How To Read Imaginative Literature?
Stories, Epics, Plays--Tragedy, Poems--Lyric Poetry, History
Word & Phrases
A. lead up to now: 对现在的影响
B. rubric: an authoritative rule of conduct or procedure 习俗，陈规
C. patrimony: an inheritance coming by right of birth (especially by primogeniture) 祖传的财物
D. pertinent: pertinent to ...--about 与。。有关
E.muddle: muddle along 得过且过
1).Some readers, when they really like a novel, want to savor it, to pause over it, to draw out the reading of it for as long as they can.
2). Authors do not want the reader to miss what is essential to the unfolding of the plot, so they flag it in various ways.
Brief Introduction
A work of fine art is "fine" not because it is " refined" or " finished", but because it is an end in itself. It does not move toward some result beyond itself. It is, as Emerson said of beauty, its own excuse for being.
No matter what type of literature works you are reading, you should always bear four questions in mind.
1. What is the book about as a whole?
2.What is being said in detail, and how?
3.Is the book true, in whole or part?
4. What of it?
And the parallel answers to them are:
1. describe the unity of the plot of a story
2.be able to discern the role, recount key incidents
3. be able to give a reasoned judgment about the poetical truth of the work.
4. mental actions are required
Story
An Advice for reading: Read it quickly and with total immersion
Two necessity getting from Fictions: our own particular unconscious needs & satisfy the deep unconscious needs of almost everybody.
Epic
Homer: Iliad, Odyssey ; Virgil: Aeneid; Dante: Divine Comedy; Milton: Paradise Lost
Play
Without the physical dimension when you are reading a play, the play itself is not complete. If you have answered the four questions mentioned at the beginning, you can try directing the play and see it acted then.
Tragedy
Consciousness in reading a Tragedy
1.its essence is time
2.the obvious difference between tragic actors and the chorus is the buskins
Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry, even modern poetry, does not always demand as much work as you may think if you go about reading it in the right way.
Lyric poetry is often worth whatever effort you are willing to spend.
Rules:
1.Read it through without stopping, whether you think you understand it or not
2.Read it out loud
History
Notion in mind:
*1. Due to the elusiveness of history, different theories of history, it is much impossible to know why anything ever happened.Therefore, it is necessary to read more than one account of the history of an event or period if we want to understand it.
*2. The specific and detailed events recorded by great historians are not meant to spread information in the past but to remind men of the future not repeating the same kind of mistakes. Hence, read a history not only to learn what really happened at a particular time and place in the past, but also to learn the way men act in all times and places, especially now.
Critical Reading:
1. know precisely what the history book about and what it is not about
2. know how the historian has chosen to tell a story
3. assess its direction of practical, political action
Biography & Autobiography
Read biography as history and as the cause of history; take all autobiographies with a grain of salt; and never forget that you must not argue with a book until you fully understand what it is saying.
Current Events:
1. What does the author want to prove?
2. Whom does he want to convince?
3. What special knowledge does he assume?
4. What special language does he use?
5. Does he really know what he is talking about?
Digest:
A summary would function well only if it impelled us to read the original.
Summary
History is my closest friend since I get in touch with it in my childhood. I am wondering what I will be if I am one of them and what I will do if I am kept in house in ancient China. Especially when my history teacher in high school told so many interesting stories about the development of ancient Chinese coin and paper money, the origin of the Buddhism, the travel experience of Buddha, etc. I enjoyed immersing myself in it and hoped to make study on them in college. However, the reality keeps me far away from the history since I gradually follow the reality and " look for the future". The theories of history reminds me of the happy moments I have indulged myself in history. Retrieving the history may help me step out of the track I am now and set a clear goal for the future. The imaginative literature, story, play, poetry and history, are the best mental places for me to recover from the sadness and then have the courage to pursue my goal again.