Re:The Most Misread Poem in America
by jqm on Friday September 11, 2015 @01:06PM
(#10204824)
You are getting down-voted but I always had the same feelings. Lit teachers often read far far too much symbolism into the text. It is usually simply guesses or completely unfounded and stretched opinion far removed from what the author intended, and most usually a huge waste of everyone's time.
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Pick up a copy of "How to Read Literature Like A Professor" by Thomas C. Foster at your library. My AP Lit instructor had me read it almost a decade ago (after similar complaints) and it helped me enjoy required undergrad literature classes much more - gives a practical, fair insight into literary analysis.
The best sendup of Lit teachers reading too much symbolism was in the movie "Back to School" and the Kurt Vonnegut scenes.
Diane: Whoever did write this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut!
[cut to Thornton's dorm suite]
Thornton Melon: [on the phone] ... and another thing, Vonnegut! I'm gonna stop payment on the cheque!
I agree. Sometimes one can establish a degree to which his/her interpretation is correct by considering evidence (from the author's text) for and against his/her interpretation, but rarely are lit teachers (at least in my experience) this objective.