TOW #12- Non Fiction Text 2

     As a child, Eudora Welty went through books fast: faster than the library return policy allowed her to, and faster than she was able to comprehend them.  There are two different ways to "read".  One can simply peruse the text and move on to the next, or form a connection with the book and truly read.  In Welty's narrative essay, "A Sweet Devouring", she makes allusions to literature and uses symbolism of books' physical appearances in order to share how she learned that reading is not a race, and books are not meant to be rushed through. 

    Looking back at her childhood, book-loving self, Welty now realizes that there is an explanation for her speedy reading.  By making constant allusions to the texts she read, she is able to illustrate the amount of "false reading" she was doing.  Memories of Welty's willingness to "read everything just alike" came swarming back when she recalls how she read "Tales from Maria Edgeworth and went right ahead, without feeling the bump" (1).  The bump, in this case, is the larger effect or the deeper meaning that was completely missed because she was not aware that she was reading completely wrong.  Through her allusions, she is able to exemplify specific times in which she made this same mistake from her youth.  These references are essential in elaborating on her issue of going through books to quickly, and without them her narrative would fall flat.  

     Eudora Welty also mentions her likelihood to have judged a book by its cover when she was a kid.   Through the symbolism that she creates between the books' physical appearances and her reaction to them, Welty expresses her shallow viewing of the books prior to her realization that there is more to them then just how they look.  She found disappointment in Tales from Maria Edgeworth, but not because of what the author wrote but instead because "the illustrator fell down on the characters" (2). The contrast between her lack of concern with the actual words and instead with the illustrations symbolize that Welty was not at all reading to comprehend the story.  While she was so caught up in the appearance of the book, she missed the point of the text.  

      Reflecting on her past, Eudora Welty may classify this misunderstanding as a valuable lesson for herself, one that everybody could grow from hearing.  It is through her rapid reading that she realized "the printed page is not absolutely everything", but instead a single component of the reading pastime.  By including allusions to different pieces of literature from her past and creating symbolism of the physical appearance of books, Welty is able to share her story of realization in "A Sweet Devouring" when she learned that there is more to reading than just the literal meaning.  It is through this that one may become aware that in order to read, one must devour the text.