Importance of Critical Reading, Thinking and Analysis

John Lye's Course and Source Page. Workplace Document

Lye, John. “Critical Reading: A Guide.” Brocku.ca. Brock University, 12 July 2008. Web. 6 Oct. 2010

This text hopes to help first year students better analyze literature. This is a guide to what you might look for in analyzing literature, particularly poetry and fiction. An analysis explains what a work of literature means, and how it means it; it is essentially an articulation of and a defense of an interpretation which shows how the resources of literature are used to create the meaningfulness of the text. As a literature major I find this article to be very insightful because some literature is very hard to follow and therefore understand and if I understand the social and cultural conditions of the time period that a certain piece was written in then I will have a better understanding of it and will be able to better analyze it.

The primary audience is first year college students. Secondary audience could be college students at different points in their studies. Accidental audience could be anyone who is interested in being a better critical analyst of literature. I found this text on Brock University’s website. It was written by Professor John Lye.
The writer wants his audience to think that critical analysis will give the reader a deeper understanding and a fuller appreciation of the literature. Also, that analysis should teach us to be aware of the cultural delineations of a work, its ideological aspects. Art is not eternal and timeless but is situated historically, socially, intellectually, written and read at particular times, with particular intents, under particular historical conditions, with particular cultural, personal, gender, racial, class and other perspectives. Through art we can see ideology in operation. This can be of particular use in understanding our own culture and time, but has historical applications as well. All these contribute to the understanding of literature because they all play a part in the creation of it. He supports his argument by going through the process of analyzing poetry and fiction. He breaks down the parts of a poetry and fiction.

Knowledge is created by addressing the key parts of poetry and fiction. In a poem for example, the reader has to identify these elements, title of the poem, what kind of poem, who is the narrator, what is the argument/subject and what is the setting. Knowledge is conveyed through the explanation of each element. Literature values the importance of critical analysis in understanding literary works.