enjoying reading the pieces I have, and developing my analytic skills.