Its all in the eye of the Beholder

Tuesdays class began and ended like most, but there was a time in the middle where i could swear i was in a philosophy class. Other the being mildly entertaining, the philosophy lesson drove home a good point; context/situation. The so called "poem"/homework assignment we discussed showed just how much we as readers rely on context. Not only do we rely on context, we unknowingly give an authority figure superiority; represented by the second class not asking any questions about the "poem" but rather just immediately fitting meanings to the words. Additionally, let us not forget that readers draw on their own experiences and expertise to derive meaning from text.

Now i laid all that information out because the combination of them lends itself quite nicely to the notion that text cannot be defended once it leaves your hands. This an idea we discussed in the first few class meetings but it was embodied by the example from Tuesdays class. It was unique to see how people, as readers, draw their own, individual conclusions based on personal knowledge and perceived situational indicators.

Seeing how easily a written statement can be misinterpreted definitely made me think a little more about my own instructions.