The first time that I read a piece of literature I tend to skim through it, not really paying any specific detail to the little things that I should. I like to begin by reading something simply as it is, rather than picking it apart piece by piece and "decoding" what it really is trying to tell me. Throughout this class we are taught how to really get into a story or poem, and how to make it work for us. This advice will be very helpful for us in the long run, but I don't necessarily think that this is always the best idea.

Literature is meant to be enjoyed. But what is really enjoyable about stretching something so thin the the point of not being able to recognize it? I came across the problem when I was researching and decoding my poem that I presented to the class. I read the Poem Shall I compare thee to a summers day? by Shakespeare. This poem was something that I instantly enjoyed, but the more I tried to look deeper into it, the more I disliked it. I wondered, is there a point of reading so much into a piece of literature that it is no longer enjoyable to you, and that it no longer makes much sense? These questions really make me think about how much one should read into poetry. Take the story of Little Red Riding Hood for instance. This is a normal kids story that is meant for enjoyment and a life lesson at the end. But after we picked through it so much, I'm not so sure it is something I will be able to enjoy again.

I remember my psychology class in high school got on a discussion about Winnie the Pooh one day and I was shocked at what I had heard. My teacher was telling me how some of his friends really started to analyze this show and make it into something that it is not. He went on to say how all of the characters really had something wrong withe them. Eore was depressed, Tigger was ADHD, The kangaroo had an attachment disorder from her baby, Christopher (the child who has the stuffed animals) is suffering from disillusions, and Winnie had an obsessive compulsive disorder that made him eat all of the time. I found this funny at first, then I thought about it and realized that it was kind of sad. This is a show meant to entertain children, and a group of adults decide that they will watch it and analyze every aspect of it so that it makes parents second guess showing their children them? I realize that this is going to happen no matter what, there just seems to be a line that was crossed when it comes to this scenario.

I realize that everyone is going to have their own interpretation of these shows, and it is up to each person how much they want to rely on other people's views in relation to their own. This does not change how I feel about Winnie the Pooh or literature in general, but it really makes me think twice before I take someones word. In this case I think that being your own person and making your own decisions is the best option one has.