Why Read the Classics- Thesis

The thesis in "Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino is that people should read the classics because they want to. As Italo says on page six, "Of course this happens when it establishes a personal relationship with the reader. If there is no spark, the exercise is pointless: it is no use reading classics out of a sense of duty or respect, we should only read them for love. Except for school.." (6). Basically, Italo Calvino is saying that to read a book that you are not particularly interested in would just be a waste of time. When someone is obliged to read a book which does not capture their imagination or make them enthusiastic about what will happen causes the reader to lose their interest, become distracted and not fully understand the meaning behind the book. He goes on to say however that it is important to read the classics in school and this is to introduce students to these books so they can be able to find their own favorites when they become older (6). Calvino made his thesis implicit. Although it was clearly stated and seemed to reflect much of what he wrote, it was not found in the beginning of his introduction as they usually do.

Calvino, Italo. Why Read the Classics. New York: Vintage, 1991. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Good Readers and Good Writers- Organized

In "Good Readers and Good Writers", Vladimir Nabokov used the first part of the essay to talk about what makes a good reader. He then uses the second part of the essay to talk about what makes a good reader. He then uses the second part of his essay to describe writers and what it takes to be a good writer. The author uses about three pages to talk about readers, whereas he only has one page reserved on the subject of writers. This is probably telling us that this essay was intended to be viewed mainly by those people who enjoy reading but do not write books themselves. On the other hand, this ratio could tell us that what writers really need for a good story is a good idea. For reading, however, one should see the story through a certain perspective, not trying to guess what will happen all of the time, let it surprise you, have patience, passion, etc..(1-3). On each page, Vladimir Nabokov would have several paragraphs, each with their own topic on the theme of either good readers or good writers. All of these paragraphs are in block format. At the beginning of the description for a good writer, the author also uses the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as an example (3).

Navokov, Vladimir. Good Readers and Good Writers. 1948. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Good Readers and Good Writers- Reaction

My reaction to "Good Readers and Good Writers" by Vladimir Nabokov went something like "Huh, this guy did a pretty good job of coming up with generalizations; I wish that I could be as smart as him". I thought that the author had several good points which made this essay in particular interesting. First of all, the author had several good points which made this essay in particular interesting. First of all, I thought that it was interesting how when given a quiz on what defines a good reader, the majority of the college students tested answered emotional identification, action, and the social-economic or historic angle instead of the correct answers: imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense. Something else which also caught my attention was that apparently when reading a book, a person should imagine himself or herself to be in it instead of the character (3). This caught my attention because whenever I read a book before, I would always pretend to be a certain character. So, depending on exactly what he meant by that statement, I could have been reading the wrong way all of my life. The final statement which I thought was interesting was "In order to bask in that magic a wise reader reads the book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine" (4). This sentence stood out because I never heard of anyone ever reading with their spine and at first it sounds kind of strange. My reaction was a logical one because it was based on thoughts.

Navokov, Vladimir. Good Readers and Good Writers. 1948. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Good Readers and Good Writers- Passages that capture attention

Several passages captured my attention from Vladimir Navokov's essay "Good Readers and Good Writer". The first of which is the definitions of a good reader: memory, imagination, a dictionary, and some artistic sense (2). I agree with this, so it was interesting to see that on a quiz, college students mostly answered that a good reader should focus on emotional identification, action and the social-economics or historic angle. Something else that caught my attention is that when reading a book, the person should identify the book with himself or herself in the stead of the book's character (3). I thought that this was interesting because many of the books that I have read I would read I would read the story imagining that I was the protagonist. This told me that I have been reading books the wrong way all of my life...great. Another thing that I thought was interesting, mainly because I know it to be true is that a reader needs both patience and passion in order to enjoy literature. When reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, I had the passion but sometimes lacked the patience. However, when I had both, the novel was much more enjoyable. The final phrase that caught my attention is "In order to bask in that magic a wise reader reads the book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine" (4). This stood out to me because the idea of someone reading with their spine sounded strange to me. I believe that this phrase could be an element of language and the ones before it were ideas.

Navokov, Vladimir. Good Readers and Good Writers. 1948. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Good Readers and Good Writers- Tone

Vladimir Nabokov, the author of "Good Readers and Good Writers" had a similar tone throughout the essay. One of his tones was that writing and even sometimes reading can be a difficult task. He says that in order to be a good writer, one should know how to properly engage the different audiences who will read the book (4). The writer may be able to do whatever he or she deems with the story, but if it does not arouse attention from the reader, it would be pointless. Nabokov also says that in order to enjoy great literature, the reader needs passion and patience (3). These are some of a few qualities which Vladimir Nabokov says a good reader should have. Another thing he says that good readers would do is begin reading with no connection to "other worlds", but to look at that book separately from everything else (1). Also, the author says that a person should read a book more than once so that the story can be better understood each time it is read (2). Finally, Nabokov says that a good reader should read with their spine instead of their brain or heart (4). I took this to mean that we should not try to figure the book out before we even read it, but instead let it surprise us.

Good Readers and Good Writers- Thesis

The thesis in "Good Readers and Good Writers" by Vladimir Nabokov is "My course among other things is a kind of detective investigation" (1). This thesis is located, like many others, in the first sentence. This sentence is the thesis of the essay because it relates to the information given in the body paragraphs later on. Vladimir Nabokov had to "investigate"several books in order to form his generalizations which were presented in his essay. For example, Vladimir wrote that to be a good reader, a person should have imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense. In addition, he also wrote that a good writer combines the roles of storyteller and teacher as well as the most important role- enchanter (4). It is noticeable that in order for Vladimir Nabokov to have been able to reach these conclusions, he had to pay close attention to and "study" several books. It is this realization which reflects back to the thesis in the beginning of the essay. I think that the thesis from "Good Readers and Good Writers is explicit. One reason for this is that it is stated in the first sentence of the essay, so the reader does not have to search for it. Also, after reading the body paragraphs, they seem to compliment that statement well.

Navokov, Vladimir. Good Readers and Good Writers. 1948. Web. July-Aug. 2011.

Jane Eyre- Helen Burns

Helen Burns is a character from the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte who always remains in a cheerful mood no matter what the world throws at her. She serves as Jane's best friend while at Lowood Institution, and I think that she even helped make Jane the kind of person that she becomes when she is grown up. Even when teachers would throw insults upon insults against her, she would not make a sound (80). One day, when Helen forgot to arrange her drawers, Miss Scatcherd noticed and made Helen wear a pasteboard on her forehead with the word "Slattern" written upon it the next day as a punishment (111). It is because of Helen's faith in God and Heaven that she was able to easily bear the burden of her punishment and scoldings. Another day, while Helen is seriously ill with typhus fever, Jane asks Helen if she is going home, and she replies "Yes; to my long home- my last home" (123). Before she dies, Helen is able to share her beliefs with Jane about God and Heaven, and this most likely lead to Jane becoming a Christian (482).

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Reader's Digest, 1984. Print.