Professor Bob Nowlan
 

Suggestions for Introductory Students of Theory and Criticism in Approaching the Reading of "Difficult Texts" (Texts Formed and Constituted Out of Unfamiliar Discourses)
 

1.    Be Prepared to Break Down the Reading Process into Stages. This Can Be Every Bit as Helpful as is Breaking Down the Writing Process into Stages.

2.    Aim to Understand Something, not Everything. Be Patient, Remain Calm, Don't Panic.

3.    Use a Dictionary, an Encyclopedia, an Almanac, or, Preferably, a More Specifically Related Reference Source or Set of Sources.

    For Example, You May Find it Helpful in First Encountering Discourses of Literary Theory and Criticism to Consult One of the Today Many Readily Available Glossaries and Guides to Key Terms. Many of These are Now Available on the Web as well as in the Reference Section of the Library.

    Also, You Might Note Well that an Increasing Number of Textbooks Today, Such as Falling into Theory, include Appendices with Recommendations of Websites to Which You May Want to Refer in Following Up on Questions and Interests Sparked by Readings from these Textbooks.

4.    Be Sure to Read all Prefatory, Introductory, or Supplementary Materials from Editors, et. al., which are Usually Designed to Help Introduce You to the Texts You Will Read in these Books and to Provide You an Initial Vantage Point from Which to Begin to Make Sense of the Text.

5.    Likewise Consider Why You are Reading this Text, including How and For What You Have Been Instructed to Read this Text, as Part of What Situation or Context. Don't Forget or Abandon What You Have Previously Learned as Part of this Situation or Context; Bring it to Bear, and Be Confident that it Is Likely to Prove of Some Significant Use.

6.    Keep in Mind that it is Often Helpful for Almost Any Kind of Scholarly Text (and Especially for Work in Critical Theory) to Think of it as Developing and Espousing an Argument for a Position, and as Doing so by Way of a Critique (Implicit as well as Explicit) of Other, Preexisting Positions (and Arguments for these Positions) in Relation to the Same, or a Closely Related, Set of Issues.

7.    At the Same Time, it Can also Often Be Helpful to Think of Most Scholarly Work as Confronting Some Kind of Problem, and, at the Least, as Aiming to Enable a Better Understanding of the Nature and Dimensions of the Problem, if not to Suggest Ways Forward toward Beginning to Address and Solve the Problem.

8.    The First Reading:

a.) Skim through and over the Text;

b.) See if You can Begin to Ascertain, even in the Most General Terms, What Principal Issues the Text Confronts and How the Essay is Generally Structured to Address these Issues;

c.) Reflect Upon What , if Any, Kinds of Prior Knowledge Might Prove Especially Helpful in Beginning to Make Sense of this Text, and Consider if You Have Any of This, Drawing Upon it if You Do;

d.) Pay Particular Attention to the Introduction, the Conclusion, and Whatever Signs You Can Detect of a Thesis and/or a Statement of Purpose (Even One that is Implied);

e.) Begin to Reflect on the Rhetorical Context within Which and toward Which this Text is Written: ask When this Was Written, Where, by Whom, for Whom, about What, in What Manner, and with What End, and See if You can Answer These Questions as Precisely as Possible;

f.) Pay Particular Attention to Boldface and Italicized Statements, as well as Other Passages from the Texts that are Repeated and Amplified by being Set off from the Text in Larger Print, as Representing Supposedly Key Statements from this Text;

g.) Explore the Prefatory and Supplementary Material Surrounding the Text, and Reflect Upon What Kind of Additional Reference Sources Might Also Help You Even Better Begin to Grasp What this Text is About.

9.    The Second Reading:

a.) Read through the Whole Text, Marking or Making Note of Especially Difficult or Unclear Passages, Yet Moving Past These rather than Becoming Stuck in them;

b.) Try to Pinpoint Key Points that the Writer is Making;

c.) Try to Recognize and at least Begin to Understand the Structure of the Piece, in other Words How it is Divided into Different Sections with Different Jobs to Do as Contribution to the Whole;

d.) in the Case of an Argument, Try to Identify: the Introduction; the Statement and Explanation of the Thesis; the Definition and Explanation of Key Terms; the Introduction and Explanation of Reasons Given in Support of the Thesis; the Introduction and Justification of Evidence Provided to Illustrate and Substantiate these Reasons; the Anticipation, Response, and Refutation, Including by Way of a Sustained Critique, of Other Positions (and Arguments); and the Conclusion;

e.) Try to Paraphrase and/or Summarize the Writer's Main Points in Ways that She or He Would Likely Support;

f.) Try to Determine What Passages are Most Important in the Essay, and What Passages are Less so, Passages in other Words that Simply Aim to Set the Stage, Illustrate, Elaborate, Substantiate, and/or Conclude the Discussion;

g.) Think Carefully About What Might be Most Importantly at Stake in Writing this Essay, and in Introducing it into the Public Space, at the Least from the Vantage Point of the Writer's Perspective;

h.) and Think About What Positions the Writer Opposes and Which Oppose Her or Him, as well as Why This Opposition Might Exist as it Does.

10.    The Third Reading:

a.) Return to Especially Difficult Passages, Using Reference Sources as Helpful in Trying to Make Sense of these Passages;

b.) Pay Attention to and Study Contextual Clues that Might Give You at Least a Rough Grasp on What these Passages Might Be Contributing as Part of the Essay;

c.) Pay Particular Attention to the Writer's Use of Figurative Language, and Especially Metaphors, as This Often Trips People Up When Encountering Something Unfamiliar, Keeping in Mind that all Metaphors are in and of themselves Arguments of a Kind;

d.) Also Look Carefully for Passages that Seem to be Written in Unusual or Unfamiliar Syntactical Forms and to be Employing Words and Combinations of Words in Unusual or Unfamilar Ways, and, at the Least, Try to Reflect Upon Why the Writer Might be Doing any and/or all of This;

e.) Look for the Ways in Which the Text is Constituted out of Multiple Voices, or Discourses, that Frame and are Framed by Each Other, Keeping in Mind that Unfamiliar Texts Often Confuse Readers Because they Do Not Recognize the Use of Indirect Paraphrases, Summaries, and Quotations, Where the Writer is Taking the Time to Elaborate Others' Positions, Often in Order to Critique these (This is a Huge Part of Many Kinds of Scholarly Writing, and it is Important to Try to Figure out, Therefore, Where the Writer is Writing as Her/Him Self and Where as Someone Else, Including Someone She/He is Critiquing);

f.) Look Carefully for Signs of Irony and Reflect Upon What is the Writer's Overall Tone, as Well as Places in which this Tone Shifts, Reflecting Upon Why these Shifts Might be Happening as They Are; and

g.) Watch for Allusions, and Other Instances of Implicit, as well as Explicit Intertexuality, Reflecting Upon How and Why these Connections to Other Kinds of Texts and Discourses are Being Brought to Bear in this Text, and Why So.

11.    The Fourth Reading:

a.) Go Back Over the Text and Think About to What Extent You Agree and/or Disagree, as well as Why so, at least with the Writer's Principal Claims and Main Points;

b.) Consider How the Writer Might Likely Respond to any Objection or Criticism of Her/His Position You Might Raise; and

c.) Think Also about How Others Besides Yourself, People Who Might Really be Especially Interested and Care a Lot about the Issues the Writer Addresses Might Well React and Respond to What the Writer has Written.
 

This material is copyrighted (©)