Hi everbody
I 'm a fresh member here .I am not a native speaker of English.I am a girl ,who graduated recently from English language depatment.I mad about reading English litreature esp. novels and plays. I want to ask you a favor guys Could somebody tell me what is the best way to read litreature critically or at least in a very proper way,please ?
Thanks in Advance
[It is really a wondrful site,I hve been looking for such one for a long time
Yours ,
Rana
What is your native language? I would imaging that it will be most helpful to you to have editions with footnotes to explain things to you in your native language. If it is Farsi, for example, you will probably be more challenged than if it is German, French, Italian or Spanish, since native speakers of those languages probably have a wider choice of material on English available.
You know, Hemingway is a good choice because of the simple, straightforward language and vocabulare. e.e. cummings and Wallace Stevens are not such good choices for the beginner.
hi sitarma,
Thanks for your help .My native languge is Arabic.Actually I have just started reading "for whom The Bells Toll" by him.
Doyou think reading notes ,for example spark notes, of course beside reading the original is important or not ,and thanks again.
Yours,
Rana
I think Sparknotes and other supplements can be very helpful to understand literature on a deeper level. Of course, it certainly shouldn't be used as a replacement, but as a supplement to help understand themes, symbols, etc., I see nothing wrong with it, and quite often very helpful in understanding and enjoying great literature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranoo
I also find reading essays and critcal anaylses very helpful too.
hi zooey,
Thank u a lot.You are right about critical essays .I know one of the useful web site regarding this ,which is www.123helpme.com
I'm afraid I'm not much help as far as literature resources on the internet goes- I'm very lucky to have at my disposal a large library that usually has enough books and articles to satisfy anything I'm curious about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranoo
Taking a quick glance through 123helpme, it seems that the site is very hit-and-miss, as some of the essays appear quite good, others barely acceptable. But it certainly seems a decent resource. Perhaps others could help out with other sites that could be of use to you.
Well, I wouldn't say there's one 'correct' or 'proper' way of reading anything, really. Of course giving the book you're reading your full attention (as opposed to thinking about random stuff while occatonally turning a page) would be a good place to start, but I believe you already know that. ;) Besides online resources (of which I think SparkNotes and occationally MSN Encarta are the best ones I've come across) I could recommend the book How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom, a quite famous contemporary literary critic. I have it and liked it. Although, having said that, I must emphasize the fact that I don't think anyone can tell you how to read. Everyone has their own method that works best for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranoo
If your reading is for pleasure you may want to read just for the pleasure of the story, digest it for yourself, and only later after having done this, re-approach the book with a more critical eye. In my humble opinion, this approach allows one to enjoy the literature for what it is, namely, a tale to be enjoyed. Later, there are almost unlimited resources in libraries, bookstores and on the internet for a more 'in-depth' critical explication of the work.How you approach your own investigation of the tale can/will be your own choice.
Welcome to the sight!!!
Hello friends,
I don't know how to thank you for those precious advices.
Zooey ,
I agree with you that you are lucky coz you have books as literary resources. Unfortunately ,it is difficult to find such books in my country ,if you were lucky only on the shelves of the University's library. For this, I prefer web sites.
Thanks dear
Ia Zabu ,
Thanks a million for recommending the book .I'll try to find it .
Badda,
Thanks a lot for your lovely welcome .In fact , when ,I used to read novels for pleasure, but after studying English literature I started to enjoy critical reading for literary works.
Take care
Yours,
Rana
The light, do you see the light?
Welcome.
Sometimes you can find books with the english original text on one side, and a translation on the other. Perhaps your local library might have some , if you ask there? Reading books like that greatly helped me to analyze texts. I think it improved my english, since it helped me to notice how I often perceived the english text in a different way than the translated text. Sometimes I completly missed nuances and undertones in the english material, that was evident for me in my own language. This way I learned to appreciate them.
hi again,
Simon ,
Thanks for your lighting welcome :D
Isagel,
you are a life saver,Thanks dear for giving me a hand.Sure ,I'll follow your advice..
You could go to the British Council and you'll find loads of books there, i'm sure you've got one in your country. It's worth trying!
Okay Hope , ;) Thanks a lot .for this.
Wow, if i didnt know who wrote "for whome the bells toll" I would have had a hard time, because you said it was written by "him." And God is a good author but he's no Hemingway.
Lool :lol: sorry for this mistake
Thanks for coming here Jack_Aubr ey
Okay ,
He is Ernest Miller Hemingway the one who wrote
For Whom the Bells Toll
The old Man and The Sea
A farewell To Arms
Fiesta
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
To Have and Have not
Death in the Afternoon
Green Hills of Africa
Men Without Women
Moveable Feast
The Torrenest of Spring
Across the River and Into the Tress
Winner Take Nothing
The Fifth column
by this am not guilty anymore,right ?:banana:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_Aubrey
LOL!!! Good stuff!
I view Hemingway as the 'competition'.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack_Aubrey
hehe, that may make it to the favorite quotes thread....
sorry friends if that was a big mistake ,I said English is not my native languge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sitaram
When I said him,I wanted by this to refer to Hemingway in Sitaram's post,since he suggested one writer in his post not many . As I know him in English refers to God when it is written in capital letters HIM ,or at lest when it begins with capital H, which is Him Is that correct?
Anyway sorry again if I goofed .
Don't worry about it, Rana! Your English is pretty good :nod: I think we here all like to joke a bit! :)
hi,
thanks ScheherazadeI understand this.I just wanna to clear up things . I love joking ;) :D :nod: :banana:
Thaaaanks all.
Rana
Ranoo,
You might enjoy the short stories of an American (1930's-1940's I'm guessing) named William Saroyan. They are spunky tales of when he was growing up and are full of vitality. He also wrote a famous play, "The Time of Your Life," taking place in an American bar; it is clean fun and has some fascinating characters.
Hi,
Thanks byquist for this. wish seeing ;) you again.
Look at the custom essay writing services
1- Pick a genre/time period of books you would like to study. Let's say, you're interested in 19th century English novels.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranoo
2- Flick through a book on the subject or ask someone which are the key texts to read for that time period/genre.
3- Read the key texts!
4- If you don't understand it, read a summary of the book and then re-read it. The bits that confused you the first time will become more clear.
5- Discuss! Find some people who have read the same books and talk about the themes, etc...
6- Find a book which has criticical analysis in (most classic novels have an introduction to them which is a good starting point). See what they think about the book. Do you agree?
^ Never do this.Quote:
Originally Posted by kate2223
Just get this book - http://www.amazon.com/Responding-Lit...7037695&sr=8-2
It will teach you how to read critically for your own enjoyment, and for good understanding - if you want to go more in depth, you need to read a lot more critical work - the best way is to just get essays on your favorite authors, and read them, and analyze their arguments and style.
I find it so funny that all it takes is a spamming advertiser to bring back a thread that has been dead for 5 years. It's like a pirate digging up ancient treasure lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by kate2223
Just to clear things up :banana: : 'Him' referring to God is written as mentioned (with a capital in the front) (this also applies to all words referring to God, like 'Father', 'He' etc.), 'him' (without capital) is just for normal people. Some people might want to insist on calling God 'him' (without the capital) just to upset people who are religious. If you are a moslim, it would be the same as calling Allah 'allah'. But I am not supposed to write this I think, am I? I will not do it again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ranoo
As to the actual question:
Start certainly with something that is easy enough vocabulary-wise. If you cannot understand what's written in the first place, then you don't have a chance at understanding what's behind the text. Typical starting authors would be Hemingway, Dickens (19th century) (I would start with something short by him like A Christmas Carol), Agatha Christie (detective, 1920s), Graham Green (20ieth century, short) and more modern ones like George Orwell (the legendary Animal Farm) and Aldous Huxley. Ocar WIlde could also be a choice, but there might be a lot of words you cannot understand, although they are not really important to the plot of his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Descriptions are difficult in the beginning, so concentrate on something with dialogue (but I see you have started with Hemingway ;)). However, I think your English should be advanced enough to slowly start on bigger books.
As to notes, some others have already mentioned the internet and the library. There are some real gems on the net about certain authors. Just look and look and look. I takes a while, but those gems do not appear on the first page on Google.
As to improving your English, which is already pretty good (;)), just read read read and read some more. I have a little notebook I put in the words I do not get. I look them up in English itself as that eliminates any connotations in my own language that might not correspond to the original word in English.
If you are not sure you can understand a book, read the first page and a page somewhere into it (preferably at the start as you don't want to know too much of the plot ;)). If you don't know after the first page what actually happened or you feel as if there is a big 'mist' in front of anything happening (that is what a book which is too difficult feels like to me), then it is too difficult. You at least need to know what happens to the character, no matter how strange.
I was crap at English until I was 18. Now, 9 years later, I have married an Englishman, watch BBC and do not do anything else but read in English. Same with French, apart from the husband. Practise makes perfect (or very good :D).
Welcome. :smilewinkgrin: (hihi I love those new smilies)
Edit:
Oops just saw that this thread is actually 5 years old :eek:. Oh, well it will do for someone else...
There are many good world-wide booksellers. For example:
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk
They offer bargains prices, and "Free delivery worldwide".
Surely Saudi Arabia doesn't ban the buying of books from British booksellers? Or have things really got that bad...
I think one of the most important parts of reading (for me) is rumination, meditating on what you have read, perhaps before you go to sleep, so that you can fully understand what has occured.