"It is simple enough to say that since books have classes—fiction, biography, poetry—we should separate them and take from each what it is right that each should give us. Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning" (Woolf 2).
Woolf brings up an interesting point within this quote, readers can only get messages form literature if they are open to the work, and are willing to set aside some of what they have seen before. When at the beginning of a literary work there is a certain level of mystery even if it is a familiar topic, simply because the reader has not begun to read. This mystery, or quality of the unknown, is often skewed, and dispelled by what the reader wants to see in the work. The preconceptions that a reader brings with them will always shape their response to any material they read, while Woolf addresses the readers, this is also true for the authors of written materials. Woolf is an example of this, there is a directness and inquisitiveness in the article. This can be seen in how she chooses her words, and in how the article is constructed to bring the main point across continuously throughout the material. While not as prevalent in the above quotation, Woolf uses descriptive words and phrases to draw the reader in by providing an emotional image that is easily seen as part of daily life. This method of grabbing the readers attention keeps the article from being abstract and difficult to relate to fro the reader. Woolf notes a key factor in how one reads a book with this quote, because if readers did not have preconceptions, and misconceptions, there would not be a roadblock for people to learn and grow from every literary work they come across.
-Samantha Smiley
I think the quote you choose from the reading is a direct summary of the message that Woolf is trying to portray. And you are right; I think she is carefully choosing the words in her essay. Reasoning behind it may be that she is trying to also exemplify her message through her own writing in an indirect way. Though it makes me think that she's using contradiction in her writing by opening open the essay with "emphasize the note of interrogation at the end of my title." Do you agree?
ReplyDelete~Mija Saracevic
I also agree with your opinion about Woolf choosing her words. She has a very interesting way of formulating an "emotional image", like you said, and I found that really encouraging to continue reading the article.
ReplyDelete& @Mija, I think she wrote that to leave the answer to the question very broad as to how people should understand the works of authors. Woolf was providing her own personal guidelines that she thinks should be helpful to readers, but different people have different ways of looking at a piece of art.
Samantha- I also chose part of this passage for my response and I like your response to this as well. It is true that readers have to treat each new selection as if it is the first time reading anything like it. If a reader takes their own knowledge from previous readings and encounters it could destroy the message or meaning that the author was trying to convey. I agree with your conclusion of this passage.
ReplyDeleteHey, Samantha et al! Good post, Samantha! I like the discussion that's happening here. What do y'all think -- in the quote, Woolf says that it'd be a good start to banish all preconceptions. Do you all think that's possible? How can we do that?
ReplyDeleteSamantha I agree with you on your response. Readers are usually hindered by their prior knowledge and preconceptions when reading. To Professor Maxwell's question, in my opinion I don't think it's possible to banish all preconceptions, but I do think that we can take possible measures to try and decrease the level of our preconceptions. When having a biased opinion or when I feel like I have to disagree with the author I think that if I step back and put myself in the author's shoes and try to analyze why the author wrote that way or thought that way I can find a solution to my preconceptions and find out that sometimes my judgements and preconceptions aren't always correct.
ReplyDeleteSamantha, I think you chose a great quote for your response. I also believe Woolf was trying to say these things throughout the novel and you were able to catch it in one quote.
ReplyDeleteThough, I do not think it will be possible to banish all preconceptions. If so, it would be very hard and you would have to be very open minded when reading certain literary works. While I would like to try, there are always the things that I will believe in and if I was reading something I didn't believe in, it would be hard for me to understand where the author is coming from.