Taking study further

Abstract

This book has given you a method to rely on when you start to study a literary text. I began at the point where every student faces a feeling of blankness: ‘I have read the text, now I am supposed to study it: how do I start?’ (see p. 1), and the book sets out to answer that question. The method I have explained takes you far beyond the initial feeling of blankness, but literature study is never ‘finished’, so there will always be more to discover, and new ways of looking at the text. As you study, the initial approach will become quick and easy, and your mind will naturally seek to explore further. The following discussions indicate three ways in which growing experience and your own mind will push you to take your study further.