What is Reading?

Like "What is literature?", the question "What is reading?" seems at first to have an obvious answer. When you read, you look at a bunch of symbols printed on a page (or screen), and your mind interprets those symbols as information.

In order to understand better what's going on in your English class, however, you might need to take a closer look at what reading means.

Reading's Purposes
 
First, it's important to realize that reading has different purposes on different occasions. Yes, the basic act of reading is always the same, but apart from that, you read differently depending on the material and purpose.

Example 1: You're sitting in your dentist's waiting room before your semi-annual cleaning. You pick up a People magazine and leaf through it. You see a photograph of Mel Gibson with his arm around a woman who looks like Cher. Is it Cher? You stop to read the blurb next to the picture. Then you skip a couple pages and read the next article on Gwyneth Paltrow. If someone asked you a few days later who was with Mel, or what Gwyneth's favorite hobby is, would you remember? Probably not.

Here, you're reading to distract yourself from the boredom of waiting, and also just for fun. You aren't looking for anything specific, nor do you particularly need any of this information.

Example 2: Your teacher assigns you some pages from your American history textbook. Your teacher gives pop quizzes to make sure you know the facts. So you do a quick survey of the assignment, reading major headings to see what to expect, then settle down with your highlighter and notebook. You read slowly, stopping once in a while to review in your mind and write down key people and events.

In this example, you're reading in order to obtain and remember specific information. Perhaps you also are able to enjoy the reading, despite (or even because of) the added pressure. But it's a different kind of pleasure than that of reading People.

Example 3: You're reading Toni Morrison's Beloved for English class. You're not expecting a quiz, but you will have to write a paper on it. Probably you're taking notes, as in Example 2, but your purpose is somewhat different. You're trying to come up with interesting points that you could make about the book. You pay close attention to Morrison's imagery, word choices, and so on.

Here, reading is an analytical activity, as well as a tool for obtaining information. Hopefully, you're also enjoying the novel--but, again, not in the same way that you enjoyed People in Example 1.

These are only a few examples, of course. The point is that your reading purpose determines your reading style. Therefore, as a rule, it's very important to know your purpose before you start reading.

Reading for Literary Analysis
 
Clearly, Example 3, above, describes the type of reading we'll be most concerned with in our literature lessons.

"But Example 1 sounds like much more fun!"

I thought someone might say that. Let me go on record as saying that I love People magazine and am deliriously happy whenever I see it in my dentist's waiting room. I am fully in favor of reading as a form of mindless distraction. BUT that's not the only form of reading you need to know. AND it's not even the only FUN form!

Yes, it's true. Bear with me here... I've often heard students say something like,

"I can't enjoy the poem if we're going to analyze it like this. I'd rather look at it as a whole than take it apart. The analysis destroys it."

Again, a valid point. Some aspects of a work of art--even a written one--can't be described verbally. We may not want to discuss some of our personal feelings about a story or poem. That's fine.

HOWEVER, it's come to my attention that some students (not you, of course) resist the analytical approach because... it's hard. When you're first learning to do anything, it's difficult and frustrating and you don't see results right away. When you're first learning karate, for instance, you pull muscles and fall over and think maybe you should just stay home and watch Highlander reruns instead. Similarly, studying literature makes you use parts of your mind you've never used before. It would be more pleasant, indeed, to just hover around the edges of a poem without looking at it too closely.

But is that really where you want your mind to be?

Wouldn't it be better to challenge and train your mind, so that, when you want it to, it can go to the center of things?

Wouldn't that--eventually--even be fun?