Not getting into text - advice?

[JG97]

Hello everyone.
I'm entering Year 12 this year, and I have a bit of a dilemma concerning English.

I started reading the texts (or most of them) over this holiday. The two main books we're studying in my English class are Stasiland and Cloudstreet.

While I enjoyed Stasiland, I am finding it pretty difficult to get into Cloudstreet. I'm a sensitive person, so at the moment I'm taking a break from the novel because I'm finding some of the themes a bit confronting and depressing.

Anyway, my main question is this: What do you do when you are finding it a challenge to enjoy the text? Branching off from that, I want to ask: Should I be focusing on other things rather than the content?

Thanks in advance! 

[ST0123]

Hi JG97,
It can be hard to keep reading a novel you find confronting and depressing so perhaps it may be good either to break it up into smaller sections (if it's too traumatic) or try and plough through it all in one go (if you don't want to drag it out). Although it may be hard to read the novel, having a reaction to it is good, as it becomes part of your interpretation. Ask yourself why specific themes in the book confronting or depressing - is it how they are addressed? - and why the author may have written it thus. Another way I like to get through difficult books is to focus on a section of the plot line that catches my interest and see how that (and also the rest of the book) develops.

If this is your first read - I think focusing on content is enough as it's important to know what happens. Some questions you can have in the back of your mind are however, how do the characters develop in the novel? what are reoccurring themes and how do they contribute to the novel? And keep a note of your first reactions/ feelings (as I mentioned above)

Hope that helps and good luck!
ST0123

[JG97]

Hi JG97,
It can be hard to keep reading a novel you find confronting and depressing so perhaps it may be good either to break it up into smaller sections (if it's too traumatic) or try and plough through it all in one go (if you don't want to drag it out). Although it may be hard to read the novel, having a reaction to it is good, as it becomes part of your interpretation. Ask yourself why specific themes in the book confronting or depressing - is it how they are addressed? - and why the author may have written it thus. Another way I like to get through difficult books is to focus on a section of the plot line that catches my interest and see how that (and also the rest of the book) develops.

If this is your first read - I think focusing on content is enough as it's important to know what happens. Some questions you can have in the back of your mind are however, how do the characters develop in the novel? what are reoccurring themes and how do they contribute to the novel? And keep a note of your first reactions/ feelings (as I mentioned above)

Hope that helps and good luck!
ST0123

Thank you ST0123 - I think the main reason was because it was pretty explicitly dealing with darker themes like anorexia and the like. It's also because it's not the sort of thing I usually read. I usually like to read comedic books or biographies, so it's a radical departure. I suppose it does, though, give me an understanding of Western Australia as a place, colourful and vibrant on its own.

Yes, this is my first read of the novel. I am taking it a bit slowly and put it down when I was particularly emotionally affected by some sections. I'd better finish it soon though, as I don't have long to go with my holidays.

Thanks again. Your advice is solid.
-JG97

[KEAEducation]

Most texts that are chosen are indeed chosen because of the heavy content in them.
'Every Man in this Village is a Liar', for example, is rife with imagery filled with conflict, death and the self-inflicted horrors of mankind. It was hard to get through.

Conversely, "Death of a Salesman" nearly brought me to tears as the protagonist suffers with mental illness and suicide.

In a nutshell, many of these texts are chosen by VCAA to provoke these type of responses. And the best way to go about it is to channel those emotions and those feelings towards your opinions of the text.
Ask yourself, why is this moving me?
Why does the text have such an effect on me?
Why am I finding it hard to read through this particular sequence?

These questions will lead to answers that will undoubtedly deepen your understanding of the text.

I always say to my students that one of the most important things in text response is to develop an opinion on the text of study. With an opinion you can express a voice and through that voice, the strength of your writing will by augmented by passion and will therefore have a greater impact on the examiner/teacher reading it. So my advice to you and to any others struggling through their text for the reasons cited in the original post is to use that emotion to hone your stance towards the book into one that is individualised, perceptive and responsive to the themes presented.