42 replies
Everything is very simple. Fiction is read to understand people and life, scientific literature is read to understand phenomena and objects.
You're reading an astronomy textbook when you want to figure out where the M35 galaxy is, but you don't want to launch an orbiting telescope yourself. In the same way, you read Dostoevsky, because Dostoevsky can suggest to you that the world will be saved by beauty, and thus save you from having to find out this the hard way - well, simply because technically launching a telescope may be more difficult, but emotionally you will still be able to function - whereas how to find out for yourself that the world will be saved by beauty, you can only become the one who can say about it. And even if you can live without a telescope, it’s unlikely that you can live without beauty.
In other words, this is an indirect experience that does not replace one’s own, but shortens the distance. You still need your own, since the means to process all this information also need to be developed from somewhere - literature will not do everything for you, it rather helps not to die along the way.
You can, of course, be deceived by the fact that living without beauty is as easy as living without a telescope. It's a tempting thought. Moreover, if beauty could really save the world, then over the past 4 thousand years we certainly should have accumulated enough of this beauty to save it. But apparently the world is not saved all at once, but one person at a time - and it just so happens that for some reason this is exactly what a person still needs. Otherwise, literature wouldn't literally be the first thing we supposedly started doing as soon as we figured out the fire, the cave, and the stick. It’s just that this need does not arise as obviously as the need for fire and a cave - it is more like air, which is noticed only when there is too little of it.
This necessary thing can be put off at 20, and at 30, and at 40, but sooner or later it will remind itself - in the form of a feeling that something was missed, something was missing, there was some thing somewhere , which could help, and it is not clear where she was or what she even was. And the main thing is that the longer it is postponed, the more painful the awakening turns out to be. So you can safely increase your knowledge - there will still be no less sorrow.
Well, if a person thinks that he has already understood everything and doesn’t need anything - well, then he may not read, for God’s sake, it’s still impossible to help him.
At one time I thought about a similar point of view. You can agree with her if you perceive your brain and yourself as a computer, incapable of feeling, remembering, admiring. I think I should completely abandon it fiction- more expensive for yourself. But I don’t recommend reading it alone, it’s best to mix it up different styles, so the language is enriched, and it does not become boring. What is the meaning of fiction?
Fiction and fiction are different. Really good works can bring a lot of benefits, here are some examples:
1) Language. Fiction is useful both for learning a foreign language and for learning one’s own because it reflects phraseological units, metaphors, and comparisons characteristic of a particular language. Moreover, it takes into account the literary norm of the language, which should be adhered to, especially in the initial stages of studying it. As an exception, the only thing that comes to my mind is Arabic: I talked a lot with Arabs about their language, I really want to learn it, but everyone unanimously says that it is better to choose a specific dialect, since very few people will understand the literary norm
2) Culture, politics, history. You can cram textbooks on intercultural communication, history and cultural studies, but it is fiction that will give you context, especially written by a representative of the country and era you are interested in.
3) Immersion. Quite an interesting phenomenon, it is studied a lot in psychology (for reference, I can offer the work of Professor Dr. Arthur Jacobs). It consists of losing reality, immersing yourself in a book so much that you lose track of time and allowing your brain to experience sensations akin to any powerful drug. It is noteworthy that Harry Potter is the book with the highest rate of immersion among readers (link to the same Jacobs)
4) Salvation. I know it sounds trivial. But other people's fantasies can save you from sadness, find a new passion in life, and renounce your worries for at least an hour.
I constantly asked myself this question. So far, at this level of understanding... The fact that these books are less informative in terms of encyclopedic knowledge, which is fashionable now, yes. Then the science-pop is in your hands and everything is extremely simple and clear, the main thing is to understand it.
But, it seems to me, fiction is valuable in other ways, namely because when you read a certain book, become its main character, and the experience that the characters go through will undoubtedly affect you yourself.
Having recently read The Mysterious Murder of a Dog in the Night-Time, I realized how strange the life of an autistic person is. And these two days of reading, my “psychic” deviated a little from the abstract standard that we consider the norm. And there are others. And I “found myself” in his shoes.
Those. For me, a work of art is the experience of another person, experienced on myself. Virtual reality, but instead of a helmet there is a book.
Last time I heard this opinion from a person whose time spent usefully is with a bottle and a glass in front of the TV. This person - yes, does not need other people's fantasies.
For a small percentage of people, books are truly a waste of time. This applies to those who read in order to pay tribute to fashion.
Other people somehow benefit from every book they read. Firstly, fiction is not only fantasy (someone’s fantasies, so to speak), but also works based on real events, for example historical novels. In addition, Remarque’s works cannot be called historical, but they easily show the situation in Germany during World War I. "War and Peace" by Tolstoy gave me ideas about Patriotic War more than a history textbook (in fact, I’m good at history, don’t think so). Secondly, detective stories make you rack your brains along with the main characters, and works with understatement in the finale, oh, how they make you think. And, finally, fantasy does not work throughout the entire reading, how many images and landscapes we draw a shell in our thoughts.
No one forces you to read fiction if you don’t like it.
If we go through the pros, then:
1. Reading thin. literature develops creative thinking, which is precisely responsible for the creative component of human development.
2. Reading allows us to experience events together with the characters, as in real life, to get sensations in the situations in which the characters of the work find themselves. Sometimes this simply turns the reader’s life upside down, and he adjusts his attitude towards it.
3. Fiction, and literature in general, shapes our worldview by assessing the behavior of characters (if at least some analysis of what is happening is carried out, and not just reading letters), comparing other views on life.
4. Good literature develops spoken language.
5. Have a good time.
Fiction forms a life position if the reading is conscious and not consumer. I knew people who read to pass the time, as if they were watching a stupid movie. I don’t understand such people, I think that if you are going to read something, then take it seriously, like a philosophical treatise, look for the deeper meaning, otherwise, indeed, reading will be no different from watching stupid films.
It takes quite a long time, but it's worth it! And, especially since more books a person reads, the more his reading speed increases!
A book... This is something more than the meaning inherent in this word... The emotions that a person receives when reading a book cannot be compared either with films, or with listening to audio books, or even, strangely, with the theater. Films and theater are how the director or producer sees the book. People who read the same book will never have the same impression! They may be similar, but still completely different. When a person reads a book, a picture of the action emerges in his imagination, and while reading, we roughly imagine what it all looks like. Consequently, the development of imagination is added to the benefits of reading!
And even despite the instructiveness, the advantage of the book is that it brings pleasure. Imagine! You are cozy under a blanket with a cup of tea with your favorite book! After all, this feeling cannot be transmitted with anything else!
If you don’t like it, it’s okay - Sherlock Holmes didn’t like it either and was an excellent specialist. You can’t force someone to love, there’s no point in reading through force if it doesn’t bring you pleasure. Develop in areas where you are motivated
I explain such statements to myself as very straightforward thinking. Such people may be smart and fulfilled, but for some reason (either an initial given, or they didn’t set themselves up in time) they are comfortable perceiving information without a filter. If, for example, you are experiencing communication problems, you can read direct advice and communication techniques. Apply something, discard something. Or you can read fiction, where, using the example of the lives of heroes, you will see similar situations, you will be able to analyze what you would do in their place, etc. I think it tastes better this way
This is the ABC of life. Why learn from your mistakes if most of them are archetypal? :))
Another thing is that not everyone is able to read the codes of works of art. This is another reason why you need to read the classics. “Encryption” must be comprehended consistently and in its entirety. Not a single segment or layer of culture will be understandable or useful to you without knowledge of other existing ones.
Classical literature is knowledge about the world, but unlike scientific literature- this is knowledge about inner world man, his nature, motives, quests.
Humanity is like a child - it grows, develops, experiences crises, and matures. The story of this growing up is classical literature and art in general.
Ps - I don’t think you should get hung up on must reads. You have the right to create your own list, take unknown classics if the usual plots irritate you and seem “washed out”. And yet the familiar is worth reading for yourself, because - believe me! - no retelling will give what it gives full text, and also in each classic book(probably that’s why it’s a classic) there is always at least a line addressed specifically to you and at that exact moment. The magic of genius, apparently :)
Good fiction is not written just like that - it necessarily answers a certain question, asked either by the author in the context of his own experience, or by society in the context of the historical process.
By reading classic literature or modern literary texts, you either adopt a certain experience, discover new images/systems of thinking that the author puts into the characters to reveal a personal problem, or get A New Look on the mentality of certain social groups specific historical periods, or a description of certain historical processes from the perspective of the person who experienced them.
In short, you educate yourself/expand your horizons.
P.S. Well, about the aesthetic pleasure of beautiful language must not be forgotten)
Fiction also develops the ability to analyze, since in the process of reading you begin to think out the plot, assume different variants developments of events. Anatoly Wasserman spoke about this in detail. Of course, you can’t give up fiction, much less focus only on a certain direction.
1. Writing down someone's fantasies is not fiction in any way.
4. Fiction, like other arts, uses imaginative thinking as a (very effective) tool. Those. If you have not developed the instrumental (applied) function of imagination, then you will not do anything in art. A good example is Chernyshevsky. Brilliant counter and artistic impotence.
5. Present literary work is an exciting game. It's like a good football match. If you understand the meaning of what is happening, it can provide an unforgettable experience.
Reading is an experience that we gain by giving our time. You can, of course, come to everything with your own mind and your mistakes, but, as the popular proverb says, so smart people don't study. Sometimes a book can turn the entire normal course of life upside down and open up a whole ocean of possibilities that we didn’t even suspect about.
I read because I'm used to it. While studying at the university, we were loaded with huge lists of literature, studying domestic and foreign literature. And as my student years came to an end, the lists disappeared, and I seemed to begin to suffocate. I had to compose them myself :) Reading is like a sport - it keeps you on your toes.
There are so many heroes and stories in the world and I want to know as much as possible. Also, it’s very difficult for me to interact with people, but I want to communicate. So I’m reading.
Reading is a walk to new places, worlds, as well as new situations and acquaintances. This is why I open the book again and again :)
The most primitive way of reading, according to Nabokov, is to simply immerse yourself in the fabric of the plot and live for some time in this trance.
That is, the same function as other methods of oblivion. Pleasant oblivion.
To know yourself and the world around, for development, for the soul. By reading fiction, we gain experience that we cannot get in real life, we learn to imagine ourselves in the place of another person, and we develop our imagination.
Even if you ignore the fact that there is an error in the question itself, and proceed from the incorrect premise that fiction is nothing more than other people’s fantasies, then the answer is still “no.” These fantasies are one way or another built according to a certain principle. And this principle is that the development of the plot, using the example of events invented by the author, explains how people work and the relationships between them. And he explains more or less correctly. Otherwise, the work does not become popular and does not receive recognition. I don’t think that the process of gaining knowledge about how people work can be considered a waste of time. If this is a loss, then what is not? There is no knowledge that is more important in a practical sense. Without understanding this issue, it is hardly possible to achieve anything in life. And the only alternative way to gain such understanding is through personal experience. But this method is extremely ineffective.
You can give a specific example. There is such a thing as love. The knowledge of what it is is transmitted only through the artistic form. For a long time it was only literature. Now there is an alternative in the form of films. You can also watch "House 2". But this is too vulgar. Despite the fact that she solves her problem, still educated person It doesn't suit good taste. So we don’t consider this option at all. Films can be counted with a stretch. They, of course, provide some basic understanding of the issue, but nothing more. In addition, a worthwhile film about love is usually based on a book, in relation to which the film itself is secondary. So, by and large, outside of fiction there is no adequate description of what love is. What does this mean in practice? And the fact is that if a person has not read at least several fiction books about love in his life, then he simply does not understand what it is. The word itself means nothing to him. He roughly guesses how it should be used, but does it purely mechanically, using template expressions that he has heard from other people. He doesn't understand the meaning of this word. When other people discuss this, he doesn’t understand what they’re talking about at all. Some even believe that love does not exist, that it is some kind of fake.
If we go a little beyond the scope of the question, then it is worth saying that not all literature, being artistic in form, is 100% fiction and fantasy. Works of fiction contain a lot of information that the author did not come up with himself, but gleaned from some sources. And at the same time, it is presented to the reader not in a boring academic form, but is carefully thrown in in small portions as development progresses. interesting plot. For example, Chase's detective stories take place in the United States, where he himself did not live. All information to describe the context of the events he invented was taken from documentary sources. Moreover, there are works that describe certain things so accurately and in detail that there is much more truth than fiction in them. If anyone is interested in how an airport, hospital, hotel or bank functions, then you can read the corresponding works of Arthur Haley. Formally, these are works of fiction with a plot, but as a result of reading, you learn a lot of nuances that are usually described in non-fiction texts. Or if you are wondering how an elite American university works, then Tom Wolfe’s book “I Am Charlotte Simmons” will answer all questions. It is clear that the author only came up with the plot. He carefully studied everything else and simply laid it out in artistic form. In general, fiction is not as fictional as it may seem.
I will add to what has already been said here: for the sake of developing my speech. Reading scientific literature, useful from an applied point of view, will help little in this matter, since only fiction provides an excellent example of describing various, often very real, plausible situations using linguistic means. Again, let's not forget expanding your vocabulary. Well, a person with good, competent speech (both oral and written) always looks advantageous, if only for the reason that he can clearly, distinctly, intelligibly and, at the same time, thoroughly formulate his thoughts.
Speech cannot be developed through literature, but it can be developed through the practice of speech itself. Watch every word you say, carefully think through designs, etc. - all this with practice will lead to excellent speech. And without literature, which plays no role in this. As for increasing vocabulary, it’s debatable. To remember a word, it is not enough to read it once somewhere. It must be repeated at least 10 times during the week. It's easier to look in a dictionary, it's faster and more practical
Answer
CommentThe direct and clear answer to your question is no. I even to some extent adhere to the opposite point of view - it seems to me that the currently popular nonfiction (all these biographies, stories about unique personal experiences, etc.) in many ways represents castrated fiction. These stories, of course, can be exciting, they can carry some kind of unique experience, but at the same time they are devoid of the real work of the author - there is no composition, there are no defining details, there is no game between the author and the reader, and there are no several layers of meaning. In life and nonfiction based on it, details and events are random, whereas in fiction any movement, any meeting of characters, all the objects they use appear in the text to bring meaning, to play their clearly defined role, to show something. To see what and why is included in a work, you need skill, you need the work of the reader. To arrange things and characters so that they convey the right meaning, the author's work is needed. Thus, nonfiction is almost completely deprived of both components, leaving the text with one single, not even narrative, function - informational function.
It’s worth starting with what goals you are pursuing, decide on this first.
So, let’s look point by point at what fiction provides:
1. Expands vocabulary, improves speech, complicates syntactic structures, etc., which is associated with improved practical skills in the language.
2. Develops imaginative thinking. Tested from personal experience: together with mathematics, fiction produces incredible results - perception improves, thinking is much easier, conclusions are drawn faster.
3. Expanding your emotional horizon: you really experience the situations in which the characters find themselves (isn’t this life experience?).
And this is if we take practical benefits, but in addition there is the option of reading for pleasure, reading a good book in a pleasant environment.
Have fun setting your goals!
Of course it's worth it! Personally, I don’t see any disadvantages in this (except perhaps worsening vision), but there are a lot of advantages. So, reading in general is a very useful activity in itself; it develops thinking, erudition, attentiveness, perseverance, and imagination. When we read classic literature, we remember the spelling of words and the correct construction of sentences. Classics make us think, because the author offers us his vision of the world (problems, people, the meaning of life), we live with the hero of the book and try to solve his problems with him or find a way out situations. By reading classical literature, you get used to expressing your thoughts competently and beautifully, you gain useful experience and advice taken from books, you become more developed spiritually, you reconsider your views on life (love, family, friendship), you develop culturally. Besides, aren’t you interested in how people lived in the past? their conversations, everyday life, difficulties, joys?
Separately, I would like to note that every citizen of his country needs to read as much as possible classical works your compatriots, because they reflect the traditions and culture, problems and history of the formation of your country.
For me personally, classics are an inexhaustible source of patriotism. Yes, I agree, not all writers write interestingly and clearly, but you just need to find your own. For example, I am delighted with the novel “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, but I just can’t stand “Crime and Punishment” by F. Dostoevsky.
That's all :) read, develop and become better!
To broaden your horizons, if you read the classics, you can, for example, roughly imagine what life was like in the times when they lived. Yes, and vocabulary is greatly improved. In general, reading is useful, especially if it is not only bad literature.
Well, judge for yourself.
Fiction - like art in general - reflects the era in which it developed. That is, contains the core of culture and the shadow of history
Plus, the literature contains many ideas that reflect all values of humanity.
In addition, reading literature is a replenishment of vocabulary, which in turn helps communicate more competently and pleasantly- both for yourself and for your interlocutors.
Well yes, if you suddenly want to write yourself- then there’s nowhere without reading, all the writers repeat this with one voice.
Something like this.
If purely pragmatically, then for the most part it’s bad. works describe real life characters (as you know, people do not change, unlike physics and similar sciences). Those. After reading a novel, you can recognize the personality type of the characters and communicate with him correctly, without succumbing to his provocations. And you will communicate with people, because... man is a bio-social being.
It can also be noted that thin. works help to cope with the difficulties of life. If everything is bad in life, then you can read a book and lose yourself in this world or understand that your problems are worthless.
Well, and most importantly for many. You can enjoy both the plot of the books and the style and style of the author. Unusual plot twists real heroes, help in real life, enriching vocabulary - these are the goals. literature that differs from the purposes of popular science.
It's like talking to an interesting interlocutor. Especially when the author is already familiar. He reveals his thoughts to you, gives you information for thought, and sometimes reveals to you a sad truth. Literature is still a very intimate thing, we read the thoughts of great and not so great people, and they are ready to tell us everything they know.
Never give up the pleasure of reading a good fiction book. Some consider reading for entertainment a waste of time and even prefer movies to books, citing the fact that there is supposedly no point in reading. Why let your thoughts wander aimlessly away from reality when there is so much unknown in the world?
Even if you read non-fiction literature rather than fiction, it benefits you and automatically makes you cooler than those who don’t read. Reading helps develop your mind, makes you more educated and gives you food for thought. On this list, I would put reasoning first: anyone can get information from a book, but the most important component of the reading process is the ability to analyze this information, evaluate it and look at it from different points of view. How can you apply this information to your life? Does it relate to the real world? Can you perceive it objectively or are you interpreting it biasedly due to your personal point of view? What does this information mean to you?
Non-fiction gives us the bare facts and increases our erudition, while fiction opens our minds to creativity, increases our vocabulary, influences our emotions and enhances our cognitive abilities. There are certain reasons to read fiction and thus become a better person.
Development of creative abilities
The human ability to create is fueled by new ideas, perspectives and opinions. Fiction shows us the world from a new point of view, makes us look at everything through a new prism. Our mind opens up to the author's point of view, we try to predict the plot and imagine how it would develop under other circumstances or in real world living according to the laws known to us. Fiction helps us discover new ideas.
As adults, we can use our imagination like children, if we don’t stop reading. Reading is something like a dialogue between reader and author. When you read a book, you act as a co-author, combining fantasy with the text and interpreting the words. So you can watch your own movie, which no one else can see but you, on the world's largest screen with unimaginable special effects and maximum detail - if you want it. As you read, you see images in front of you that no one else has ever seen - even while reading the same book. Our imagination continues to develop if we do not stop reading.
Reading generates emotions and awakens compassion in us
When you are engrossed in a cleverly written novel, you become immersed in emotions. You put yourself in the character's shoes, feel his emotions and try to imagine what you would feel in his place. A good author skillfully channels the reader's emotions. Research shows that reading fiction develops empathy more than reading nonfiction.
A person reading a fiction book reacts to the story more strongly than when reading a non-fiction story, because fiction is a protected arena where the reader can experience any emotion and does not need to defend himself. Fiction has nothing to do with real life, which means that the reader is not connected with real historical events and personalities, does not relate himself to them and is free to empathize with anyone. Moreover, the reader can identify with the character fiction book, while it never occurs to anyone to associate themselves with the hero of newspaper publications.
Fiction gives readers more than the opportunity to emerge from everyday life and be transported to distant, non-existent worlds of fantasy. Books give us the opportunity for social connection and the serene calm that comes from feeling within seconds that we are part of something bigger.
In fiction, if it has psychologism, a lot of attention is paid to the motivation of the characters, the analysis of their behavior, and their interaction. Due to this, the reader begins to empathize with the characters and develops his own skills of interaction with other people, learns to put himself in the place of others and treat them with understanding.
Vocabulary expansion
Reading fiction increases our vocabulary, develops our speech and even teaches us how to write. This is a real practical benefit. Serious literature introduces you not only to new thoughts and ideas, but also shows you the correct use of grammar, teaches you how to construct sentences and use words that you doubted.
Authors of fiction express themselves differently in their books than documentaries. Have you ever noticed that non-fiction books, although filled with facts, can be so boring? It's all about goals and objectives. The author of a work of art writes differently, his language is subordinated to the plot, his main goal is to present you with a story, and present it beautifully, accurately express all the shades of meaning and preserve the beauty of the language. If his language is not close to the reader, he will not waste time wading through unfriendly language structures, while he will read a non-fiction book in order to know the facts. Language in non-fiction books fades into the background.
High culture
A real literary work is art, no worse than canvas and oil. Each painting tells its own story, each novel its own. Reading fiction introduces us to different cultures, historical eras, places and value systems. Any great work has beauty, literature is part of the cultural wealth of humanity.
Another good thing about fiction is that it can be one hundred percent fiction - such things are quite rare. For the most part, fiction is tied to specific historical events, eras, countries, and therefore reflects the morals of people of the past and their ideas about life.
Theory of mind
What it is? Speaking in simple words, theory of mind is the recognition that other people also have opinions, desires, and thinking abilities that are different from your own. A developed theory of mind allows a person to interact with other people and understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Research shows that reading fiction influences theory of mind. A person who reads understands other people's motivations and thoughts using the knowledge he has gained from literature.
Why read fiction? Isn't this activity a waste of time? Is it worth wasting your precious time on fictional characters When do the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church remain unread?
In fact, if the main purpose of reading is considered to be only obtaining the necessary information, then you need to read only spiritual, reference and educational literature. Meanwhile, obtaining information is not the only, and perhaps not the main task of reading.
While non-fiction literature reveals facts and truths to the reader, fiction literature, influencing the emotional sphere, opens the human soul to accept these truths, strengthens the ability to perceive and process information. A person who reads good fiction better understands other people, their thoughts, feelings, and motivations for their actions; it is easier for him to analyze various life situations, build your own destiny and relationships with other people.
Fiction, like other types of art, can be attributed to the spiritual sphere of our life. And this is exactly the area where it originates human personality. The Holy Fathers note that it is the development of spiritual qualities that makes a person aesthetically sensitive, refines him, loosens his soul, preparing him for spiritual growth. Can a person, without developing his spiritual qualities, grow spiritually? The Apostle Paul answers this question by saying: “But what is spiritual is not first, but what is natural, then what is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:45).
In addition, fiction provides invaluable psychological and moral material for studying life, human destinies, their experience of ups and downs. One of the works of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) is called: “Pastoral study of life and people based on the works of Dostoevsky.”
At the same time, it is important to have a selective approach to reading, since everything we read leaves its mark on our soul, leaving its mark on it. Today, in the conditions of “tolerance” imposed on society, when sin has become considered the norm, this is especially relevant.
The Orthodox online store “Zerna” provides its readers with the opportunity to choose books to their liking and for the soul, including works of fiction. These are not only the best works of Russian and foreign classics, but also books by modern Orthodox authors. On our virtual shelves you can find such names as Ivan Shmelev, Vasily Nikiforov-Volgin, Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov), Nina Pavlova, Olga Rozhneva, Alexander Donskikh, Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Natalya Sukhinina, Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov, Maria Sarajishvili, Vladimir Krupin, Marina Goncharenko, Natalya Gorbacheva and many, many others.
Do you know, how to read books correctly? I think that not everyone can answer with a clear “Yes.” So today I decided to look at the main rules for reading books, which will help you get the most out of your reading process.
Any person involved in sports needs constant training and constant receipt of new information. One of the most common sources of such information is books.
However, observations show that for many, reading books is almost in vain: the necessary information is not absorbed, everything gets mixed up in the head, and after some time it is completely forgotten. And all because these people do not know how to read books correctly. Therefore, I will try to give some tips and recommendations, consider important rules for reading books, using which you will not only read books, but also get the maximum benefit from them.
Choosing a book to read.
Reading books begins with choosing them. I think it’s no secret to anyone that not all books are equally useful. I propose to divide the diversity of literature into 3 important areas:
1. Fiction;
2. Useful books for general development;
3. Useful books from the field in which you are engaged.
I have arranged these groups of books in order of increasing practical value to you. This is not to say that books from the first category do not bring any benefit at all: by reading them, you expand your vocabulary and increase your overall level of literacy, especially when we're talking about about the most worthy representatives of this direction, for example, classical literature.
The books you choose to read should be relevant to your life goals, should help you solve the problems you face, should teach you what you want to learn. When thinking about what book to read, think about the professional and life goals that are in front of you, and choose those books, reading which will help you in their implementation.
The next point that I would advise you to pay attention to when choosing a book to read is the ease of understanding the material. I do not recommend reading books written in a language that is incomprehensible and inaccessible to you, for example, replete with special terms that you do not yet know. It is quite possible that in the future you will be able to master this literature, but for now it is worth finding something simpler for yourself.
If a book is too abstruse, this does not mean that it is more useful than a simple and easy-to-read book. No need to rack your brains to understand complex books. Remember the motto of the site Financial Genius: everything ingenious is simple!
Rules for reading books.
Now let's move on to how to read books correctly. Let's look at the most important rules for reading books. I’ll immediately make a reservation that these rules are intended for reading specialized, educational, and not fiction, that is, that which is of the greatest value.
Rule 1. Active reading. When reading a book, try to highlight the main points from it. For example, using underlining, highlighting, copying, etc. Firstly, the first time you definitely won’t remember all the most important information, therefore, in the future, when reading the book again, you can read only the most important things - what you have highlighted, thereby optimizing your time costs. Secondly, by highlighting the main points, you will immediately remember them better.
When reading a book, conduct some kind of mental dialogue with its author: agree with what he writes or disagree, complement it, criticize it if necessary, remember examples of what you read from your own life, immediately think where and how you can apply what you read it.
Rule 2. Moderate reading. Correct reading books involves reading exactly the amount of material that you are able to absorb. You don’t need to think that the more you read, the more more benefits get: this is absolutely not true. You will benefit only if you fully understand and experience the material, draw conclusions from it, and remember well what you read. If the next day you cannot remember what you read yesterday, this is a sure sign that you overdid it, read more than you can absorb, and it did not bring you any benefit: you will still have to go back and re-read it again.
Rule 3. Application of knowledge in practice. Another important rule of reading books is that you should put the acquired knowledge into practice as quickly as possible. If you have nowhere to apply them yet, you simply chose the wrong book to read.
Remember famous expression“Theory without practice is dead” - this is absolutely true. If you do not put the acquired knowledge into practice soon after reading the book, it will simply be forgotten, and the benefit from reading will be zero. It's better not to start reading at all next book, until you have not yet tried what you read about in the previous one - otherwise everything will just get mixed up in your head.
Rule 4. Not everything you read will suit you. And this interesting rule of reading books suggests that what the author describes is not necessarily applicable to your situation. All people are different, they have different abilities And life principles, and life situations are also different. Therefore, when applying the acquired knowledge in practice, be extremely careful and attentive.
In conclusion, a little more simple tips and recommendations on how to read books correctly:
– Immediately find out the meaning of terms you do not understand while reading. The Internet will help you a lot with this. There is no need to read about what you don't understand.
– Don’t read two or more books at the same time - this will make your head a complete mess. Be consistent.
– Increasing your level of knowledge in certain area, read books according to the principle “from simple to complex.” There is no need to immediately lean on the works of doctors of science, in which you understand little - this will not add to your knowledge without understanding more basic things.
– Read books in a quiet environment, when you are not distracted by extraneous noises and sounds. IN public transport and on the street it is much easier to absorb information from audiobooks.
– Keep your journal of the books you read with brief notes: what main ideas did you glean from them, why this book was useful to you. Subsequently, based on it, you will be able to make recommendations to others.
Now you have some idea of how to read books correctly. Use these simple rules for reading books so that you don’t just sound smart in front of others, “I read such a book!” (there are people who seem to read them only for this purpose), but to actually benefit from reading books, learn useful lessons from them and put them into practice in their lives.
The art of reading can be done
an excellent professor of literature.
V. Ostrogorsky
Fiction is of interest to scientists of various specialties: not only literary scholars and linguists, but also psychologists, sociologists, historians, etc. However, before studying a literary work, it must... read.
And here everyone is professionals in the humanities, representatives of other specialties, as well as people without special higher education and so on. - are equal: at the first (not necessarily one-time) acquaintance with a literary text, any of us is a READER. Of course, depending on individual experience, you can be a skilled reader, that is, have mature reading skills, or just starting to learn difficult art reading fiction.
Determining the goal.
The task is to teach read fiction relevant for different forms training: secondary school, training of philology students, etc. It is, to one degree or another, declared and implemented in the practice of teaching Russian literature and the Russian language as a native language, as well as in teaching the Russian language and Russian literature to foreigners.
For the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, a literary text is a favorite teaching material. Developed different kinds educational analysis(interpretations or interpretations) literary text: literary studies, linguostylistics, linguistics, linguocultural studies, etc. As a rule, they transfer learning (research) techniques to the classroom literary text from the standpoint of the relevant science. And this, in our opinion, ... “puts the cart before the horse.”
Since you can only study (research!) a previously understood text. Analysis, i.e. cognition of a text in the categories of a particular science is not a means of directly perceiving/understanding the text, but it can deepen existing understanding, fit the text into a broad scientific - literary or cultural - context, etc. Practice shows that in classes on literary text analysis, foreign language students are more likely to become familiar with ready-made options interpretation of literary works, which allows them to independently parse the text, and in an extracurricular situation, if they need to read/understand an unfamiliar literary text, they experience significant (often insurmountable) difficulties, they simply do not know where to start.
Thus, target work with texts of fiction should be formulated as follows: teaching independent understanding of texts. The set goal will determine both the principles for selecting text material and the organization of work on it, as well as the final result of educational activities.
Literary text or work of art
For further discussion, it is necessary to distinguish between two objects: a literary text and an artistic (literary) work, because failure to distinguish them leads to confusion.
Artistic text- this, according to Yu.M. Lotman, is one of the components of a work of art, far from the only one, but “an extremely essential component, without which the existence of a work of art is impossible” [Lotman 1972:24].
Let us allow ourselves a self-quote and define artistic text How:
"material embodiment works of fiction;
his verbalized(i.e. expressed in words), recorded in writing content;
cumulative - from the first letter of the first word to the last period (or other punctuation mark) at the end of the last page, - linguistic expression literary work" [Kulibina 2000: 54].
Besides literary text, a work of art also includes all its variants and sketches, the history of creation, known or alleged prototypes of heroes, events, etc., certain evidence of the author’s intention, authoritative critical analyzes and literary analysis of the themes and ideas of the work, various interpretations of the work of art (known theatrical performances, film adaptations, etc.), etc. A work of art understood in this way does not have clearly defined contours; it can be modified, supplemented, etc. Of course, the entire amount of information that makes up a work of fiction is accessible only to specialist literary critics. And even then, in any case, the question of the completeness of known information in relation to an object - a work of art - can only be resolved relatively.
Any reader (a specialist literary critic can also play this role) first of all deals with the text of a literary work, an artistic text. And you must form your opinion about it, formulate for yourself its personal meaning based on what the author SAID in the text. Those. we can talk about the self-sufficiency of a literary text: it contains everything that is necessary for its understanding, and there is no need for additional comments of various types, explanations, reference texts, etc.
An important methodological conclusion follows from the above: the material for learning to read fiction is a literary text. This or that amount of information related to work of art(but not included in its literary text) can be presented to students after the text is independently understood by them. Otherwise, prematurely acquired knowledge (“ready-made understanding”) will interfere with the process of semantic perception of the text 1 .
For a writer, a text is never complete: “a writer is always inclined to refine, complete. He knows that any detail of the text is only one of the possible implementations of a potential paradigm. Everything can be changed. For the reader, the text is a cast structure, where everything is in its only possible place, everything carries meaning and nothing can be changed."([Lotman 1999:112]; our italics - N.K.).
According to Yu.M. Lotman, a literary text should be perceived, first of all, “as a message in a natural language.” This will be the basis for its further comprehension as a work of art. Building on this authoritative opinion, we consider a literary text as communicative unit, a means of communication in a given language, however, is a special means in which the language realizes not only communicative, but also aesthetic functions.
Principles for selecting literary texts
Based on the stated goal - teaching the understanding of literary texts, selection principles textual material (literary texts!) can be formulated as follows:
a literary text must be such that the potential reader, firstly, wanted and secondly, smog his understand.
1. The interest of the student (potential reader) is important because it creates an internal motive for the activity, due to which the activity itself (despite the difficulties of its implementation) becomes more attractive and effective. Any teacher can give examples of how lively and interesting a lesson can become if the personal (internal) motives of students are affected. Here it is necessary to take into account the age, gender, and often national, as well as social and other characteristics of the audience. Therefore, in principle, there cannot be lists of literary texts that are required reading: what goes well with one audience may be absolutely uninteresting for another.
However, we will allow ourselves one recommendation based on many years of experience: foreign language students, as a rule, are interested in what is now relevant for Russian readers, i.e. first of all - books modern authors. All our training materials are methodological developments for lessons in RFL texts by contemporary writers [Kulibina 2001; 2004; 2008a]. The textbook “Reading Poems of Russian Poets” (2014) also includes poems by poets of the second half of the twentieth century (B. Okudzhava, N. Rubtsov, I. Brodsky, etc.)
2. The accessibility of a text for a potential reader is usually understood as the correspondence of the reader’s level of language proficiency to the linguistic complexity readable text. In our opinion, this is true only with regard to grammar. A mandatory requirement is that the text must contain only grammar familiar to the reader.
Regarding vocabulary, this requirement is by no means unconditional, as the classic phrase of L.V. Shcherba (“Glokaya kuzdra…”) and the linguistic fairy tales of Lyudmila Petrushevskaya “Battered Pussies” convince us of. Next, we will focus on how the reader can overcome lexical difficulties when reading.
An important aspect of text accessibility is also that the reader understands situation text, or, as psycholinguists say (for example, T. van Dyck), so that in the reader’s mind it is represented model this situations, known to him based on previous life or reading experience.
Among other requirements for the text used for teaching reading fiction, it should be noted the time required to understand it, or more precisely, the time required for classroom work aimed at understanding it. The text should be such that work on it can be completed in one day’s lesson (45 minutes, 1 hour 30 minutes, etc.). Naturally, understanding the same text may require different amounts of time. different groups.
Organization of work on a literary text
Traditionally, educational work on a literary text consists of three stages: before-, during- and after text. Most methodologists agree on this, but each one determines in his own way at what stage, what and how should be done.
For us the priority is the stage textual work, because It is at this stage that the actual reading takes place, i.e. perception, understanding and experience of a literary text. If under certain conditions (for example, lack of classroom time) before- And after text stages of work can be reduced to one or two questions, or even omitted or performed as homework, That textual work must be carried out in the classroom to the fullest extent possible.
In order to present classroom work on a literary text exactly as system(and not an arbitrary set of randomly selected tasks), we will sequentially look at all stages of work: pre-, during- and after text
1. Pre-text work.
When working on a literary text, you should focus on the actions of a native speaker reader. Turning to our own reading experience, we cannot help but notice that the beginning of reading a book is usually preceded by a certain moment when we have a desire to read this particular book.
Hence, the main objective pre-text work- make the foreign reader want to read the proposed text. One possibility is to interest the potential reader in the personality of the author.
Pre-text work can be done in class or at home. Each teacher, at his own discretion, can add something of his own, something that may be of interest to his audience.
In our opinion, at the stage of pre-text work not worth it:
- talk about the work itself, because then it’s no longer interesting to read,
- invite students to complete language tasks (“remove language difficulties”), because Almost all, for example, lexical difficulties can be overcome during the reading process (i.e. at the textual stage); in any case, it is worth trying to overcome them on your own (how to do this will be discussed further).
2. Text-based work.
The main goal of textual work- independent semantic perception (including experience, i.e. perception at the level of ideas) by the reader of a literary text. This goal can be achieved by modeling the processes that occur when reading fiction in the mind of a native reader.
Most of these processes in natural conditions occur subconsciously, in a reduced form; the reader sometimes does not realize on the basis of what data he comes to certain conclusions or why certain images appear in his imagination. However, if while reading a native speaker encounters any difficulty (linguistic, semantic, figurative), he tries to overcome it with the help of a linguistic guess, i.e. “launches” the reflexive mechanism using one or more (one after another) cognitive operations (strategies).
Reading a literary text by a foreign speaker is not least characterized by the fact that he much more often has a need to overcome various difficulties (which is quite natural) and, therefore, he needs developed language reflection skills (in conditions of reading in foreign language). The situation is made easier by the fact that the mechanisms of linguistic guesswork (language reflection) are universal, and we are not talking about the formation of new skills, but about creating conditions for the positive transfer of existing ones (formed by reading in the native language).
2.1.
If a literary text offered for reading has a title, it is necessary to pay attention to it: invite students to build a reading forecast, think about what a text with that title might be about.
Reading is controlled by so-called anticipation, i.e. We, wittingly or unwittingly, but inevitably predict the development of events in the text; this is a pattern of mature reading. As a rule, it is impossible to fully reveal the meaning of its title before reading the text. You don’t need to do this in a lesson either; you should limit yourself to what the name itself allows you to do, i.e. its meaning, not its meaning.
A short text (for example, a short poem) can be presented to students directly in the classroom. It is advisable to invite students to read the story at home either without a dictionary, or, on the contrary, to try to cope with difficulties in the traditional way (check it in a dictionary) and see what comes of it. In any case, the text should be heard in the audience.
It is not necessary to read the entire text at once; you can present the text to students in fragments. In this case, after reading the fragment, there is a discussion of it, guided by questions from the teacher 2. You should not ask students to read the text aloud; at this stage, such a task is ineffective: unprepared reading with many errors will not be useful and will not bring pleasure to either the one who reads or the one who listens.
The text can be read by the teacher or heard in a special educational audio recording (but not in the author's or actor's performance).
2.2. Understanding a foreign language and foreign cultural literary text is not an easy task for the reader. In order for students’ activities to be more effective, it is advisable to divide it into parts (this heuristic technique, coming from Descartes, can be very useful in this case). In our practice, the text is divided into small fragments (minimum - one sentence), relatively independent in semantic terms, on which work is carried out (in a poetic text this can be a line or stanza, in prose - one or several paragraphs).
As a rule, in a literary text it is not a static situation that is presented, but its dynamic unfolding, in other words: the general situation of the text is a sequence mini-situations(the maximum possible number of which is equal to the number of sentences of the text).
During classroom work, it is not always possible to use all the mini-situations that make up the overall situation of a literary text, for example, a story, and therefore it is necessary to make a strict selection, highlighting only the main points (semantic milestones). These must certainly include those mini-situations in which the main characteristics of the general situation of the text are reflected: Who(subject/subjects), What does(event/events), Where(place) and When(time).
The experience of practical educational work shows that the reader’s orientation in the characteristics of the character, the place and time of the events described, etc., as it were, “launches” the mechanism of the reader’s creative (intellectual and emotional) activity. Language means expressions of the main characteristics of the situation (for example, character nominations) are key units text.
2.3. Within the framework of a fragment (mini-situation), work begins with attracting students’ attention to one or another key unit of text, because According to psychologists, the initial moment of understanding is always the awareness of misunderstanding.
2.3.1. After the attention of students in one way or another (from direct pointing to an object to more complex formulations of questions and tasks) is drawn to the key unit, it is necessary to make sure that its linguistic meaning is known to students. If met unfamiliar word, tasks guide students to independently identify its meaning, i.e. to use a variety of cognitive strategies (or linguistic guesswork) different types): based on the grammatical appearance of the word, the syntactic structure of the sentence, the composition of the word, the context, etc. 3
However, knowing only the meaning of a linguistic unit does not guarantee the reader understanding of the text, because it is important to understand its textual sense. To clarify the meaning of a text unit in text-based tasks, the following techniques (cognitive strategies) can be used: selection of synonyms with subsequent analysis of the differences in their meanings, reliance on the artistic context, involvement of background knowledge, and common sense etc. 4
These two stages (understanding meaning and sense) constitute a single conceptual level understanding the text, the achievement of which is sufficient when working on any non-fiction text.
2.3.2. The perception of a literary text will be incomplete if the conceptual level is not supplemented by perception on level of ideas.
In the process of reading, units of literary text - verbal images - are transformed in the reader’s mind into reader's ideas, which can be visual, auditory, emotional, etc. Thanks to ideas, the reader’s projection of the text acquires flesh and blood, becoming not a dead imprint, but a living, dynamic picture.
Each reader has his own - characteristic of his style of perception - techniques for recreating the reader's ideas, so the task of the teacher at this stage is not so much to teach new things, but to awaken the reader's creative activity, to activate his own creative activity. This goal can be achieved by tasks that invite the foreign reader to imagine what he is reading about and to describe the images and ideas that arise in the imagination.
Such work encourages the reader to emotionally experience the images of the text and further to aesthetic emotions, which lay the foundations aesthetic perception artistic text. Special tasks aimed at the reader’s perception of a literary text as a work of art are not required.
Thus, work on each key unit is based on a single algorithm: from the language values to the textual meaning and reader's view. The sequence of work on key units is dictated by the text itself, i.e. depends on the order in which they appear before the reader (from the first fragment/mini-situation to the last).
It is desirable that after working on each fragment/mini-situation of a literary text, students are given the opportunity to listen to it (in a recording or reading by the teacher).
2.4. After finishing working on the text in fragments/mini-situations, it is advisable to read the text in its entirety again and/or listen to its full sound recording. It is advisable to use questions for the entire text, asking students to comprehend everything they have read, draw conclusions, evaluate, etc., as homework (written or oral), because To carry out these cognitive operations, the reader (even a native speaker, and even more so a foreign speaker) needs a certain amount of time.
3. Post-text work.
This stage of classroom work, but in our opinion, is optional, because if the textual work was carried out correctly, then “the influence of the read work on the reader’s personality” (O.I. Nikiforova) occurs regardless of whether the appropriate instructions are given or not, otherwise all the “controlling” tasks will not give the desired effect.
And yet, post-text work can be carried out either in the classroom or at home.
At this stage, students are offered generalizing tasks so that they can express their understanding of what they read, their own opinion about the text, as well as tasks that suggest connecting, for example, statements (opinions, ideas, etc.) of the author in the interview they read (pre-text work) with how it is implemented (or reflected, etc.) in a literary text, etc.
Students can get acquainted with additional texts that allow them to develop or deepen the topic, or get to know the author better, etc.
At this stage, it is possible to use educational and professional translation, any forms of visualization and other techniques and means that the teacher deems appropriate and useful.
The result of the reader's activity
Thanks to both the conscious efforts and unconscious actions of the reader, set of textual meanings(i.e. the meanings of key text units) and reader's ideas, and connections between them, extracted by the reader from the text, turns into a certain system, the core of which can be comprehended and expressed as meaning read literary text, personal meaning- the result of the activity of a particular reader.
As practice shows, the described technique can be used by any foreign audience interested in fiction in Russian. Individualization of the educational process is achieved by selecting texts, poetic and prose, that correspond to certain (age, national, professional, etc.) characteristics of the audience.
No preliminary familiarization of students with the “rules of the game” is required: when working on a text (which a foreign reader perceives as a “simple” discussion of what they read, thinking about what how And why is that It is said) the teacher, when formulating tasks, may well make do with language and speech material known to students.
Lessons using the proposed methodology can
1) be included in the language educational process(aspect “Development/practice of speech”) as needed (once a month or with another degree of regularity, as well as from time to time, for example, as a “gift” for the holiday - “Christmas” by I. Brodsky);
2) form a cycle, for example, as part of the course “Reading Fiction”.
With sufficiently long training, students develop and improve the skills of independent reading of texts (and not only literary ones).
Now let's look at a practical example. Let's take one of the textbook poems by A.A. Blok.
1 Night, street, lantern, pharmacy,
2 Pointless and dim light.
3 Live for at least another quarter of a century -
4 Everything will be like this. There is no outcome.
5 If you die, you’ll start over again,
6 And everything will repeat itself as of old:
7 Night, icy ripples of the channel,
8 Pharmacy, street, lamp.
October 10, 1912
Understanding this poem (like any other literary text) involves answering the following questions:
Who is the text talking about? Who is his hero/heroes?
What is he/they doing? What event/events are/are being described?
Where is it all happening?
When?
But it is not enough to simply find words in the text that answer these questions. Need to think: Why is it said this way and not otherwise?
The order of work on this poem can be as follows 5 (omitting the pre-text stage, let’s focus on textual work).
Teacher:
- Read the first two lines of the poem. Find answers to questions in them, When And Where does the event described in the poem happen?
Possible student answers 6 :
- Night.
- City (street).
Teacher:
- Why do you think they are mentioned? flashlight And pharmacy?
Possible answers:
- Maybe, flashlight burns.
- The sign is on pharmacy.
- Light in the pharmacy window. There - on the window - it is written pharmacy.
Teacher:
- What kind of light do you think is being talked about in the second line?
Possible answers:
- This is the light of a lantern.
- Pharmacy window light.
Teacher:
- Why do you think the light is named meaningless And dim 7 ?
Possible answers:
- There is no one on the street. It is unclear for whom it shines.
- The light is weak. Unpleasant.
- Nobody. There's no point in shining.
- Pointless consumption of electricity.
Teacher:
- Who do you think sees and describes this picture? Night, street, pharmacy…?
Teacher:
- Can we understand his condition, what he feels, what is in his soul?
Possible answers:
- He doesn't sleep even though it's night.
- He feels bad, sad, that’s why he doesn’t sleep.
- Something happened, and now there is no point...
Teacher:
- Read the third and fourth lines of the poem. How do you understand them? Who is the poet talking about? live? How - in other words - can you convey the meaning of the third line? Is the expression clear? There is no outcome?
Possible answers:
- You live...
- If you live another 25 years.
- This is a generalization: if you live another quarter of a century... The poet speaks about himself and any person.
- If nothing changes in life, it’s bad.
- No matter what you do, you won’t change anything.
- Exodus, maybe this is the way out? No exit.
- He feels very bad... And scared.
Teacher:
- Read the fifth and sixth lines. How can you understand them?
Possible answers:
- If you die, will you start all over again? Unclear!
- Maybe he thinks that death will not change anything?
- Death won't help.
- He feels very bad.
- He is suffering...
- And no one can help him. 8
Teacher:
- Read the poem to the end. Notice that the last lines almost repeat the first two. What new does the reader learn and what conclusions can he draw?
Possible answers:
- New information icy ripples of the channel. Cold.
- This is winter.
- No, autumn. The poem was written on October 10.
- Ripple means the wind is blowing. Cold wind.
- In this city there is channel. Maybe this is St. Petersburg.
- Or Venice?
- If Blok, then Petersburg!
Teacher:
- Why do you think the poet begins and ends the poem almost the same?
Possible answers
- There is no outcome.
- Nothing can be changed.
- The circle is closed.
Teacher:
- Read the poem in its entirety. How do you imagine his character? Where is he located?
Possible answers:
- He looks like Blok.
- This is a man. Poet.
- He's not on the street.
- He is in the room. Standing at the window.
- Looking out the window. Sees an empty dark night street...
- The lantern sways in the wind.
- It's dark in the room. He is alone.
- He's lonely.
Teacher:
- What do you think this poem is about?
Possible answers
- About a lonely person.
- About loneliness.
- About longing.
What can you call this work on the text of a poem?
Linguistic analysis?
Yes and no. Yes, because we parsed words, sentences, i.e. linguistic units. No, because the main thing was not the linguistic meanings of these units, but those meanings that arise on their basis in this artistic text, i.e. we are dealing with text units. We also talked about those ideas and images that arise in the reader’s mind when reading this poem by Alexander Blok.
So, maybe this is literary analysis? But we did not use literary terminology and, perhaps, our analysis will seem amateurish to a literary scholar.
The main objective of the methodology we propose is for students to master the skills independent work above the text, learned to effectively use the necessary cognitive strategies at all levels of perception of a literary text and thereby received “open access” to everything that was created, is being created and will be created by writers and poets in Russian
What are the specifics of the proposed approach?
For us text was original reality. We approached him with unified philological position(simultaneously the point of view of language and literature) and were focused on reality of the whole text. Our efforts were aimed at implementing possibilities of human understanding.
Philology - the art of understanding what is said and written, or the service of understanding- helped us fulfill one of the main human tasks - to understand another... (the highlighted words belong to S.S. Averintsev [Averintsev 1990: 545]).
Thus, we can say that the methodology we propose for teaching reading fiction implements philological approach to literary text.
Literature:
Averintsev 1990 - Averintsev S.S. Article Philology // Linguistic encyclopedic Dictionary. M., 1990.
Kulibina 2000 - Kulibina N.V. Literary text in linguodidactic comprehension. - M., State. IRE, 2000.
Kulibina 2001 - Kulibina N.V. Why, what and how to read in class. - St. Petersburg, Zlatoust, 2001.
Kulibina 2004 Kulibina N.V. Written by women. A reading guide for students of Russian as a foreign language. - M., Russian language. Courses, 2004
Kulibina 2008- Kulibina N.V. We read Russian in class and at home. Book for the student. - Riga, RETORIKA-A. 2008.
Kulibina 2008a Kulibina N.V. We read Russian in Russian language lessons. Book for teachers. - Riga RETORIKA-A. 2008.
Kulibina 2014 - Kulibina N.V. We read poems by Russian poets. Textbook for students of Russian as a foreign language (7th edition) - St. Petersburg, Zlatoust, 2014.
Lotman 1972 - Lotman Yu.M. Analysis poetic text: Verse structure. - M., 1972
Lotman 1998 - Lotman Yu.M. Inside thinking worlds. Man - text - semiosphere - history. - M., Languages of Russian culture, 1999.
Dr. ped. sciences, professor
State Institute
Russian language named after. A.S. Pushkin.
Moscow, Russia
1 Similar to how uninteresting and even pointless it becomes to read a detective story if you already know who the criminal is.
2 See educational materials in [Kulibina 2001; 2004; 2008a; 2014].
3 For more information about cognitive strategies, see [Kulibina 2000; 2001; 2008a].
4 For more details, see ibid.
5 Before reading a poem, students should not be told anything about its content so that they have the opportunity to draw their own conclusions.
6 Here and below, under the heading “Possible student answers” (hereinafter “Possible answers”), real student answers recorded in lessons are used. In some cases, the answers received in different groups are shown side by side; this is done to make the students’ train of thought more clear, because not always every stage of reasoning is verbalized, i.e. formalized by the participants in the discussion as a speech utterance
7 If there is any doubt that students know lexical meanings words meaningless and dull, you can invite students to use one of the cognitive strategies [Kulibina 2001] to establish the meaning of an incomprehensible word. In the first case, this is a reliance on the composition of the word, on the known prefix bes- and the root meaning-, which allows one to draw a conclusion about the meaning of the entire word, and in the second - on the reader’s extralinguistic knowledge of what the light of a lonely lantern on a dark street is like, as one might call its (dull, weak, etc.)
8 We believe that students should not be required to provide a deeper interpretation of these lines; it is enough if they understand the state of the lyrical hero of the poem (the poet himself?) and sympathize with him.
