Taking things literally, figures of speech, etc.

Post Reply New Topic

I decided a while ago, probably around freshman year of high school, that those literature books and teachers often don't know what they're talking about. To try and impose all these deep symbolic meanings into a work is missing the point of the art. What tipped me off was the multiple choice tests asking about the authors intention by using a certain word. I thought, man, there is no way that these people can know what this ancient poet "intended" by using this specific word. Art and philosophy are fluid, I think. Ancient art or old books or whatever can hold new meaning in light of modern times, or from different perspectives. To teach rigid meanings of art just makes a bunch of NT kids zone out and nod along and never care, and the rest of us groan in exasperation because we can tell how utterly stupid the whole damn thing is.

Figures of speech I don't have as much trouble with; it's rhetorical questions that cause me problems.

I can totally relate to this story. I was an English major in college, which in hindsight was a terrible idea because I wasn't all that interested in literature, much less analyzing it. I always struggled with trying to find the figurative meaning in a piece of writing. I remember once instance where I was struggling to make sense of a Shakespearean sonnet, and someone I knew--who was not an English major--was able to figure out the meaning behind it in a couple of minutes. I think my sister put it right when she said that I got a BA in BS.

Sometimes I get the feeling there must be some sort of non verbal queue to go along with the figure of speech when people use them which is why NTs are able to understand a phrase despite not hearing it before. Even though I know the correct use of some phrases, when I do try and use them I sometimes get strange looks, so I think I might not be using the correct inflection or body language to match them.

I like some forms of poetry, particularly ones with strict rules, such as villanelles and terzanelles. Ones that use interesting rhymes.

There is enjoyment in nice words linked together in a considered way, but when they become too confusing I get annoyed. I don't like the type of poetry that is supposed to be 'stream of thought' or something; the lack of grammar, random lengths and meters of the lines, random line breaks and gaps make them frustrating to read and don't make me 'feel' anything other than annoyance because I don't understand the author's use of them.

I used to take things literally and not get jokes, but because I live in a family that uses those phrases all the time and have a good sense of humor, I understand more now.

That may well be. My American Literature instructor said that all kinds of meaning was attributed to the works of Mark Twain, but that in reality most of what Twain wrote was simply for the money.

I think like.this a lot. Thank goodnezs i take things a bit better (i would not have misunderstood.fbe dish reference because i love to cook and meals get reffered to as dishes) but i get other stuff literally.