{"id":65,"date":"2008-02-11T16:34:54","date_gmt":"2008-02-11T21:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/02\/11\/65\/"},"modified":"2008-02-11T16:36:53","modified_gmt":"2008-02-11T21:36:53","slug":"65","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/02\/11\/65\/","title":{"rendered":"Define “Meaning”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frankly, I find the discussion about meaning tiresome. It\u2019s obvious to me that meaning comes both from the author and the reader. Can\u2019t we accept that and move on? (And as Crosman points out, we naturally feel our opinions are the right ones. So, I\u2019m right. Let\u2019s move on. Hmm\u2026 Actually, I am rarely confident that my opinion is correct. Even when I am <\/em>right, it\u2019s quiet natural for me to doubt myself. \u2014 Wait, am I contradicting myself? What\u2019s my point? Where am I going?)<\/p>\n

While I\u2019d like to dismiss the debate with the conclusion that meaning is generated both by the author and the reader, Crosman has added some depth and breadth to my understanding of the issue. Perhaps most strikingly by showing how rarely I carry what I know to be true of the writing process over to the reading process. While I tend to start writing with no idea where I am going, with no solid or brilliant meaning to convey, I seem to go into reading believing that this is what authors do: they write with fixed meaning. But as Crosman points out, writers actually tend to make their meaning not only as they go along (developing their ideas) but as they read<\/em> what they have written. They interpret what they\u2019ve written and rewrite\/continue to write accordingly. Certainly most recorded reflections on what they\u2019ve written usually comes in their own re-reading\/interpretation of their text. This in itself can be flawed, as not only are our memories faulty, but writing often taps the subconscious in ways the writer may not be fully aware of. For example, a critic in a writer\u2019s workshop may point out a meaning the writer had not considered, and the writer may say, \u201cBrilliant, yes, that\u2019s a huge issue in my life. I hadn\u2019t even realized it, but subconsciously, the meaning was there.\u201d While I had thought of the author\u2019s intended meaning as the most objective meaning to pursue, Crosman points out just how equivocal even that meaning may be.<\/p>\n

And the question: What do we mean, by \u201cmeaning.\u201d I love the question. Asking people to define a word they use is one of my favorite conversational tendencies. If someone asks if I want coffee, it\u2019s very conceivable that my response will be a slow and cautious: \u201cDefine coffee.\u201d Do they mean drive through McDonalds? The sludge that\u2019s been sitting on the burner in the cafeteria for three hours? An hour in the cafeteria going over some work-related issue? A couple hours at Starbucks chatting about life? A casual, easy-to-propose date? Or \u2026 do they want me to interpret it and lead the way, leaving me in control of what, exactly, I am saying \u201cYes,\u201d to.<\/p>\n

So often we think we know what someone means, when we have no idea. As discussed last week, our interpretive mechanisms are very biased.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the complexity of meaning seems to be the most helpful thing we can do for students. Crosman points out three ways we tend to use the word when discussing the \u201cmeaning\u201d of a text: the author\u2019s intent, the reader\u2019s understanding, and the value. Considering our previous readings on starting with what the student knows, validating their understanding of the text (what they see in it and can connect with) as a legitimate meaning, and then adding to that with the meaning we think was intended by the author (building their connections to historical and other contexts), and then discussing the value\/weight of the text (adding significance to these connections) seems like a good way to help students to progress along the stages between novice and expert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frankly, I find the discussion about meaning tiresome. It\u2019s obvious to me that meaning comes both from the author and the reader. Can\u2019t we accept that and move on? (And as Crosman points out, we naturally feel our opinions are the right ones. So, I\u2019m right. Let\u2019s move on. Hmm\u2026 Actually, I am rarely confident […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samplereality.com\/gmu\/spring2008\/610\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}