I might finally be able to begin keeping up with this reading and blogging now that I have a moment to breathe... Thank goodness!

Although, I shouldn't be complaining because I somehow always find time to blog. It's just something that I do. Whether it's about things in my life, news, a book I'm reading, or just a bit of rambling, I find time to sit and type for a bit.

I want to address an important point without lecturing. This is an exercise in exercise, really, so I'll begin with a stretch--you can't expect to find the right answer.

It's just not possible.

Now, you're thinking that what I just said is a real stretch--that I'm lying.

"Of course I should expect to find the 'right' answer. It's out there and, golly, I'll find it! With the right books, search engines, literary guides, and footnotes I will find the right answer."

Guess again. This is college. Sometimes there isn't a "right" answer. You're going to have to decide whether or not it's "right" all on your own.

The reason this is an "exercise in exercise" is because you must practice not looking for the "right" answer. A fault of the majority of secondary schools is to instill that there is one answer that will be correct, leaving the rest as incorrect and therefore not of value. This is sad because schools must "teach to the test" for assessments, and students get the bad bargain because their intellectual stimulation plummets. Cutting off thinking at the "right" answer stunts creativity. Narrowmindedness stems from this sickness, leaving young minds shriveled and living from hit to hit on the "right" answer, their drug for sustenance.

This is the basis of literary discussion, which is something I'm sure all of you have had experience with in the past. At the very least, you've got to be open minded in discussing a text. There are innumerable facets to any one piece. If you come into a discussion with a "right" answer in your head, that's fine. Just be prepared to defend it against some other person who also has a "right" answer in mind. They might not be the same "right" answer, and in fact, one of you may be wrong!

There's the best part, though. Not in error, but in defense. Finding evidence in the text to support your points: passages, nuances, implication, and all the best things you can draw out of the words you've been given--this is the fun, the challenge, and the purpose. Even if your answer doesn't turn out to be what you expected, you have learned, through defense, more about looking for answers.

What really matters, though--a consensus? A majority? Whatever the teacher says?

Yes.

Never take for granted the thoughts and opinions of anyone in your classroom. You are all there to learn, and you learn from each other as much as you do any other source. Literature is rather subjective--it can be interpreted differently by different people. I may not see the same things as you do, but we read the same book and still got different results. Why? I am not you. You are not me. Our lives influence how we see things, and therefore we are not objective (unless we must be or choose to be, then this is a different scenario and would perhaps produce the same conclusions; however, this cannot be certain).

You've been given this book and reading assignment to stimulate this sort of discussion. Thinking differently is not a problem. The problem is the intuitive want to find a "right" answer when, in fact, one may not exist.