The Realization from Really, Really Reading

There are truly only two ways to read, one can read affectively or one can read like a professor. The difference between these two being that affective reading simply means reading a nice story, casually making your way through the begging, middle, and end. To read like a professor though is to have the same nice story but on your way from start to finish you see symbols, intertextuality, and a thousand other layers to a seemingly simple book. With that many more elements occurring in just one text it’s no wonder that Foster says “reading literature is a highly intellectual activity” because to catch all the aspects in the text one must be alert and always thinking as they go. Foster is also correct in his claim that there is a specific “language of reading.” When a flood comes through destroying a town us, as readers, know instantly that a cleansing has just occurred and now there is a chance for the characters to have new beginnings. No one has to tell us what a flood means, or rain, or drowning (although Foster helpfully does) because once we know it we recognize it ourselves as we shift from stagnant readers into active, professor-like reading.

              Anyone can read literature and enjoy the story but only those trained to really read have the complete joy from a story that the author intended. To just simply read is like going to the beach and staying on the shore, you’ll have a lovely time, but you’ll never discover the treasures that lay under the water. Being able to read “like a professor” not only helps in English classes but unlocks a whole new world for a reader’s mind to explore.