How to understand literature

Have you ever read a book wich is using words in its ancien form? Most of the people have read or herd about Faust. This reading is a little bit difficult because in the translation there are word from the German and also words in its acient form. The mayor problem when you do not understand a word is that you can get lost in the story. So, is there a way to comprehend the story in better way?

In literature there is a method called Formalism, where the reader makes an analysis of the composition of the work, in other words that sees how the author construct the story and why the author decided to put it in that way. Another thing that studies this method is the historical context and the author's life. When you know these thing it is more easier to understand why the writer chose one theme, why he emphazies certain things and why he has an specific point of view in one topic. For example: Faust was written when the movement of romanticism was follow by most of the artist. this movement change the perspective of religion and nature. In the prologue of Faust, you can see that the way the author writes about God is more friendly and common. Before the romanticism, God was seen as untouchable.

Formalism also analyse the rhetorical figures,that helps you a lot to interpretate and to get a better idea of the author's purpose. The rhetorical figures are not easy and if you misunderstand one the meaning of the text changes. It ca also helps you when you have to write an essay, because you analyse the character, the scence, ect... that when you have to write about one topic of the book you can easily to support you idea or opinion.