One Way to Become a Better Reader
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- @bookswithbanks8943 recently did a video on Single Bound by Bryan Dietrich. It is a collection of poetry centred around Superheroes. • Single Bound, Review: ...
While he was discussing the collection a few of his comments made me think about the fact that very few people (relatively speaking) continue on reading poetry after they leave school, and yet it is one of the best ways to train and exercise your literary muscles and reading skills.
So in this video I talk about why you should read poetry, and how it can help you become a better reader.
Yes! Let's hear it for the poems! Especially those found in fantasy novels . . . 😄
There once was a professor called Chase,
He fooled all with his charming grace,
But deep down inside,
Where he could not hide,
His nemisosity he could not erase.
@@ACriticalDragon Nemisisosity??? Ouch.😀
Thank you for the shout-out! And yes, while reading it, I was reminded of rhetorical devices I had totally forgotten about since school.
You are very welcome. It was great seeing someone talk about poetry, especially a collection by a friend of mine.
I've been struggling to improve my poetry and this was incredibly useful. Thanks AP. You're a life saver.
I am very glad that I could help.
Sometimes I read out loud, and it's nice. It makes me feel like I am telling my cat a story, and she is listening
I am lucky, first time I got in touch with poetry was in college, with a Ugo Foscolo sonnet. I was bewitched, nothing was the same after that!
Learning to read poetry in grammar school was eye-opening. So many things I hadn't consider began to come into play, like word placement and sound and even something as obvious as word choice. It fundamentally changed how I read everything. Not everyone needs to write with an eye toward poetry, but when someone accomplishes it they have my respect, and it's thrilling to find it. I certainly cannot do it.
It is a surprisingly useful skill, and comes in handy more often than one would assume. I think it has to do with making you more aware of foundational aspects of writing, how words can be put together and how their combined effect can create different meanings than run counter to, or reinforce, the surface meaning.
Reading out loud is a great way to read poetry or plays. The meaning is often revealed. I have been reading for 7o plus years, but I still use this method. I also hear voices in my head when reading, j recently reread War and Peace and also "saw" pictures in my mind. That is my ultimate way of knowing if imaginative fiction. Is working. I read a lot of non- fiction too, and although the visual thing is seldom continuous, I get flashes of imagery, with some authors. The older I get the more I treasure poetry, and learn it by heart. Notetqking is also a great qid. I have just subscribed to your great channel.
Thank you, Clare. I am glad that you enjoyed the video. Our interaction with fiction can be incredibly personal and so much of what brings a book to life is what the reader imbues the text with. I hope that you find a few other videos on here that you can enjoy.
@@ACriticalDragon im sure I will.
Great video! Im excited to start putting these things in practice thoughtfully. Also......i really want a 4k stream of your videos so I can snipe purchase all the books on your shelves! lol
It's refreshing to see a video encouraging people to slow down to become better readers. There's one of these for about every hundred videos you see on how to read more, faster.
You might encourage some people to do this if you also pointed out that not only are poems short, but poetry books tend to be really short as well, and you can use them to really up your score on books read. For example, Ginberg's Howl and other poems comes in at 44 pages, of which the title poem is about half the book.
I've recently been making efforts to read a few poems, or a short story, each day. It's a nice contrast to 800 page installments in multi-book series. And yes, I think it helps make me a better reader (though my reading pace seems to have gone from pedestrian to glacial).
But the more you practice the more reflexive it becomes, and once that happens the speed returns. I suppose there is always a trade off between getting through something quickly by just getting enough from the text, or taking more time and getting even more from the text.
Not only are these very thoughtful and insightful videos, but you've got a great voice to convey the ideas. Possibly better said, your speaking cadence, speed, enunciation, etc. is well suited to convey your thoughts. Thanks for helping make us all smarter a little bit at a time.
I am glad that you are enjoying the videos and getting something useful out of them.
Great video, AP. It’s refreshing to hear someone advising to slow down when you see so many Book Tuber videos popping up saying, “Look at how many books I read in [insert month]”, as if speed and/or copious free time is an achievement.
As a Scot and a fairly voracious reader of fantasy, I’d recommend Burns’ “Tam o’ Shanter”. Some of the old Scots words will obviously be a challenge, but the text usually includes an English translation of the more ‘difficult’ words. But it’s basically a narrative of a man travelling home drunk, late at night, who comes upon a black mass taking part in an old Kirk (a Kirk being old Scots for church). It contains all the elements you mention - pacing, alliteration, carefully chosen words, different rhythms...
This is a great reminder to slow down, something I’ve been doing on my latest Malazan re-read. Just finished House of Chains and was amazed at how much I got from it that I don’t think I got previously.
Tam O'Shanter is a classic, but it might be a bit tough for poetry novices not from the UK even with the humour... actually, especially the humour. 😂😂
This video was perfect for me at this time in my reading journey. 3 years ago I began reading on a consistent basis and I also, began critiquing the works I was consuming. When we look at the author's in Literary Fiction who are the most praised, we see many of them are described as "poetic". Such and excellent and helpful video Sir. Kudos and thank you!!
I am glad that you enjoyed it. You have exactly the right attitude in that reading is a journey with no end point. Sometimes we get far enough for now, but there is always further that we can go, but it is up to every individual reader. Thank you very much for watching.
What a wonderful video, A.P.! I read a lot of poetry growing up, and I haven't read much lately, but this is a sign it's time I returned to poetry :)
Cheers and see you in the next one.
Just get Lorant to read romantic poetry to you by moonlight.
Much needed advice at this point in my reading journey. I used to watch all sorts of videos about becoming a “faster” reader, but never felt like I was improving my reading. Really glad to hear another perspective. Thanks for the encouragement! Beyond Bryan Dietrich, who do you recommend for poetry? I’d love to hear from other folks in the comments, too. Thanks again!
I have a fondness for the metaphysical poets, but I am a touch old fashioned. I usually recommend an anthology of poetry that has examples from different eras and epochs, so you get a sample of different poets and styles, and then find ones that you enjoy and look them up.
As for speed, I find that when you get better at depth and comprehension, the speed picks back up. However, like everything, it starts off slow until you master it and then you work on being faster.
I’ll look out for an anthology and see what jumps out at me! It sounds like honing my reading skills will be most helpful in the long run. That seems obvious when I write it out. I’m so used to all these fast tips and tricks to improve my reading from the internet, and have stopped looking at reading as an actual skill I can improve with practice. It’s like I’ve said, “Well I learned how to read and now I’m just stuck at this same speed.” Really not true, though, because I’ve grown as a reader throughout my life.
Many thanks for this video, I haven't looked at poetry since school and I appreciate the advice. Will definitely give it a try 😊
There are some wonderful poems out there that range from ludicrous and hilarious to deeply romantic, to harrowing and poignant. The entire range of the human condition. It is unfortunate that so many are put off poetry because of a negative experience at school.
I've just bought a poetry anthology, always enjoy the journey of learning new skills.
I hope that you enjoy them. If you find any that you think are absolutely brilliant, please let me know.
With your prologue breakdowns, I learned a lot about reading. Just started reading(seriously) a couple years ago. I am interested to go for poems, but I am always confused on where to start.
So could you recommend some poems or collections that could be good for a beginner ??
Keep up the good work.
Thank you very much. It is difficult to make specific recommendations but in terms of getting a good source of poetry to start on, unless you have a specific poet that you know you want to read, I would recommend one of hte big anthologies of poetry that have examples from multiple poets across multiple eras. That allows you to sample different styles. Once you find a style that feels accessible and interesting, start there and find more focused anthologies that dig into that pot and others like them.
Hello! :D Still watching this video. The first video I watched from you was the one about the popular misconceptions about Malazan! Currently reading Gardens of the Moon. Quite good so far :)
I am glad that you are finding some videos that interest you. Thanks for watching.
I've found, as a Bible scholar, understanding Hebrew poetry unlocks Hebrew narrative structure.
The reason I personally still struggle is the perceived lack of progress. I can sit down and read 10, 20, 50 pages of a Sanderson novel and get the idea. In the same time span, I can read maybe 5 pages of poetry. Especially living in the modern TicToc culture, that's just not fast enough.
Yet five pages of poetry can contain more content than 100 pages of a novel, all depending on the novel or the poems. Do we measure progress in terms of page count, or do we measure it in terms of understanding? The units we use to measure progress greatly effect our perception of progress, but that is all it really boils down to, perception.
Freewheeling downhill on a bicycle is easy and covers a lot of ground, but cycling uphill requires effort but ultimately may be more rewarding. We all have our different goals and preferences.