Where to begin...

In the curriculum here they divide the mothertongue into two categories: "Text anolysis" and "Essay Writing". They are vastly different from each other but can sometimes cross too. The former at its simplest form is basically read the text (novels, excerpts, poems etc.) and anolyse it, most notably find the themes and describe the structure and so on. Symbolism sometimes crops up, sometimes not. But you can bet your behind it will if your reading a poem. But it doesn't necessarily end at literature and is expanded to images and movies, which you'll watch and then two hours later after the end you're still trying to remember what happens in that one scene that is so important to the plot but it's so intense you forget to make notes and thus fail to find the sacred message of the movie.

But usually it's just anolysing excerpts from novels that is bearable if you haven't taken the results from the class exam of the first, basic class as an order of execution. (They were brutal on everyone) Get past that and the "one and only" technique is burnt into your retina: Read the question and stick to it, read the text, read it again, repeat step one and read the text one more time, underline every other sentence until it looks like a finished crossword puzzle, read it once more, divide the paragraphs into important and unimportant sections and give a "reason" why for the former, read the underlined sentences in those sections and underline the most important ones (in your opinion, of course), jot them down on a seperate piece of paper, attempt to "connect the dots", hastily write a preview, repeat step one, read through the preview and make the necessary edits, pray you'll reach a reasonable page count, repeat step one, proofread then edit, repeat step one and proofread ad nauseam, move on to the next and pray they'll show mercy on you. Rinse and repeat.

The first step must be emphasized to ridiculous proportions. Seriously. The same technique goes for movies and images, except in the former you replace the text with the notes you took during it (you did that, right?) and in the latter you had better have a basic art class on your back before even attempting. A very useful tip is to crawl through TvTropes before starting to read/watch/anolyse to get the most common ones memorized and use them to your advantage.

Thankfully there haven't been too many book assignments as we have been focusing mostly on the technique and writing, but when it does come you better have a notebook or Post-It notes nearby. Most of the time you'll have little choice in what kind of book you'll get to read. The most generous they've been is letting you choose within a certain theme that wrecks any hope of actually reading a book you're interested in.

Essay writing in comparison is a godsend. You get a list of topics, some of which have material enclosed, and you are to write an essay about it. The structure depends on the topic and is sometimes mentioned in the list. It can be an article, an argument, a letter-to-the-editor or a speech. Hell, it can be a free-standing essay and it's your job to lure the reader in and send your message to them. Creativity and knowledge pay off here as do a large, versatile and intricate vocabulary (used correctly) and a solid writing style. But most importantly, to get your point across. Be mindful of the reader (which takes effort to grasp, sometimes, being the science guy I am).

In regards to the OP, I personally prefer to read for pleasure rather than let http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife. Because that's what it boils down to in the end: different tropes applied to the situation. It doesn't help that they're forcing you to read books you have no interest in. Recently, the only books interesting me are those that relate to videogames so I can sate my undying hunger for lore. I'm still reading through the Halo novels and plan on getting Lord of Souls since they attract my attention and draw me in, whereas the more standard crap put out these days fail miserably and I'm left knowing only a few authors due to this. I don't hate reading or anything since I read quite a lot, from news to forums to in-game books. They're just not the 500-page literature. Maybe it's my science and videogame background. Or maybe I'm just having a very bad luck with Sturgeon's Law.

No matter anyways, I survived the cage with a numerical score of 9/10 in my mothertongue and I'm now free to read things that actually aren't crap while calling out the tropes in TvTrope fashion. And I'm damn proud of it.

Lemme tell ya, the only times I did enjoy anolyzing a book was when I was taking a Greek Mythology course, and the teacher would run through mythological themes and explain the history of it. I picked it up from her, and reading the Odyssey, Illiad, Metamorphoses, etc is a much grander feel when you know the mythic mumbo jumbo. Makes the ride much more emotional when you know the background, and can also apply it to comic books

The other came from reading central and eastern classic european literature. While I often hated the stories, it felt very fun to pick apart why each and every other was soooo completely pretentious in depressing or sixual themes. Sometimes I got a good laugh, like after reading a book about how a nose is actually metaphorically a part of the male anatomy or Freudian themes in literature, others I had heated arguments with other students on why they're just trying to sound smarter than they're really being, and so on.

And then there's books I read for the shear entertainment, often involving guns, spies, pirates, and/or ass kicking ex-SEAL adventurers

Also, it makes reading TVTropes even more entertaining than possible.

When you put it like that, of course it sounds like no fun. But why think of the anolytical interpretation stuff as taking away from one's enjoyment of the book? I've always thought of interpreting literature as something that makes a positive contribution to one's enjoyment of it.

I'm having English Lit+Lang classes right now. I got all A* in my coursework (which as well as creative also included stuff like replying to a review of our choise) while I'm doing well if I get a C- in anolysis. The only concepts I'm learning is that if someone just replies to "I don't understand" with repeating the same thing, just yelling it at you the best idea is just to thank them in the most sarcastic way possible and move on.

Also I loved The Great Gatsby until I had to anolyse it. I don't mind doing a bit of casual anolysis while reading a book, but when it becomes schoolwork the book becomes a chore


Quick recomondation, Iain M. Banks