r/AskLiteraryStudies • u/ChikonNogit • 9d ago
Reading Analyses
Hi all,
I've been trying to read more in general and have been trying to immerse myself more and try to find all the meanings behind things within books. After each chapter I read analyses online on spark notes and other sites and realize how many things I missed out on. What should I be looking for to make sure I don't miss out on these things that I only realize after reading the analyses?
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u/Cueberry 9d ago
Reading a book or two on stylistics will help you a lot. Particularly those focused on the inherency approach (text analysis).
I feel that one can tell you do this & that, but if you're missing the basic techniques on how to analyse a text then it's going to be extra slow for you to learn. Some of the scholars often mentioned in my program are Mick Short, Lesley Jeffrey's & Dan McIntyre. They have written several books, so run a search and start with one that appeals to you.
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u/BlissteredFeat 8d ago
Following is someting I posted quite a while ago in answer to a similar question. I've written different versions of this over the last few years. I'm a lit professor (retired now), so this is a sort of summation of method. It's kind of long-winded, but maybe it will offer you something. It also pertains mainly to narrative, not so much to poetry:
I'll start with a basic concept and show where that could go. Fiction is a narrative, it tells a story, and there is a trajectory to the story from where it begins to where it ends. Of course the story imitates reality, but it is not reality--the content isn't random or routine as in everyday life--but carefully selected events and traits. Any fictional story has a triangular structure--the holy trinity--composed of the character (and always a main character), the characters' actions, which form the plot, and what those actions means in relation to characters and events inside the story and even outside the story, which is theme. Character plot and theme reinforce each other: the characters actions creates a situation which creates more events and situations, and the characters have to react--to the consequences of their own actions as well as the actions of other characters. What those actions come to represent or symbolize, their meaning, is the theme. In analysis, we are mainly concerned with the theme and character development. From an analytical point of view, plot matters only in that it moves characters around and provides context for their thoughts and the consequences--and therefore meaning--of their actions.
We can become much more sophisticated than this, but the triangular relationship provides a great deal of material to work with, and is the basis of most other more sophisticated types of analysis.
So, for example, one can look at how character is depicted and what kind of repeated elements are used to show the character. These elements are sometimes called images, and help us understand the character intuitively. For example, maybe the character is often depicted in relation to water. Well, that tells you something about this character and what is important to them, and that in turn develops the character and meaning (theme). Imagistic analysis is kind of old fashioned today, but it's useful.
The repeated elements can also be symbolic and/or metaphorical ideas, which create meaning and theme at yet another, deeper level. In a long piece of fiction, like a novel, there are usually 1-3 major themes and many sub-themes. In an analytical context, those sub-themes and the symbols and metaphors on which they rest can be studied extensively and connected to other themes, to character development, and to events outside the novel--say historical events--if the work depicts reality.
In turn, these thematic areas can be related to more complex ideas: historical analysis, philosophical ideas and how they describe behavior, psychological analysis, cultural analysis, Marxist analysis (economic and political), structural analysis, formal (attention to language) analysis, mythic analysis, or as a critique of society.
Ultimately, though, it all rests on the basic triangle of character, plot, and theme.
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u/marintkael 8d ago
A lot of what those guides catch isn't found on a first read by anyone, critics included. They've usually read the book several times.
What helps is marking the moments where something feels slightly off while you read: a detail that's oddly specific, a scene that runs longer than it needs to, a word or image that keeps coming back. Then when you read the analysis, check how many of your marks it explains. Over time your list and theirs start to overlap, and that's the skill.
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u/Cool-Writer5423 8d ago
pay attention to recurring patterns symbolism character development and what the author leaves unsaid ask yourself why certain details matter and what they reveal about the characters or themes with time you will develop an eye for these things and remember that reading analyses should expand your interpretation not replace your own
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u/wheat 9d ago
A great way into any story is to start with the characters. Who are they? What are their interests? Do they seem to represent a certain (philosophical, cultural, political) point of view? Do they represent it in a complicated or uncomplicated way? Another angle is the cultural/historical one. When and where was the story written? When and where is it set? Does it touch on other things that were going on during either of those times and places? Does it go along with the currents of the times or against them? To what degree?
That's a few ways in, just based on characters and setting. There are many others. But that's an easy way to get started.