Aaron Rosales

Professor Lago
Experiences in Literature
3 February 2014
Internet and Literature
Reading is an essential tool for lifetime learning. It is one of the most important activities
through which we can develop our mind and discover endless possibilities. However, due to
numerous technological developments, reading habits are rapidly shifting. Today, we have the
Internet, the worlds largest and most accessible database. Since its birth, the Internet has opened
up an expansive world of communication and learning, continually evolving to this very day.
With its bountiful resources, one of the prime ways in which the Internet has influenced us is in
the way we read and understand literature; through the ease of research on the texts background,
the definitions of words and phrases, and through the collaborative sharing of multiple
interpretations of a text by other individuals.
First, researching the background of the text helps the reader put himself or herself in the
perspective of the author. Knowing the texts background provides basic knowledge needed for
better understanding and interpreting the story and its overall meaning. Consider the following
line from the poem Where Children Live by Naomi Shihab Nye wherein Nye refers to the
living styles of adults compared to children: No lost shoes blooming under bushes. No chipped
trucks in the drive (8-9). These lines relate to the differing lifestyles of adults and children; the
former prefers an organized and neat living space whereas the latter has no such interest and
leaves their living space scattered and messy. The speaker doesnt necessarily consider
messiness being a negative aspect because children like to leave their belongings that way.
Knowing even a tiny bit of information about the poem can help the reader understand about
what is being portrayed. What if the reader has a question such as why would there be a shoe
under the bush? On many occasions, even a simple question cannot be answered from the text
of the poem alone because some poems are not quite understood until research into the poems
background is done. Another particularly interesting excerpt by Nye describes how children
automatically see happiness and adventure with everything: Ants have more hope (15).
Understanding and being familiar with what a child and adult is like helped me understand what
the poem meant. For example, children are more likely to use the internet for leisure unlike
adults who will most likely use it just to check emails. The internet has helped me become
familiar with how adults and children generally act different.
Secondly, researching the definitions and phrases of a literary work makes it easier for
the reader to fully understand what certain parts of the literary work means. The poem Daddy
by Sylvia Plath exemplifies this, as full understanding the poem may require research on World
War IIs history. Especially concerning its many references to World War II. The poem isnt
easy but not too difficult to comprehend. However, there are many words and phrases that are
hard to interpret without some knowledge of the context. For instance, in the poem of Daddy
by Sylvia Plath, the speaker describes how the model is similar to her dad: I made a model of
you, a man in black with a Meinkampf look (65). Meinkampf may not be instantly
recognizable to most readers, so a quick search on the internet reveals that Meinkampf was an
autobiography written by Adolf Hitler; the tittles translation in English is My Struggle. The
autobiography gives the context and background of Hitlers aggressiveness in his rise to power to
the above quote, being used as a metaphor for the speakers father, the subject of the poem.
Another line from the poem Daddy also describes how the speakers father is like:
And your neat mustache and your Aryan eye, bright blue. Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You
(43-45). With the use of internet, we find that Aryan is a term that referred to Hitlers perfect
race of blond and blue- eyed people who were seen as superior to Jews. Then, line 45 refers to
German tank drivers that were cruel and harsh. Its another image of the speakers father
continue to describe him as scary and terrible. Certainly, not all readers are knowledgeable about
German references, thus making interpretations of the poem hard without the use of internet.
Before the internet, research was conducted by going to the library and taking out books and
looking information up. Today, that information is accessible with one click of a mouse. Putting
a single keyword in a search engine and come up with thousands of pages with more than
enough information. In todays society, internet is a great resource that anyone can use to fully
understand and comprehend literary works.
Thirdly, we can find numerous and variety of analysis of a text by others by using the
internet. Having multiple interpretations is advantageous because it provides the reader
knowledge of what the text actually means. Evidently, the reader can use those interpretations to
come up with new ones or similar to that. For instance, in the poem Where Children Live by
Naomi Shihab Nye, the speaker says, Homes where children live exude a pleasant rumpledness,
like a bed made by a child, or a yard littered with balloons (1-2). Some interpret the line as a
reference to the playful nature of children. On the other hand, others say that its just describing
how the house is always filthy because of children leaving their toys everywhere. Having access
to multiple, different interpretations allow for a comprehensive understanding of the literary
work and at the same time, extrapolate a variety of ideas from another persons word.
Therefore, the internet, with its tremendous potential and offer in terms of information, has
influenced how people read and understand literature. Knowing a little knowledge about a
literary work makes it easier for reader to comprehend what is being described and help put
himself or herself on someone elses shoes. Then, being able to research definitions and phrases
of a literary work helps the reader to completely understand every part of the entire context. At
times, in order for someone to understand a literary work, they have to be familiar with the
meaning of the words or what its referring too. Also, being able to see or hear other peoples
perspective makes it less difficult to come up with a new interpretation about what the text is
about. Overall, the internet has come to a new level where it is changing almost everything
especially the way people now read and interpret a text.











Works Cited
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Daddy Summary." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov.
2008. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
":: Adventures in Daily Living :: : Friday Poetry Where Children Live by Naomi Shihab Nye."::
Adventures in Daily Living :: : Friday Poetry Where Children Live by Naomi Shihab Nye. N.p., n.d. Web. 03
Feb. 2014.