THURSDAY,SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2012

MEANING, MESSAGE &INTERPRETATION

WARM UPAnswer the following questions in a few sentences….1. Where do you think your values or beliefs come

from? 2. Why do you think the way that you think? 3. Why do you think you came up with the

interpretation that you did?

WARM UP, PART IMake a list of everything that comes to your mind when you think of the following words:

• Professor• Construction worker• Angel• Secretary • Banker

WARM UP, PART IITake a minute now to choose two of your lists.Think about where your ideas come from. (Experience? Images you have seen? Where?)

What assumptions in your thinking are noticeable in your lists?

WARM UP PART IIIAnswer the following questions in a few sentences….1. Where do you think your values or

beliefs come from? 2. What kinds of forces have an

influence over the way you think?

SOURCE (NOUN)• a place, person, or thing from which something comes or can

be obtained: mackerel is a good source of fish oil• a person who provides information: military sources

announced a reduction in strategic nuclear weapons• [Academic] a book or document used to provide evidence in

research. -Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, 2012. Web.

Edward Gorey and S.Y. Agnon were sources for our interpretations this week: we tried to obtain meaning from them, they provided information for us, and they were where we went to find evidence for our theories.

As you write this essay, think about your own, personal “sources” that led to your interpretation. What are some “sources” for your interpretation? What “sources” (books, readings, stories, movies, etc.) did you draw on in interpreting Gorey and Agnon?

ALL TOGETHER, NOW…“At sunset they entered a tunnel in the Iron Hills and did not come out the other end.”

Step 1: Ask “WHAT” questions of the quote:What does the ‘sunset’ part of the setting indicate to me?What does the ‘tunnel’ part of the setting indicate to me?What does the name ‘Iron Hills’ make me think of?What do I think of when I hear ‘did not come out the other end’?

ALL TOGETHER NOW…“At sunset they entered a tunnel in the Iron Hills and did not come out the other end.”

Step 2: Ask “WHY” questions of the quote:Why did I respond to the ‘sunset’ in that manner?Why might I have reacted to the ‘tunnel’ that way?Why on earth does the name ‘Iron Hills’ make me think of ___________?Why might I have gone in that direction with ‘did not come out the other end’ instead of another direction?

ALL TOGETHER NOW…“At sunset they entered a tunnel in the Iron Hills

and did not come out the other end.”

Step 3: Ask “HOW/WHY” questions of your interpretation.Are there “sources” behind my reactions? Movies, images, stories, experiences that are affecting me?What can this tell us about how you interpret things? About how most people interpret things? About the process of interpretation in general?