“Mom, could you please take me to the craft store? I want to make a gift for my friend’s birthday.”

Remember the simple question: “what does it mean?” In this case, the message is clear. My daughter wants to make a gift for her friend and she needs supplies. Since she is not driving yet, I am the chauffeur, and she needs my help. A cheerful countenance, bright eyes, and petitioning hands all tell me that she is (1) excited to surprise her friend with an unexpected, homemade present and (2) hopeful that I will assist.

The challenge of understanding texts is more difficult than understanding face-to-face conversations, live action, or recorded action. In face-to-face conversations, we are able to take the actual words that are being spoken and factor in the facial expressions, vocal modulations, and body language to accurately determine meaning. Live speeches, movies, and documentaries all allow the spectator to watch the speaker as if they were talking in person. Recorded audio lectures are a bit more difficult to interpret because the listener cannot see the speaker; however, the speaker’s intent can be generally gauged from the rising or falling voice, the pauses, the speed of delivery, the repetition of key phrases, and the emphasis on certain points. Although sometimes other issues are simmering under the surface, most parents sitting across the breakfast table from their children will be able to accurately interpret the speaking child’s requests and concerns.

The Message is More than Information

In some respects, reading texts is like all other forms of communication. There is an addresser, a message, and an addressee. In both oral and written communication, the addresser assumes that he will be understood. The message is more than information. The addresser has presumably structured the message to achieve a certain goal: influencing the addressee to respond in some manner.

In the scenario with my daughter, she wanted me to make time during the daily to take her to the store. She wanted to influence me. The Lord of the Rings movies are not just entertainment; the producer structured the message so that the ring reminds me of my own temptations. He wanted to influence me. The professor who delivers the mp3 lecture on “American Political Thought” is not just passing on facts; he communicates his interpretation of facts and either persuades me to adopt or reject his position. He might even convict me to find a few books at the library for further understanding of the issues. He wanted to influence me.

Ambiguities Get in the Way

So, too, the author of a text, whether as antiquated as the Dead Sea Scrolls or as recent as yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, wanted to communicate in such as way that his message was understood. He called his reader to action. He influenced. But the problem with written communication is that we can’t stop the conversation and ask for clarification. If there were several craft stores in my town, and my daughter didn’t specify which one she wanted to go to, I could interrupt the dialogue to ask her whether she meant Joann Fabrics, Michael’s Crafts, or Hobby Lobby. I cannot interrupt a written conversation to clarify ambiguities. I can’t say, “You’ve got to be kidding!?” or “I just don’t get it…what are you talking about?”

Time Gets in the Way

Another issue that makes interpreting texts more difficult than interpreting face-to-face conversations is the problem of time. In almost every case of literary communication, the sender (addresser) is distant in space and time from the receiver (the addressee). I might be able to leave a question or comment on the Wall Street Journal blog and receive timely feedback, but I certainly cannot write the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls to clarify a misunderstanding. Does the text stand alone, or do I have other means of interpreting what the author meant? I do have other options for understanding. These three methods for interpreting textual meaning will help me answer the simple question, “what does it mean?”

Get Behind the Text

The primary question of this interpretation method is “what did the author mean then?” The text itself is not the focus…the text is a window into the intention of the author and into the historical events at the time. Behind-the-text readings generally ask questions like:

• What did the author intend to accomplish by writing this text?
• Did the events in the book really happen?
• What did those events mean historically?

Get in the Text

“What does the text actually say?” is the primary question of this method of interpretation. Unconcerned with historical events or concerned about errors that might arise from trying to figure out the author’s intent back then, this approach takes more of a literary view of the text. The text is viewed as a cultural artifact. In-the-text questions include:

• What did the author say?
• Do the literary tools that the author used support his point?
• What is the effect of the author’s message on me today?

Get in Front of the Text

Finally, a reader can get “in front of” the text to determine meaning. In this method, the reader is not focused on the intent of the author or the impact on the particular reader, but the one who uses this method looks at the variations in interpretations. He recognizes that every reader can potentially interpret the text differently simply because readers are situated in different cultures and different times. Under this method, the Gentiles in 3rd Century A.D. Corinth might interpret chapters 15-17 of the Gospel of John quite differently than the readers of evangelical 21st Century America. The content alone is not important. People in different cultures bring different presuppositions to the text which impacts how they answer the simple question, “what does it mean?” Questions of this method might be:

• What did medieval knights on Crusade think this text meant?
• What was the culture like during the Crusades in Europe?
• What presuppositions do Christian knights bring to the text?

All Three Methods are Viable

Each of these methods has validity. You can combine the methods, or use one method for a particular text and another for a different text. My personal preference is to get behind the text because I enjoy history, but I could get behind-the-text to examine ancient Greece as it impacted Homer’s Odyssey as well as front-of-the-text to try to understand how my Western Civilization forbears like the Puritans understood Homer’s Odyssey. The choice is yours. Allow your homeschool teens to experiment by trying each of the methods in interpreting the texts that they read. Just make sure that you are also involved in discussing their understanding and offering possible counterpoints as you help them discover the not-so-simple answers to the simple question, “what does it mean?“

* * * * *

In my next post, we’ll talk about training our children for influence.

Tags: communication, homeschool, interpret, interpretation, lectures, speeches, understanding conversations, understanding texts

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at four unusual qualities that we hope to foster in our children, especially those older kids who have substantially mastered the three skills of the trivium and are ready to advance towards supervised independent study of subjects. What four qualities are we cultivating? We want our rising classical scholars to:

• Master the material

• Exhibit self-discipline

• Interpret meaning

• Influence culture

Insightful interpretation comes after a full knowledge and understanding of the topic is mastered. You cannot effectively interpret the facts if you no nothing about the underlying causes. The maestro who can bring a musical score to life or the Indy Car driver who can observe the signs of an engine problem have both learned how to interpret meaning because they have exercised self-discipline to become masters of their material. Your children have been observing and accumulating knowledge for years. Now it’s time to interpret the knowledge.

The Simple Question

How can you explain the concept of interpretation to your teens? Some people use the word interpretation as a synonym for translation as in determining the original intent of a foreign language text or conversation. Others use the word interpretation to describe the process of personalizing a dramatic script for public performance. For classical Christian homeschool students and parents, interpretation boils down to one simple question.

What does it mean?

“It” can be an idea, a spoken word, or a deed. The question is the same whether you are reading a text, listening to a conversation, or watching live and recorded action. What is the meaning of this chapter, this lecture, or this documentary?

To interpret is to understand the central message, themes, or truths

Knowing facts is not enough for our kids. Train them to ask the simple question (”what does it mean?”) by consistently asking them to tell you what “it” means as you supervise their work.

The Not-So-Simple Answer

You have enough life experience to know that asking a simple question does not always result in receiving a simple answer. Such is the case with interpretation. The answer is not always clear, nor is the answer always quickly obtained. Sometimes it takes a lot of pondering, exploring, dissecting, and reassembling to figure out the meaning of an idea, word, or deed. Often, especially in the case of the classics, the definitive meaning changes or deepens as each new generation reads and interprets the text while bringing their own perspectives to the material. The classics are considered timeless because they discuss some of the most important questions about being human, so don’t expect simple answers.

For a teen tackling the unabridged classics, understanding the central message takes time and careful thought. In the early childhood years, you have given them the three foundational tools so that they can thoughtfully analyze the possible messages and use the English language to effectively communicate their understanding by summarizing an abstract, composing an essay, or narrating the major points.

But effective communication is not a one-way street. If your kids write or narrate their understanding, you have to be available to listen to their points and ask questions about the idea. They need your participation so that they can wrestle with any counterpoints that you might suggest. Conversations are crucial to clear understanding.

Supervise the Quest for Truth

Many Christian home school parents avoid discussing ideas which are controversial. I have a dear friend who protected her daughter from certain ideas while she was living at home. When her daughter left for college, her faith was shattered because she internalized these new ideas as truth. This young woman now calls herself an atheist and is outraged that her parents withheld the “truth.” My friend’s heart is broken with grief and self-doubt. Should she have discussed both sides of evolution with her daughter? Would things have turned out differently if she and her husband had seriously talked about the opposing position instead of indignantly dismissing the counterpoints as rubbish?

Take this opportunity, while your kids are still living at home, to shepherd them in the discovery of truth. Introduce them to the classics. Don’t be afraid to talk about all the possibilities of meaning. Help them exercise their thinking skills while under your care. If you have trained them in righteousness and not just religion, then they should be able to distinguish truth from falsehood.

“My child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; if you indeed cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding; if you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures- then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; prudence will watch over you; and understanding will guard you.” (Proverbs 2:1-11 NRSV)

You don’t have to share the point of view of every writer or speaker, but you can learn from those with other viewpoints. Most of the people that your adult children will encounter when they leave your safe home will have viewpoints about the meaning of life that are drastically different from your own. Prepare your children now, while under your tutelage, to use their language, thinking, and communication skills to interpret meaning, using the classics as their laboratory, so that when you finally send them out, they are ready to respond to the world’s biggest questions with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

* * * * *

Next, we’ll look at three practical methods for interpreting meaning.

Tags: Christian home school, classical Christian homeschool, classics, conversations, effective communication, idea, ideas, interpretation, interpretation of meaning, knowledge, language, meaning, narration, trivium, truth, understanding, wisdom