After reading chapter 4 in “Literature, Meaning, and Interpretation” by Jonathan Culler, the point that stood to me was the way that Culler explains the understanding of the diction and the meaning around it. “Meaning or words contribute to the meaning of an utterance.” After reading this text it made me wonder how literary works like Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare or even the poem ‘My Love is like a red, red rose’ by Robert Bruns can use language is such different ways but have a similar meaning behind them. They use different styles of language to better portray the message the author intended them to have. Culler gives another great example he talks about, many languages have words with common meanings found in other languages but they are written and pronounced differently. I know this first hand as I am fluent in both Spanish and English. When I’m having a conversation with someone in Spanish the words can convey the same meanings a conversation in English would have. The tone of our voice and body language while talking help our understanding as well.

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