Premium Essay

"A Study of Reading Habits" Poetry Analysis

In:

Submitted By whamal1999
Words 541
Pages 3
Whalin Malan
English 1 Honors
May 31, 2014
Poetry Analysis #1

An Analysis of “A Study of Reading Habits” by Philip Larkin

“A Study of Reading Habits,” by Phillip Larkin is a short poem about a male character that goes through the three main stages of life and reads specific books during these times. The narrator experiences life first as a child, then a teenager, and finally an adult. The books he chooses to read express how he has changed during each stage. The author’s use of symbolism, irony, and imagery help to convey the theme that ignoring reality only makes life harder to deal with. “When getting my nose in a book/Cured most things short of school” (Larkin). In the first stanza Larkin describes a boy who uses books as a way to escape reality so that he does not have to face the harshness of life. In lines 5-6, the author uses symbolism. “deal out the old right hook/ to dirty dogs twice my size” (Larkin). It represents the speaker’s imagination while reading books. It shows that he is still a child. “The alliteration of ‘dirty dogs’ is symbolism of the persona’s bullies” (Sophtaytay). The speaker is using books to imagine beating those who bully him in the real world. “No man who was a professional librarian throughout his life… would make the statement that concludes the poem: "Books are a load of crap."” (Wood). It is ironic that an author would refer to books as “crap.” This shows that Larkin is not the speaker. It also shows how dramatically the speaker has changed his opinion of books throughout his life. “It was worth ruining my eyes” (Larkin). While the speaker was a child he was very interested in reading books. His whole world revolved around books at that age and if he could not get his hands on one it would all collapse. “Me and my cloak and fangs/Had ripping times in the dark” (Larkin). As the speaker is reading he imagines it all

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Environmental Issues

...educ.utas.edu.au/users/tle/JOURNAL/ ISSN 1327-774X Investigating Reading Habits and Preferences of Student Teachers at Foreign Language Departments Muhlise Coşgun Ögeyik & Esin Akyay Trakya University Faculty of Education Edirne, Turkey Abstract This study investigates reading habits and general views on reading of the students attending teacher training departments. Since reading is one of the principal skills while teaching and learning a second or foreign language, it is assumed that the gathered data in this sample study will highlight educators to get a general profile about reading habits and preferences of students. The participants of the study are the students attending English Language Teaching and German Language Teaching Departments of the Faculty of Education at Trakya University, Turkey. For data collection, a questionnaire with 40 items was designed and administered on 187 students. The questionnaire investigated the students’ general attitudes towards reading and their preferences of reading. The research findings revealed that the students from both departments had positive attitudes towards reading and were widely involved in reading activities. Another optimistic outcome was that the students read both in native and foreign languages. Key words: Reading habit, attitudes towards reading, reading preferences, foreign language education Introduction Reading, which is a long-term habit starting with the very early ages, is the prominent gateway to the knowledge...

Words: 3911 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Tut Letter101/3/2015

...ENG2602/101/3/2015 Tutorial letter 101/3/2015 GENRES IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE: THEORY, STYLE AND POETICS ENG2602 Semesters 1 & 2 Department of English Studies IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This Tutorial Letter contains important information about your module. CONTENTS Page 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3 2 PURPOSE OF AND OUTCOMES FOR THE MODULE............................................................... 4 2.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Outcomes .....................................................................................................................................4 3 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS................................................................................... 5 3.1 Lecturer(s) .................................................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Department ................................................................................................................................... 6 3.3 University ...................................................................................................................................... 6 4 MODULE-RELATED RESOURCES ..................

Words: 5933 - Pages: 24

Free Essay

Thesis

...A Study of Middle Grades Students’ Reading Interests, Habits, and Achievement Nichole Lynnette Smith A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Education in the School of Education. Chapel Hill 2009 Approved By: Dr. Barbara Day Dr. Frank Brown Dr. Sandra Hughes-Hassell Dr. Teresa Petty Dr. Xue Lan Rong i © 2009 Nichole Lynnette Smith ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Nichole Lynnette Smith: A Study of Middle Grades Students’ Reading Interests, Habits, and Achievement (Under the direction of Dr. Barbara Day, Advisor) Reading has become an area of concern among the American culture in the past decade. The amount of time the American public spends reading is declining quickly, and its most frequent drop has been among its youngest readers, elementary school students (National Endowment for the Arts, 2004). McKool’s (2007) research has found that there is a “strong relationship between the amount of out-of-school reading a student engages in and his or her success in school” (p. 111). It has also been found that students’ academic levels do not remain the same with no growth, but their academic levels actually drop if they do not read in their free time (Hughes- Hassell & Lutz, 2006). The current literature focuses on younger students, especially those in elementary school. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential differences of what influences...

Words: 40141 - Pages: 161

Free Essay

African Art

...Nordic Journal of African Studies 14(3): 368–383 (2005) The Yorùbá Animal Metaphors: Analysis and Interpretation ADÉSOLÁ OLÁTÉJÚ University of Ibadan, Nigeria ABSTRACT The paper undertakes a study of animal metaphors in the Yorùbá language with a view to highlighting the stylistic and communicative potentials of these metaphors. To achieve the set objective, the animals – domestic and wild – involved in metaphors and their individual distinctive characteristic features that motivate their metaphorical interpretations are highlighted. The paper also discusses the sources of animal metaphors, which are said to be located in three areas, namely: the Yorùbá naming culture, animal characteristic habits and behaviour, and the Yorùbá poetry. In discussing the metaphorical processes involved in the interpretation of animal-related metaphors, a two-dimensional approach is adopted: stylistic and cultural. In the first, the semantic features of animals involved in metaphors are decomposed into semantic markers that are of two types. The first is the High Priority Semantic Markers (HPSM), which determine the cognitive/conceptual meaning of the metaphors, and the second is the Low Priority Semantic Markers (LPSM), which determine the secondary metaphorical interpretation. Animal metaphors involve transference of meanings, and whatever meanings or interpretations are assigned to a particular animal metaphor, are culture and context dependent. The paper concludes with stylistic and...

Words: 6152 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Research Proposal

...encouraging children to read for pleasure. The proposal explains the importance of such research within the introduction and then poses the research questions that will act as a guide for the researcher. It goes on to discuss literature found by the researcher that is relevant to this topic. The research will be a case study done using qualitative research. The methods and procedures will include participants from Rodman Elementary School along with a few instruments that will be needed for the collection of data. The analysis will seek to answer to research questions and the conclusion of this proposal will be a re=statement of the importance of the research. Introduction ​In a world consumed by technology it can be difficult to pull children’s attention away from devices such as television, computers, and video games and convince them to sit down with a good book. Yet, reading is the cornerstone of a successful education. Children who read often will develop a stronger vocabulary, have a greater depth of general knowledge, be more aware of cultural diversity, and even develop stronger social skills. The research proposed in this paper will explore the importance of reading for pleasure. It is probably fair to assume that the majority of people in our society will remember the alphabet song as being among the most memorable songs of their early years. This one fact alone says something about the importance that is put on literacy. Learning how to read will encompass the early years...

Words: 2444 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Book Discussion

...Course  Description   In  this  class,  we  will  learn  about  the  basic  conventions  and  terms  used  to  understand  and  discuss  the   three  major  genres  of  literature:  fiction,  poetry,  and  drama.  This  class  will  help  you  understand  the   sometimes  baffling  world  of  literature,  and  is  intended  to  provide  the  general  student  with  basic   experience  in  literary  analysis.  Additionally,  I  hope  this  class  will  lead  you  to  a  lifelong  appreciation  for   (and  engagement  with)  reading  literature.   Although  this  class  features  extensive  reading  and  writing,  it  is  not  necessary  for  you  to  be  a  bookworm   or  a  writing  superstar  to  succeed  in  this  class  –  if  you  are  willing  to  put  in  the  time  and  effort  to  study,   faithfully  attend  class,  keep  up  on  your  reading  and  writing  assignments  and  engage  in  our  discussions   and  activities,  you  should  have  no  trouble  thriving  in  this  course.     Learning...

Words: 4621 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

The Communication Process Notes

...The Communication Process - communication : the sharing of messages - intrapersonal communication within oneself - interpersonal direct sharing of experience between two people - group communication small group organizational - mass communication communication from one person of group of persons through a transmitting device (a medium or channel) to large, diverse audiences Mass Media Definitions - mass media are industries or businesses that create and distribute the following to large numbers of people: songs, novels, newspapers - MM are key institutions in society that affect our culture, buying habits, politics, etc - MM are profit-centered businesses making money is priority #1 concentration of ownership The media are good and bad - At their worst the median can erode out quality of life - at their best help us understand events and trends facilitate connections with others shape our identity - media literacy is crucial we can have a say in the role media play in our lives Media Convergence - convergence refers to the appearance of older media forms on the ewes media channels - convergence also refers to newspaper, broadcast, and internet outlets existing under one corporate roof Models of Mass Communication - linear model : sender -- message -- mass media channel -- (gate keepers) -- receivers media messages - cultural model: culture: the symbols of expression that people use to make sense...

Words: 1392 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

My Personality Traits

...Bannister and Ian Baker (Sheffield Hallam University) © University of Northumbria at Newcastle 2000 Published by: Assessment and the Expanded Text School of Humanities University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST Self-Assessment ISBN: 1-86135-080-5 Text editor: Rebecca Johnson Copy editor: Publications Office, University of Northumbria Designed and produced by the Department of External Relations DER: 2308HCB/6/00J Contents Project mission statement Introduction The nature and scope of the project i) The self-assessment sheet ii) Student guide to self-assessment iii) ‘Writing essays: A guide for literary studies students’ (sample) 5 7 8 10 13 23 Ways of using the materials i) How the self-assessment sheet can be used ii) Workshop using the self-assessment sheet 34 34 34 iii) How ‘Writing essays: A guide for literary studies students’ can be used 35 iv) Workshop using the essay guide 35 Impact on staff and students i) Student response to the self-assessment sheet ii) Student response to workshops using the materials iii) Staff response to the materials 37 37 37 37 Further references About the authors Acknowledgements Appendices i) Example of completed self-assessment sheet with essay 39 39 39 41 3 4 Project mission statement T he Assessment and the Expanded Text Consortium is a project directed by the English division at the University of Northumbria. It involves collaborating with colleagues who teach English...

Words: 13479 - Pages: 54

Free Essay

Syllabus

...Center for Undergraduate Studies, University of the Punjab          1  BS (4 Years) for Affiliated Colleges      Code  ENG‐101  Year  1  Subject Title  Introduction to Literature‐I (History of  English Literature‐I)  Discipline  English  Cr. Hrs  3  Semester  I  Aims: One of the objectives of this course is to inform the readers about the influence of historical and socio-cultural events upon the production of literature. Although the scope of the course is quite expansive, the readers shall focus on early 14th to 19th century Romantic Movement. Histories of literature written by some British literary historians will be consulted to form some socio-cultural and political cross connections. In its broader spectrum, the course covers a reference to the multiple factors from economic theories to religious, philosophical and metaphysical debates that overlap in these literary works of diverse nature and time periods under multiple contexts. The reading of literature in this way i.e. within the sociocultural context will help the readers become aware of the fact that literary works are basically a referential product of the practice that goes back to continuous interdisciplinary interaction. Contents: • Medieval Period • Renaissance and Reformation • Elizabethan Period • Milton, the Metaphysical, and the Cavalier Poets • The Age of Reason and Neo-Classicism • Restoration Drama • Augustan Satire • The Rise of the Novel • Romanticism Recommended Readings: 1. Long...

Words: 14375 - Pages: 58

Premium Essay

Inferiority of King George Vi as Seen on Film Entited "The King's Speech" by Om Hooper

...CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of The Study Every individual has problems in their life. The problem that appears is complex. Most of them related to human psychological condition. One of the basic problems of individual is feeling inferiority. This emerges as the result of psychological and social weakness. Inferiority feeling also arises for imperfection in doing something. Those feelings include subjective feeling, which is experienced by people because of their social disabilities. Thus, human beings try to compensate for their inferiority feeling by striving to overcome their feeling. Inferiority feeling influences human being life style. In other words, inferiority determines life style involving how people attempt to defeat their weakness. Commonly, individual applies their inferiority in social life. However, they tend to be motivated to overcome feeling of inferiority by building relationship with others to get their life’s goal. Sometimes, the goal of life will become difficult thing to be reached since there are many problems in human life. The problems in human life cannot be separated from thinking, feeling, and acting. Those are actually bringing up influence for the literary work. Therefore, literature closely related to psychology in human being including experiences facing the life. A work of literature is created not only to entertain but also to convey values and meanings to human life which can be discovered in the problem...

Words: 7691 - Pages: 31

Premium Essay

Prose Fiction

...Maximizing Learning Opportunities 3.2.3 Cross-curricular Planning 3.2.4 Building a Learning Community through Flexible Class Organization 3.3 Collaboration within the English Language Education KLA and Cross KLA Links 3.4 Time Allocation 3.5 Progression of Studies 3.6 Managing the Curriculum – Role of Curriculum Leaders Chapter 4 1 2 2 3 3 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 21 Learning and Teaching 4.1 Approaches to Learning and Teaching 4.1.1 Introductory Comments 4.1.2 Prose Fiction 4.1.3 Poetry i 21 21 23 32 SECOND DRAFT 4.1.4 Drama 4.1.5 Films 4.1.6 Literary Appreciation 4.1.7 Schools of Literary Criticism 4.2 Catering for Learner Diversity 4.3 Meaningful Homework 4.4 Role of Learners Chapter 5 41 45 52 69 71 72 73 74 Assessment 5.1 Guiding Principles 5.2 Internal Assessment 5.2.1 Formative Assessment 5.2.2 Summative Assessment 5.3 Public Assessment 5.3.1 Standards-referenced Assessment 5.3.2 Modes of Public Assessment 74 74 74 75 77 77 77 Quality Learning and Teaching Resources 104 6.1 Use of Set Texts 6.2 Use of Other Learning and Teaching Resources 104 108 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 109 Supporting Measures 7.1 Learning and Teaching Resource Materials 7.2 Professional Development 109 109 Appendix 1 Examples of Poetry Analysis 110 Appendix 2 Examples of...

Words: 41988 - Pages: 168

Premium Essay

Reading Habit in Children

...PUPILS’ PERCEPTION OF CABLE TELEVISION PROGRAMMES AS DETERMINANT OF READING HABITS AND ATTITUDES IN UNIVERSITY STAFF SCHOOLS IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA BY FLORENCE ADEOLA, OMOBA A proposal in the Department of ABADINA MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION * Background to the study * Statement of the problem * Objective of the study * Research questions and research hypothesis * Significance of the study * Scope of the study * Operational definition of terms REVIEW OF LITERATURE * Theoretical frame work * Empirical orientation * Reading habit * Reading attitude * Television * School libraries RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * Research design * Population and sampling technique * Research instrument * Validation and reliability of instruments * Data collection procedure * Data analysis REFERENCES APPENDIXES CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION John Walson, an appliance storeowner in a small town of Mahanoy, had difficulty selling television sets to local residents because reception in the area was poor. The problem seemed to be the location of the town in a valley and nearly 90 air miles from the Philadelphia television transmitters. Naturally, signals could not pass through mountains and clear reception was virtually impossible except on the ridges outside of town. It...

Words: 17770 - Pages: 72

Free Essay

Larkin and Plath

...Alita Fonseca Balbi “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 i “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry by Alita Fonseca Balbi Submitted to the Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras: Estudos Literários in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Mestre em Literaturas de Expressão Inglesa. Thesis Advisor: Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida, PhD Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my father, Tadeu, for always reminding me of the importance of having dreams and being true to them; for motivating me to be creative and to believe in my potential; and for teaching me to seek beauty and happiness in everything I see and do. To my mother, Socorro, for always making sure I enjoy all the possibilities that cross my path, and for reminding me that hard work is the only means to achieve my goals. To my brothers, Bruno and Diego, for being my best friends. To my sister-in-law, Sabrina, for embracing me as family and making me feel at home even when I’m not. To Paulo, for his company, for his love and care, and for all his witty remarks. To the professors of Letras, Julio Jeha, José dos Santos, Eliana Lourenço and Gláucia Renates, for being extraordinary professors, and for all the knowledge each...

Words: 44492 - Pages: 178

Free Essay

An Outline of English Literature

...literature itself rather than what has been written about literature. The second is to interpret literature both personally and historically, that is, to show how a great book generally reflects not only the author's life and thought but also the spirit of the age and the ideals of the nation's history. The third aim is to show, by a study of each successive period, how our literature has steadily developed from its first simple songs and stories to its present complexity in prose and poetry. To carry out these aims we have introduced the following features: (1) A brief, accurate summary of historical events and social conditions in each period, and a consideration of the ideals which stirred the whole nation, as in the days of Elizabeth, before they found expression in literature. (2) A study of the various literary epochs in turn, showing what each gained from the epoch preceding, and how each aided in the development of a national literature. (3) A readable biography of every important writer, showing how he lived and worked, how he met success or failure, how he influenced his age, and how his age influenced him. (4) A study and analysis of every author's best works, and of many of the books required for college-entrance examinations. (5)...

Words: 16972 - Pages: 68

Free Essay

Reading Competencies

...Reading Competencies of Grade 1 Pupils of Kids At Heaven Christian Academy by Almira B. Delos Reyes Master of Arts in Education Major in Educational Administration Abstract This study aimed to observed the development of the pupils in Kids At Heaven Christian Academy reading comprehension skills during this period. Four measurements were conducted during this period, and four tests were used as indicators. . 1. Introduction There is not an area in the school curriculum that does not demand an ability to read. Reading skills are an important tool that pupils need to become academically successful. Good readers are better students than poor readers in every subject area.Even when a pupil is studying practical or mathematical subjects he or she has to read instructions before starting to solve the task. When reading a text the goal is to understand its content. It is a process that exceeds decoding, and includes comprehension processes of the word, sentence, and text level. A child who does not learn to read and comprehend in the early school years has severe difficulties also in studying other school subjects. (Bowyer-Grane & Snowling 2005, 190; McGee & Johnson 2003, 49.) An important goal of literacy teaching is to awaken pupil’s interest in language and literature and also give them a lasting positive attitude towards reading. The aim is to support the development of pupil’s ability to read, interpret and use different texts. Each pupil should adopt...

Words: 3702 - Pages: 15