Song of Solomon Blog Post Reflection

     I find the wording of passages especially challenging in Song of Solomon. In lots of instances Toni Morrison will use words that I am completely unfamiliar with, and I'll have to either look it up, or try and use context to figure it out. In the page above I didn't know what the word merriment meant so I had to look it up. Other times, the order and usage of perfectly definable words can completely throw me off. For example on page 126, for what ever reason I could not understand this one sentence because I kept reading "circle" as noun instead of a verb: "He held it there, letting its chill circle his head." I also find reading dialogue to be challenging. Often times like in the page above, when Guitar explains to Milkman that he doesn't like sweets, she won't the name of the character speaking next to what they say, so I have to read it a few times to understand who is talking to whom. One last thing that has been hard to keep track of is the time jumps. In between paragraphs time can move forward by a decade. Now luckily in the break we see above it primarily serves to shift ideas, and not fast forward time.
     The easiest problem to solve is figuring out word I don't know. A dictionary can be helpful but most often I don't want to take the time to look it up so I'll attempt to get the gist of it without knowing its concrete definition. Usually one of the best and easiest strategy I use is just simply rereading. Whether it be dialogue or narration, if I can't understand it on the first go around I will most usually reread it one or more times. Now, this strategy can have its drawbacks as well. Sometimes sentences or passages in literature are meant to be confusing, and the book will offer information later to clear it up. Not understanding something isn't my worst problem though. I can sometimes find it incredibly hard to stay focused and engaged in what I'm reading. I might "read" for five minutes, and then reflect back and realize I absorbed zero of the information. In these cases I will try and relate myself to the text. Or possibly give a character an accent. Anything to keep it interesting.