I feel very lucky to have had educators throughout the years have taught me to reread, critical read, and analyze texts. I love that Gardner addresses that literary texts do not have a hidden meaning. I have had too many professors that teach a certain work means this and anything else is wrong. I strongly feel that every text has the possibility to mean something different to each reader.
In class the other day, we read My Papa's Waltz. I had always read this work as one about abuse. This was because a professor several years ago gave us the poem to read, and asked us what we thought it meant. The professor then spent an hour lecturing on its "true" meaning about abuse. I finally was able to see the many truths that could be possible in this work. I feel that giving a student credit for their own analysis is crucial to not stunting their literary growth.
This chapter gives an outline of how to become a better reader. I was lucky to posessess many of these skills early on because of my Father and teachers, but many individuals are not so lucky. I believe that a teacher should demonstrate each of the skills listed in this chapter in order to help his or her students further their literary capacity. What do you think? Do you believe that any one work has one "true" meaning?
I don't think a work has one "true" meaning. I think everyone can have their different viewpoints on what a work means - it's up for interpretation. I always disliked the fact that teachers tried tell us everything meant and it was only that. Going through classes now, I know that's not the case. A work can have many meanings and some of those meanings may be personal connections people have to that work. For others, it could simply be just a piece of work.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe a work has any one meaning. I had this problem with my world literature class in spring semester. We had to do cold readings and when my professor read my rough draft, he told me that what I had wrote about the text was not what the author had meant by it. He then proceeded to tell me what the author really meant and what I should actually be saying in my paper, but, sometimes, what he said just didn't match what I thought the text was really saying and it bothered me to no end. Alas, I wrote what he wanted to for the grade, but I felt as if his meaning wasn't my meaning. In short, yes. I believe a text can have more than one meaning to it especially since everyone grows up differently and has different life experiences that makes them see things in different ways.
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