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Literature may seem like a daunting subject to many Secondary students. In Primary school, you had a textbook with clearly defined sections to study – but now, in secondary school, you may have to study an actual novel! In some other cases, poetry and passages of prose are the order of the day.
How do you go about that?
The first and most critical thing to do is to understand the texts that you have been assigned to study. Only when you have a thorough appreciation of the text, can you go on to understanding question requirements and applying your knowledge in exams.
So here are six ways to help you understand your literature texts better!
1) Read poetry aloud
When you read poetry in silence, you’re only engaging your sense of sight, and therefore the information is only processed visually. Reading poetry aloud engages your sense of sight and sound, and also makes you vocalise the verses. This allows you to process the information through multiple channels (visual, audio and vocalisation).
Because most poetry is also written for reading aloud, this also ensures that you experience the text the way the poet intended it. This helps you understand why certain literary
2) Set poems to a tune and rhythm
Reading it aloud doesn’t mean you speak each word monotonously! Stress the correct syllables the way they were meant to pronounced, rather deadpanning the poem.
Most poems follow iambic pentameter (meaning five sets of stress/unstress patterns), but modern poems usually have a different rhythm. Understanding which syllables are stressed will give you clearer insight into the author’s intentions! Also, it’s more fun to read it that way.
3) Dramatise the script
Do you have a play to study? Don’t just read the lines – act it out with gusto!
Put yourself in the shoes of the characters, and lace your lines with the emotions and subtext that you’d expect them to have.
By dramatising it, you enhance your understanding of the characters, and it makes you think about how and why certain lines are said. This in turn helps you understand the setting, themes and tone of the play better, because you are now looking at it from the view point of a character within the scene, rather than reading it as a bystander.
4) Look out for hidden meanings in prose
The written word is full of unspoken implications and subtle hints, even in our everyday use. What more when it comes to literary classics? Reading between the lines is a useful skill not just in Literature, but in real life.
Noticing what is unsaid, or an incongruent juxtaposition of actions and dialogue will yield fresh understanding and more points for you when it comes to literary analysis.
5) Look out for repeated words and ideas
Authors don’t use words indiscriminately. Especially when it comes to Literature, words are carefully chosen to achieve maximum impact. So when a certain word or idea pops up repeatedly, take note!
It’s usually a recurring theme or it highlights a certain character trait about your protagonist. On occasion it can also be a feature of the setting as well.
6) Use different colours to highlight and annotate your text
Not only is it more fun to read a colourful text, but colour coding your highlighting aids in finding quotes to use later. You can colour code your text according to various themes, characters or symbols. When you highlight with a specific purpose in mind, this improves your learning.
Remember to annotate with a goal (rather than just copying what your teacher says), and it will help you synthesise what’s been taught in class.
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