Glossary of Terms

To analyze something is to examine it closely to better understand it. When applied to literature, this simply means reading carefully to find out what the author is trying to say. The trouble is, “reading carefully” is easier said than done, especially before we have much experience with great literature.

Here’s where “analysis” comes in. Honest analysis is simply recognizing the structural elements that make up any story (things like exposition, rising action, climax, denouement, and conclusion) and observing how authors weave them together to emphasize their main ideas. The process can dramatically deepen our understanding of a book, which goes a long way to helping us enjoy it! After all, as poet Marianne Moore wrote, “we do not admire what we cannot understand.” Though we may never gain an exhaustive understanding of a book, careful attention helps us experience, enjoy, and be moved by an author’s literary art.

There is danger in refusing to understand an author on his own terms: we may speak over the author and come away touting our own opinions instead of engaging with theirs. As C.S. Lewis remarks in An Experiment in Criticism, in cases like this, we retard the expansive opportunity of literature; “thus increasingly we meet only ourselves.” In the same way that paying close attention to a neighbor during a friendly conversation requires effort by the listener, reading carefully to understand an author requires concentration and patience. In truth, literary analysis is neither impersonal, technical, nor complicated, but it can be demanding! The rewards, however, are well worth the effort.

The CenterForLit logo features a pelican on the nest, feeding her chicks and shielding them with her outstretched wings.

In the Middle Ages, the pelican was thought to nourish her young in times of famine by plucking the feathers from her breast and feeding her starving chicks with her own heart’s blood. The pelican thus became a popular symbol to medieval Christians of the grace of God in Christ, whose sacrifice provides nourishment and protection for His people.

We also think it’s a pretty good symbol of the sacrifice, love and nourishment that homeschool parents provide their children on a daily basis. Though the image can be seen on stained glass windows and coats of arms throughout Christian Europe, we find a literary occurrence in Dante’s Divine Comedy, where the poet speaks of Jesus as “our Pelican.” (Paradiso, Canto XXV.113)

The image of the Dante’s pelican beautifully combines three ideas which lay at the heart of CenterForLit’s identity: Our love for all things literary, our commitment to the work of homeschool parents, and our utter dependence on the free grace of God.

If this image resonates in your mind and heart, you might be a Pelican, too! Join our family of lit lovers and find encouragement in your noble work.

The term “Socratic Method” can be intimidating to new teachers. After all, the philosopher who gave his name to this technique is supposed to have been one of the smartest men who ever lived. Does that mean that teachers who use his method have to be just as smart?

Thankfully, no! At Center For Lit, we use the term “Socratic Method” in a broad, non-technical sense to refer to the art of teaching by asking questions. It simply means that the teacher doesn’t stand up in front of the class and lecture while students take notes; instead, he or she sits beside them and asks questions of the material right along with them.

This approach has a couple of powerful benefits. First of all, it relieves teachers of the need to be experts in every subject they encounter. Socratic teachers profess ignorance, rather than expertise, as their starting point. We find that this is a much more convenient place to begin, if we’re telling the truth. Socratic teaching can take tremendous pressure off the shoulders of parents who are often pulled in many directions by the demands of a busy life.

Secondly, the Socratic method allows teachers to multiply their efforts because it teaches students how to learn, rather than simply what to think. By asking the right questions of a work of literature, Socratic teachers model this style of inquiry, teaching their students to do the same on their own. Where a lecture can transfer information from one brain to another, Socratic teaching can pass on a method of learning, allowing students to teach themselves even after the class is over.