Yea for analysis. Nay for over-analysis.
I talked to a senior the other day about the book we were about to read called Maus. She took 11 AP last year, and I wanted some of her input to get a feel for how the book is. She replied along the lines of “The book was fun and interesting, but the analysis was too much.” I was immediately shocked by her answer. How can it be possible to analyze a comic book to the point that it was almost too much? Is it even possible to over-analyze something?
The next day, I came to class with all the assigned chapters read. I found the book entertaining and easy to get through. It didn’t seem like much. However, I soon found out almost everything had a purpose for why something was this way or that. It opened my eyes to a new world of Analysis and I was determined to find the meaning behind everything that had one.
After class, my friend and I talked about how analysis can ruin a lot of things. I’m not saying we ruined Maus through analysis. I’m really not. But sometimes it’s nice to think that you’re just reading about some mice going through some tough times. It’s just funny when the mouse screams, “Th-there are rats down here!” and it just happens to be that the page number isn’t present on that page. So many people are so determined in trying to find the meaning to all the little parts, often times forgetting to just take a step back and look at the big picture. That doesn’t mean I’m saying we should read everything by its surface. Analysis is extremely important to get a better understanding of the text.
Some books, no matter how hard you try to analyze them, are impossible to figure out. I think in some ways, that’s the beauty of it. All kinds of people have different interpretations of a single text, and it’s great how we can all look at in different points of view. It's not always important to understand everything the way the author intended. Overall, analysis is a great way to take in a deeper meaning of text. But being so caught up in such minuscule things may often just distract from the obvious.
It was really interesting to read your exploration of analysis and its importance, along with the issues that arise when it is taken too far. I completely agree with your opinion; sometimes it is important to simply take things for what they are. Writing and art are so fascinating because they are open to being interpreted differently by every person.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post. I love to read books for the fun of it, but analyzing it is such a pain that it takes away the fun in reading it just a little. I really liked a lot of the books I've read in English class, but discussing them with deep insight made it less fun.
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