The Joys of Reading

When I first started reading the first chapter of Charles Bressler's book Literary Criticism, honestly I was worried. The first two pages were on what people say in lit class, this was nothing new to me. I have been witnessing opposing views of students for the past 5 years and often times came up with my own arguments. I figured if Bressler is spending this much time on this, what else will he explain thoroughly. The first chapter though was a great reminder of what literary criticism and theory is all about. When reading we must interact with the text, ask questions, and become involved. Our own personal beliefs play a big part in how we take in a text and understand its meaning. Bressler also explains how the already established theories, and criticisms help us as readers define what we have read. The main theories are a good way to articulate ideas, but they shouldn't stifle the creativity of the reader. When reading a text there is room to interpret, there is room to place our own views within it, that is why it touches and moves us. The interesting and fun thing about reading is the opposing opinions that can be brought up when a group of people read the same story. Each reader connects to the story in a different way because of the filters their own experiences have created. We cannot help but bring our own world views and philosophies to everything we read, and there are so many different theories to help us as readers express these views.