Monday, September 6, 2010

Theme and Moral

Chapter three of the Literary Experience talks about theme. It points out that usually if you are specifically looking for a theme; it takes away from the rest of the piece of literature. This is true for me. Whenever I am assign certain tasks such as looking for a theme I focus only on that and not even notice the other elements. It is important to realize though, that those other things such as emotion helps you to understand what the text actually means. Looking at those things helps find the inner themes like in the songwe listened to in class, every detail had to be looked at the the the meaning(s) of the song.
Reading the different versions of Little Red Riding Hood made me look at fairytales a completely new way. When we were little, we didn’t look for what the theme or the moral of the story is, it was just simply entertainment. When you look back on the story, it is kind of a shocking idea to instill in little kids- like in this story, using a wolf eating a grandmother and little girl to symbolize kidnappings or even the work of pedophile. Yes, the problems that the morals present do exist, but it seems a little crazy to be in a children’s fairy tale. Aren’t those supposed to be happy nice stories? On the other hand, I think this is a great example of how the moral of a story goes deeper than the literature itself and leads to questioning and application to life.

The Note to Student Writers section was helpful and on point with the way we think. One thing I really like about Corrigan’s classes is that he does give us the opportunity to take the right approach to something rather than making sure we have the exactly right answers.

No comments:

Post a Comment