Week #3: Attention

In Maria Edgeworth's "Practical Education" chapter on attention explains that "repetition makes all operations easy". I feel this statement is especially applicable to literature in relation to attention. Statements that are repeated frequently in literature are generally those statements which require more attention and which also draw more attention from the reader. Repetition in any field reinforces the action or statement in an individual's mind; here, we can bridge the gap often presented between science and art. The study behind attention, and its history as discussed in "Historical Overview of Research on Attention", can now be applied to literature through the idea of repetition presented in "Practical Education". These two separate articles come together to give a better idea of why we pay attention to certain things in novels or poems. Repetition demands the reader's attention in literature, which in turn allows the reader to make some determination about a poem's meaning or a novel's theme. Thus, the repetition provides clarity about literary meanings, or helps make the reader's job of interpreting the poem or novel easier.