Seek out background information including words that are unfamiliar to you as you are reading or even looking at the cultural and historical context of a work.
Keep an open mind about what is going on in the story don’t shut yourself off if you don’t understand or disagree with a situation.
Making yourself an active reader is the first step! And the way both writer and reader interpret this literature is through the elements of these stories. There is also the author side of things - the author is writing for enjoyment and to create meaning: meaning to him or her, meaning to his or her own culture, meaning to a way of life he or she wants someone to understand. Even if we are just reading for pleasure, all of the experiences we bring to the table influence how we see a piece of literature.
We read literature for enjoyment and to find meaning: meaning to us, meaning to our culture, meaning to our way of life.