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Reading Strategies for Literature

     ⋮   Audio version below

Reading short stories and novels for a literature course is noticeably different than the type of reading students might do for other classes. It’s worth taking a few minutes to consider what literary reading means and how best to handle the reading workload for a literature course. In general, the primary difference between literary compared to non-literary reading is about detail. Reading short stories, novels and poetry requires readers to carefully read each page, paragraph, sentence and word to draw as many meanings from them as possible. This contrasts with the reading students might do in other circumstances. You might skim texts and emails, you might only read a few paragraphs of a news article, or you might skim several chapters from a textbook for bolded terminology, main ideas or conclusions. None of these forms of reading require the sentence and word-level attention to detail as literary reading, though part of the value of developing literary analysis as a skill is how it can enhance non-literary reading in other aspects of your life.

Because of the difference in reading style, page lengths in a literature class might be surprising too. Whereas a professor from another department might assign a chapter or two worth of readings a night (50-75 pages), most of the stories in this anthology are, on average, between eight and fifteen pages. Some of the stories are 20 or 30 pages at most and others are as short as one single page, but because students are expected to read carefully, absorb details and discuss the diverse ideas and connections that come from the stories, students can easily spend an hour or more of class time talking through just a few pages of text. This isn’t a value judgement either: being able to quickly skim a book and absorb key idea ideas is a valuable skill, and so is slow, detailed literary reading. The most important part is for students to understand the difference between both styles of reading, to have both skills and to know when it’s appropriate to use each one.

This leads to the topic of time commitment. If we estimate that it takes about two minutes to read one page from a textbook, depending on reading speed, this means that a ten-page story might take 20 to 30 minutes with a few minutes added for note-taking and looking up any unclear words or researching unfamiliar ideas. If we’re discussing two to four stories per week, you’ll need to schedule a good two to four hours per week to read them. Two to four hours isn’t a huge time commitment but trying to find that amount of time in a busy week can be a challenge.

Here are a few suggestions to make reading literature more meaningful and manageable:

  1. Read each story twice. It’s hard to know what matters in a story until you read it once from start to finish. Reading it a second time will give you a much deeper and more meaningful understanding of the story. This isn’t always ideal when combined with your other classes, work schedule and personal life, but if you can find the time, read the stories twice. Many well-crafted stories have so many subtle, underlying elements that you might not appreciate every aspect of it until you've read the story a half dozen times or more, so reading it twice is a reasonable recommendation to make.
  2. Read in the Real World. Most student’s schedules are so packed and complicated that waiting to read until circumstances are ideal is unrealistic. ‘Ideal’ means different things for different people, but regardless, don’t hesitate to read in the real world. Instead, read on the bus, in line at the BMV, waiting for a haircut, in between classes, waiting to meet friends, on break at work, while eating lunch and anywhere else when you find a small amount of time to yourself. Reading out in the world can lead to interesting juxtapositions as well. Reading Chopin’s “The Storm” during a downpour or Maupassant’s “The Necklace” at a mall food court might spark thought-provoking parallels and observations that you might miss if you always to wait to read until you’re sitting on your couch.
  3. Read a day or so before class. You want the stories to be relatively fresh in your mind to discuss during class. If you read a week in advance, you dutifully did your work, but you might forget important details days before class and be behind during the discussion. On the other hand, if you’re trying to quickly skim the story a few minutes before class starts, you’ll likely be rushed, confused on the basics of the story, miss important parts and possibly not finish at all. Reading a day or so before class is a good middle ground. Most students read the night before or the day of, depending on the start time of the class. Other students read all the stories for the upcoming week the Sunday before the week starts. Find a reading schedule that best fits your schedule and sets you up for success in class.
  4. Take notes. For many readers, simply reading the story is enjoyable, but it isn’t the best way to fully understand it. Take as many notes as you can on the stories you read. If you prefer hard copy note-taking, underline important lines in the text, circle key words, write thoughts in the margins, ask questions or jot down connections with other stories. Some students write in the text, some fill their book with tabs and sticky notes, while others leave the stories unmarked and take extensive notes in a separate notebook.If you prefer digital note-taking, create a file for notes in OneDrive, Google Docs, Dropbox or in a similar cloud word processing program. Takes notes on key parts of each story, copy and paste important lines and type questions or comments you have for class. The specific strategies you adopt don’t really matter: if your note-taking strategy helps you retain details, write better papers and contribute more to the class, it’s a good one.
  5. Unplug. Since these stories require a heightened focus and since they’re also enjoyable, it's helpful to create a good environment for reading. Turn off the TV, close unneeded programs or tabs in your laptop, set you phone aside, and generally give yourself the time and mental space to immerse yourself in the story. Trying to multitask while reading literature rarely works. Students who repeatedly start and stop the reading process because of distractions tend to retain less and enjoy the story less. Similarly, consider whether you’re someone who reads better in isolation like at the library or if you’re someone who enjoys reading in a busy environment like at a coffeeshop. Understanding your reading style and planning around it can help you make the most of this class.
  6. Think about story format. Some students prefer reading hard copy stories printed on paper and others prefer digital versions on a device. Some enjoy visually reading and others enjoy audio books. For auditory learners who retain information better by hearing them, try searching YouTube, Spotify and online in general to find stories read out loud. Many stories have audio alternatives that might help you learn or make the reading more entertaining, though the quality of the reading varies wildly. For all these format options, there is no right answer - choose the media format that works best for you.

Since success in a literature course begins with a solid approach to reading, come up with a strategy that fits your life so you can start the semester on good footing, be confident about attending class, participate in discussions, write intelligent papers and ultimately finish the class with a high grade.