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Activities to Promote Reading for Literal Meanings

Reading between the lines is an important skill to have, but it can sometimes obscure the information the author intended you to read literally. Practice understanding the literal meanings in literature to get the full benefit of the story. There are different ways you can practice literal meaning, so you can find the method that works best for you.

Book Summary
- Summarizing a piece of literature in a set number of words forces you to cut down on the fluff and stick to the facts of the story. Give yourself a small word count, such as 500, and write a brief summary of the book. Include a chronological description of the events in the book without delving too deeply into their meanings. When you finish, you will have a detailed explanation of the literal events and meaning of the book devoid of morals or hidden agendas included by the author.
Pop Quiz
- Asking specific questions about the content of the literature will encourage a reader to think about the literal meaning of the text. For example, when someone reads "The Gift of the Magi," ask them about events that took place in the short story, such as the gifts purchased by the characters. Don't ask anything about the meaning behind each gift or the implications of the events. Focus solely on what happened in the book and what the author put directly into the wording.
Brainteasers
- A reader will sometimes skip through the text and get the gist of the information, but that isn't conducive to understanding the literal meaning of the text. Encourage someone to slow down and read each word to gain the literal meaning by using brainteasers. For example, there is the old brainteaser that states an airplane crashed on the Canadian and American border. The brainteaser asks the listener to determine the burial location of the survivors. Upon closer examination of the wording, though, the reader will realize that there's no reason to bury the survivors.
Create a Play Script
- A script leaves little room for abstract interpretation when you need to base it off the chronological events in a text. Read the book carefully and create a well thought-out script that accurately portrays the events in the book without artistic embellishment. This works best with shorter books or you will end up with a rather thick play. Act out the book with friends to relive the events in the book as they occurred. This allows you to understand the events of the book without worrying about underlying meanings.

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