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April 03, 2006

interpreting views

Roberts, Ch. 8 -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)

"In many stories, characters express their own views, which can be right or wrong, admirable or contemptible. When you consider such dramatic speeches, you must do considerable interpreting and evaluating yourself."

This points out the importance of reading beyond the words, not just reacting to the characters. We may disagree with or love a character, but what do we think about the use of the character in the story or the idea the author is trying to get across?

Posted by JenniferDiFulvio at April 3, 2006 04:34 PM

Comments

That's a good observation, Jennifer, and one that's particularly important given the way O'Connor uses characters who are distatesful and distorted ("grotesque") in order to make points that we are supposed to apply to our own lives.

Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at April 3, 2006 09:10 PM

I like the point that you made as well, it is extremely important to look beyond the words in the text!!

Posted by: Melissa Lupari at April 5, 2006 07:22 PM

Absolutely! In fact, while doing some research to help me polish my concluding paragraph for Paper 2, I came across a source which frequently used O'Connor herself as a source, and apparently she most wanted readers to understand the theme of her works and the message packaged within it rather than all of the little details.

Posted by: ChrisU at April 6, 2006 12:28 AM

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