8. On reading and learning

A warmly lit book

On reading

Think about the context, setting, characters, plot, literary devices, and themes in a text or story. How do they connect?

For example, in a stage script, consider the setting. Is it a house, church, or a porch? If a porch, then what is the floor? A mat or parquet?

If parquet, what is the color and pattern like? Glossy cherry, angular and geometric? If so, then how do angularity and sharpness/discomfort tie into the entire stage play? Does this mean the dialogue will be consistent and patterned? Sharp in some manner?

For example, in a traditional short story, here are the main elements: setting, plot, characters, conflict, and theme. Consider the short story The Red Dress by Alice Munro. How do you connect the ideas above to the story?

Let’s consider the title, The Red Dress. From that, we know the color of the dress immediately. But what is the material and what is the style of the dress? Is the fabric delicate and expensive? What kinds of people wear it and for what occasions?

The material is velvet, which is a soft, nappy, fabric worn to make a high fashion statement. So how does the main symbolism of the red dress tie the whole story together? The narrator is the quintessential adolescent whose misconceptions of the world irrationally lead them to dress up in fancy gowns to “fit in” and impress?

On learning

You can use this knowledge to study any given topic too.

For example, look at math. There are five elementary topics in math, namely: arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, functions, and calculus. You can look at these five topics as the main contents, settings, or themes that make up mathematics.

Now, to learn a certain math topic, the point is to look at the big picture first (i.e. all the topics that you’d like to learn), and then divide the picture into subdivisions (or main themes). The rest of the information can be interpolated easily. That is, if you learn and master arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, functions, and calculus, you’re set for learning higher mathematics.

Let’s say you want to learn calculus. You can start by dividing calculus into subtopics. You can divide Calculus into differentiation, and integration. Then, once you’re done, you take each of the two areas and further divide it into sub main topics. For example, you can look at differentiation and integration for types of functions. Learning and mastering these subtopics will help you build a finite level of problem-solving ability that lets you solve many differentiation and integration problems.

You can use the idea of looking at the big picture beyond reading and learning. For example, you can use it to draft essays by planning out each paragraph ahead of time.

Conclusion

Looking at the big picture can help you read and learn anything.

Follow these steps and you’ll make faster progress.

The reference artwork