One reason Jacqueline Woodson mentions for reading is to respect the narrative of an author. She explains that it’s normal to read in school; however, the difference between reading in school and at home is the amount of time devoted to providing that respect for the author that spends months or years writing a piece of their life. Woodson describes this as a “fictive dream”, where the author is inviting the reader into a world they created. In the case of The Selfish Giant every time she reads it, she realizes a different aspect that she didn’t previously learn even if she is reading it slowly with her finger following the words.
This aspect of rereading books and taking time to carefully read has been a motivation for me to read books. At first, I thought that it would be repetitive to reread the same plot about the same characters; however, I realize because of how our education system is formatted, reading done in school is often rushed. ANd the main goal is to read higher- level works and pick up the theme/ plot as soon as possible. This means certain small details are skipped or classified as unimportant. Just rereading the work not only allows those details to be rediscovered but offers respect to the author who spent time including those details. Additionally, as people grow older, our perspective changes, and rereading a book may change or even further develop those original ideas about a specific work.
I rewatched the Trevor Noah video and something that stood out to me was the way he questioned society. He explains how every one part of society lives under a social contract and follows those rules. While, my opinions haven’t changed about how society runs under a social contract, and how once one breaks the rule, they no longer have the rights as a citizen. However, the video brought up the idea of how these social contracts are enforced by the elites, who only make up the top couple percent of the population. So why should the rest of society be obligated to follow the rules of social contracts that are in their favor? Especially when the protection the contract offers only protects those who are white and straight.
I think it’s very interesting that you point out the change in perspective as people age. I had never really taken that into consideration nor as a motivating factor to reread texts. Like you, I always thought that it would be repetitive to read something that I already know the plot and ending to, however I now realize that knowing is not enough. By really putting the time into appreciating the author’s work, I can look beyond what is said on the page, and really try to understand what the author is trying to show.
I also agree that in many cases, when you reread a piece of literature, you notice things that you didn’t previously. While I am guilty of usually reading a book once and moving on, it is important to recognize that the more you read a piece of literature, the more you get out of it. I liked your point about how when reading in school we were taught to focus on the main ideas of the book instead of noticing small details. By going back and rereading these books without rushing, it allows us to learn about the small details that may be foreshadowing or lead up to a main event. Well done!