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- A better interpretation is likely one that produces a greater quantity and quality of meaning than a competing interpretation. Therefore, some interpretations are better than others because they make better use of evidence and reasoning, provide clear conceptual frameworks, and demonstrate advantages over weaker interpretations.
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Interpretation is the process of making meaning from a text. Literary theorists have different understandings of what meaning is, what constitutes a “good” interpretation, and whether we should even be interpreting literary texts at all.
This practice focuses on applying a variety of strategies for building textual interpretations, including strategies for deepening comprehension, inferring the author's purpose, considering multiple perspectives, connecting text to context, generalizing and applying themes, and participating in cultural conversations about texts.
- Paul Deane
- 2020
- Great works may present and explain something about their own times, but also observe something larger and lasting about the human condition. A great work does convey the writer’s intentions, quite clearly, contrary to what some contemporary theorists argue.
- Great literature is based on ideas that are startling, unexpected, unusual, weighty. or new. Great literature makes us see or think things we never did before.
- Great literature is fine art. As such, it is aesthetically marvelous. Either the style of a great work is incredibly interesting and beautiful, or the drama leaves us breathless, or the characters or scenes are so expertly drawn.
- Great literature is complex enough to offer us something new every time we read it, especially at different stages of our lives. Like all great art, great works are based contrast and tension—not just conflicting characters, but also conflicting ideas, images, and viewpoints, allowing room for readers to entertain all sides, not just one idea the writer may be featuring.
- Reading the text and identifying literary devices. The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.
- Coming up with a thesis. Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.
- Writing a title and introduction. To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction. The title. Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on.
- Writing the body of the essay. The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.
Aug 24, 2022 · Identify and describe the major critical approaches to literary interpretation: New Criticism/Formalism, Reader-Response, Feminism, and Marxism. CC licensed content, Original. Key Features of Literary Texts. Provided by: Lumen Learning.
Good and Correct Interpretations of Literature How do we decide which is the correct or the best (or the most nearly correct or bet-ter) interpretation of the linguistic action performed by Jones? The sentence, This suitcase is heavy, taken by itself (i.e., with-out regard to other sentences uttered, con-text, tone of voice, etc.) offers us no ...
Nov 4, 2014 · I argue that when we interpret a literary work, we engage with at least two different kinds of meaning, each requiring a distinct mode of interpretation. These kinds of meaning are literary varieties of what Paul Grice called nonnatural and natural meaning.
