Contemplating the Mysteries of the World - Part 12: Language Class

As someone who rants on the internet about things that I overthink, I think that y'all will be surprised to know that I am not a person that enjoys analyzing text during English class. I have always been more of a math person, and hidden meanings that supposedly exist in all of the books that school forced me to read just went over my head. So, just to give me a headache, I am going to spend a few minutes over-analyzing analysis.

I know that some people enjoy looking into every last detail in every sentence. I do not understand these people. I find the whole concept confusing and way too time consuming. Why should we spend 5 minutes discussing the meaning behind 5 words. It is a giant waste of time and I just don't see the point. I don't think that there is anything wrong with thinking about what the author is trying to say, but I don't think that they actually put so much thought into every word. Do you really think that these authors spent days thinking about how to convey so much thought and emotion in one line, I don't. I think that we interpret things that aren't meant to be interpreted, just because we need to find something to talk about. Sure, there are some symbols that authors intentionally use, but I think most of the time, we have just normalized an interpretation that was originally someone's crazy theory about what something means.

I very much enjoy facts and data, I do not enjoy being forced to read something and figure out what a teacher wants the class to think about the book. However I will say that my favorite English class in high school was great because the teacher let us draw our own conclusions about the symbols of the books. Many teachers use one interpretation and that is the only answer that they will except. This teacher let us use our own opinions of these things, as long as we could explain them. I have less of a problem with things like that.

I think that what many English teachers do not understand is that not everyone thinks the same way. Just because the person sitting next to me can understand the meaning behind a line of text, does not mean I can draw the same conclusion. I am not a very creative person, I look at facts and data. I enjoy Math because there is a right or wrong answer, it is not up to interpretation. Two different teachers would grade a math test the same way, you get the same questions right or wrong, no matter who is reading the answers. The same is not true to language classes.

Anyways, I think I am done ranting about a school subject. I am thinking about doing a little social experiment soon, that could be fun or maybe I am just crazy. Stay tuned for more ridiculousness.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Rosie.