Reparative Reading Essay

In this class we have learned many different techniques to help us read stories, specifically detective and ghost fiction. They all have their pros and cons, but the reparative reading style is one that I most resonated with. Reparative reading focuses on allowing oneself to be surprised. Its aim is to break away from paranoid reading and allow the reader to find pleasure in reading the story. Sedgwick believes that we must engage in this type of reading for pleasure more often. Which is why I believe that this style is the most useful, interesting, and sensible.
Reparative reading allows the reader to slow down while they are reading and appreciate the aesthetic of the writing, which also causes them to better understand the thought process behind what the author is trying to portray. There is a reason behind why the writer
Reparative reading is a useful and sensible approach to reading because it doesn’t include a lot of deep analysis of the text, so there is no reason for people to overanalyze the text. Sedgwick spent a long time in his text explaining what paranoid reading is and how one doesn’t fully appreciate the text using this method. I would even say that close reading and other forms of analytical reading also don’t allow the reader to fully enjoy the story. This would especially apply to detective and ghost fiction because it is very easy to get caught up in the details and jump to conclusions, without appreciating the story for what it is. There is also a lot of set up in these stories that require perfect execution by the writer, because you need to use your literary skills to keep the story moving without giving away too many details. It is an art form trying to tell a story, and by trying to look too deeply into the meaning the reader looses the essence of the story and ends up analyzing and not enjoying