When I taught high school literature, one of the toughest lessons was teaching how to analyze. So often students wanted to talk about plot, give just a basic book review. Nope. Plot is the basic level of interpretation of a text.
Sometimes I would anger my students by giving away most of the plot before we started reading. But I would explain that at this level of reading we’re not reading for plot, we’re reading to understand something greater about the human condition. Once you understand the plot, you can read for something deeper.
How is looking for a home similar to literary analysis? Let’s get the plot out of the way by using one of my favorite children’s stories that I love to gift, The Lantern House by Erin Napier: “The Lantern House is told from the perspective of a house as it watches its occupants change and grow, start families, and move away over the years, each leaving a mark on the home — both physical and emotional, ‘the house is the narrator and it’s a watcher, a keeper, and a guardian of the families that live there,’ says Erin.”
Plot out of the way. Next level: What is the meaning?
From Erin, “‘We just learned a lot that houses are more than houses….It’s the place that I want to be when I’m away from it. There’s a coziness and a warmth. And that’s all I can think of for this house and for what we wanted to call it.’ …Erin hopes to nurture her daughters’ imaginations as they grow up and share how our grown up lives in our grown up houses tell an important, beautiful story too. They tell our story. Our first house that Ben and I renovated together will always be home to me, and I imagine that house also has feelings about its inhabitants. That’s where the story came from. I was thinking about the stories our homes could tell about the things they’ve seen and the lives lived there. They’ve seen tragedy, but they’ve also see great celebrations and huge milestones. They comfort when things are scary. Houses become like members of our family, and so that’s what The Lantern House is. It’s sort of an amalgamation of all the houses I’ve ever lived in.’”
Plot and meaning out of the way. Next level: What does it say about the human condition?
This is where the analysis comes in and we have to look through a certain lens of choice. Each lens will provide insight to gain understanding. A few lenses that I used in the classroom include: historical, socio-economic, feminist, psychoanalytical, archetypal
This is where it gets personal with buyers and sellers. Have you taken the time to actually analyze why you want to buy or sell? Have you considered why you’re still renting instead of owning? Do you want to make a commitment? Do you want to gain wealth? Are both too scary? Do both excite you?
With a very simplistic, early peering into each lens:
Historical lens: When and why did people shift from a nomadic existence to a settled state? Homeownership developed as a part of the American Dream.
Socio-economic lens: Property can the most valuable asset people will own and provides the potential to be used as a socio-economic status. Housing availability and affordability is another. Housing is important in economic, social, and civic development, contributing to achieving greater goals.
Feminist lens: Before the Federal laws passed in 1974 and l975 that struck down sex discrimination in lending and home buying, single women could not buy property on their own. Now I have represented several former students purchase homes on their own. They understand how owning property can create wealth.
Psychoanalytic lens: Belonging to a community is important to both psychological and physical well-being. Psychoanalytic theory focuses on the need for a secure attachments which can explain the innate need to belong to a neighborhood.
Archetypal lens: Home is a powerful archetype. We learn that concept as far back as Homer’s The Odyssey with the journey of Odysseus to get home after the Trojan War. In most literature, characters are searching for home. Leaving home is necessary for our growth, but in order to fully grow, we need to return to home, and “Joseph Campbell identified this as the hero’s journey, a process that calls us out into the world to discover our potential and power, successfully fulfilled with a return home or to an altogether new place that becomes home.” What makes a place a “home,” or makes us feel at home? Are we ready to be called on that journey? If so, I’d love to be your mentor along the way.