Literature and Butterflies

(*N.B. this is the entry #2 submission)

Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.

-Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)

Butterflies (either literally as beauty in the world... or perhaps the butterflies of sensation in our tummy) and literature really do carry massive weight in what makes this world wonderful. When I think of literature, I think of an expansion of capabilities, a growth of empathy-- of understanding. With all of this potential laid within literature, it'd be a shame if we didn't make the most out of it. In order to reap the full benefits of a piece of work, we need to first learn how to harvest the potential of...

Literary Analysis.

I find that there are some basic steps I take when faced with a new piece of literature. To better elaborate on my method of going about with analysis, I would like to reference Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I could not stop for death". Poetry I find tends to be one of the more tricky forms of literature to tackle, so I'd like to give guidepoints behind analyzing a piece using this more challenging form of writing.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

1. Understand the basic meaning of the litarature. Try to block off segments (in the case of a poem, go by stanzas) and read through it and figure out what the whole passage is about. I find that writing a one line summary of the individual sections helps. This way, you can always go back later and quickly refresh yourself on what the poem was about. (In the poem above, it is about a person being taken off by death to their grave, the passage as they travel there, and how as they lie in their grave they can always remember the day they were taken off).
2. Look for words or phrases you don't understand and look them up. This goes hand-in-hand with step one, because when you figure out what a particular word means, it will help you understand the section of the work. Writers are very particular about their word choice, and chances are there is a specific point to why they chose one word over another. For example, in the fifth stanza, the word "cornice" was used. After looking it up, I found that a cornice is a "decorative band of metal or wood running along a corner or edge". This is something you would expect to find on top of a house by the roof, so when Dickinson says the cornice was a mound, it implies that the house is actually the grave underground. Because I understand this particular word, it brought an understanding to how the person was going to their grave.
3. Find all the cases where a literary or rhetorical device is being used (from my experience with latin, I found this website was a great aid with understanding the rheotorical devices:<http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html>). When a literary device or tool is used, it typically means the writer is trying to place emphasis on a particular idea in that segment. For example, in fourth stanza, there is an alliteration in "for only gossamer my gown" between gossamer/gown. This drew my attention to this line and after looking up gossamer I discovered there were two meanings present. Gossamer is either "something extremely light and delicate" or a "film of cobwebs floating in the air in calm clear weather". This provides the meaning of a withering sort of fabric but also how there is an allusion to spiders which are usually found in dark places, like a grave. Because I had my attention drawn to this line with the literary device, I was able to pick up on the significant imagery in understanding the passage that the person will wither away in the grave.
4. Put the passage in context to the whole work. This becomes especially critical in novels (e.g. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), epic poetry (e.g. The Odessy), or plays (e.g. Hamlet) because often times with understanding how it connects to the rest of the work, it will help you understand the work as a whole. Ask yourself "so what?", or why the passage matters at all. If you can answer this for yourself, you will be able to understand the entire work much better and help yourself understand themes and motifs in the literature.

When I go about this process, I tend to use highlighters, underlining, circling, arrows, doodles, etc. all as my aid. Find what makes you most comfortable in this process. The writer's main goal is to have some effect on you, so if you lend yourself to understanding their piece better with proper analysis, you be much more likely to find the worth behind their piece.

 

Who knows? Maybe you will even find some butterflies.

Edit: I forgot to mention, that when it comes to reading someone else's analysis on a work (e.g. KPA, key passage analysis style) you should be open minded to what they have to offer. They've already gone through all of the steps above, so when you read through their analysis it can help has a jumpstart in your own interpretation of a passage.  By getting their perspective versus yours, you may end up being able to see the passage in a whole new light, find a new meaning or better understanding of something. In general, it lends yourself to being more empathetic as a person if you are open minded to taking in a new thought and giving it a chance of seeming valid in your mind. If you don't agree with it, that's fine, but at least you gave it a chance and now afterwards had good reasoning for why you don't agree with it. Kind of like in commercials, don't believe everything you see or read because there can be some false advertising.

Be a concious reader but more importantly-- an active thinker!
(and yes, I'm aware that was incredibly cheesy...)