Halfway Reflection on SOS
What has been most challenging thus far in your reading of Song of Solomon?
The most challenging aspects in reading Song of Solomon is the effect of being thrown into the narrative without much context, or being referenced to something vague that hasn’t been explained just yet. Another difficulty when reading the book is piecing together the relationships between the characters, but more specifically, the extent to how true/unbiased one character’s perception of another is. This is an important thing to keep in mind while reading the book, since we the readers have to distinguish between fact and fiction since the omniscient narrator won’t do it for us. Another challenging aspect when reading this book is grasping the environment of this time period, since our daily lives are much different than the lives lived by these characters in the 18th-19th century.
As with any challenging book, the first chapter one reads might be difficult to read, but after reading more chapters, the language of the book and its unique sentence structure becomes more familiar. This is the case with Song of Solomon. At first, understanding how to read and interpret the sentences in the way it’s presented was difficult, but now, five chapters in, the reading has become more familiar and easier to understand. It’s much easier to understand the book at this point, especially since the story of the different characters and references are being explained of its significance.
How have you addressed this challenge?
I’ve addressed the difficulties of reading Song of Solomon by re-reading confusing paragraphs, especially ones that include the vague references. After re-reading, I either paraphrase or try to analyze the symbolism/importance of the paragraph/reference when I can. It’s also important to keep an open-mind while reading these confusing chapters because the reference will ultimately be explained in some fashion before the end of the book. So, writing down questions and keeping track of them can be useful. With the complexity in understanding the relationships between different characters in the book, I try to annotate for what one character perceives of another, or their emotions between them at the time of conflict. And finally, I turn off my music that I usually have playing in the background and read in a more cold setting because it helps me stay more focused.
How have you addressed this challenge?
I’ve addressed the difficulties of reading Song of Solomon by re-reading confusing paragraphs, especially ones that include the vague references. After re-reading, I either paraphrase or try to analyze the symbolism/importance of the paragraph/reference when I can. It’s also important to keep an open-mind while reading these confusing chapters because the reference will ultimately be explained in some fashion before the end of the book. So, writing down questions and keeping track of them can be useful. With the complexity in understanding the relationships between different characters in the book, I try to annotate for what one character perceives of another, or their emotions between them at the time of conflict. And finally, I turn off my music that I usually have playing in the background and read in a more cold setting because it helps me stay more focused.
I agree that’s it’s crucial to keep an open mind while reading this book and to not get stuck on something you don’t understand, because it will probably be explained more later on in the novel. One strategy I also use is writing down questions that I have and then coming back to them after each chapter to see what answers I have learned. This helps me keep track of the confusing storyline and relationships in this book.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the "open mind:" comment -- so important!
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