Chapter 9 How To Read Literature
n chapter 9 of How to read literature like a professor, Foster goes into the topic of myths. There are three kinds of myths that Foster mentioned beforehand :shakespearean biblical,and fairy tale myths. In this chapter however, he goes more deeply in myths from the Greeks and Romans. According to Foster, myths shape and sustain power of a story the and its symbols; show our ability to to explain ourselves; myths are so deeply ingrained our cultural memory that they both shape our culture and are shaped by it. For example on pg.72, he takes the Fall of Icarus as an example.The Fall of Icarus is about a boy named Icarus who gains the ability to fly when wings are attached to him using tar by his father. However, his father Daedalus warned him not to go too high or he will simply plunge to his death. During his flight later on, he does go too high and ends up plunging to his death. This myth shows a couple of symbols and
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can be used to explain human nature. It could represent the clash between adult wisdom and a child recklessness,youthful exuberance leads to self-destruction, and a cure to no-flight that proves as deadly as the disease. Myths are also used in literature to enhance stories as Foster mentioned and our culture is shaped by myths.
In 1558, Peter Bruegel painted Landscape with Fall of Icarus ,obviously in the right corner of the picture, there is Icarus falling to his death and is represented as a symbol that gives the poem meaning to our own world.For example it could be interpreted in many ways.For example,poems W. H. Auden’s Musée des Beaux Arts(1940) and William Carlos Williams’s Landscape with Fall of Icarus (1962) interprets the poem differently. Williams’s poem stresses the pictorial elements of the painting, trying to capture the scene while sneaking in the thematic elements while Auden’s poem, on the other hand, is a meditation on the private nature of suffering and the way in which the larger world takes no interest in our private disasters. As shown ,the Fall of Icarus shapes our culture, represents us, and even appears in our own cultures.
Aside from Icarus, there are of course many other myths.Myths can also be used to make a plot more richer and deeper.Let’s take for example the famous Greek author Homer who wrote the epic poem The Iliad.Homer’s epic poem contains many themes that are used today.In his epic poem, the themes of course are represented by the people fighting(Achilles, Hector, etc.).The themes represent human struggles for these warriors :the need to protect one’s family, the need to maintain one’s dignity and the determination to remain faithful.Now look at Walcott’s Omeros which patterns Homer’s poem which also has heroes performing the same actions that we can recognize as symbolic reenactments of those in Homer’s Iliad.
Another would be Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce which has a character called Leopold bloom that parallel Odyssues who also falls into a human struggle by trying to maintain his dignity in what he believes to be noble. In conclusion, myths such as the ones created by Homer represent human themes and they clearly shape contemporary literature and
culture.
Chapter 10
In Chapter 10 of How to read literature like a Professor, it goes into the topic of setting and weather. According to Foster, weather can definitely can definitely impact a story.One example would be rain does many things as a plot function and symbol. As a plot function, one thing it could do is trap character together as shown in the The Three Strangers.Basically,a hangman, and the escapee’s brother all converge on a shepherd’s house during a christening party.Eventually the escapee and his brother do try to run away but the result is a chase from the hang man.Eventually, it rains and the three are forced to take shelter together and forces them to be together in very uncomfortable circumstances.The rain here serves as a plot function because it forces the character to interact and this interaction will drive the plot. As a plot symbol, rain could serve as many symbols. One example would be as a symbol of peace and hope after a rain is done and spring comes. This is shown in the book From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L Weston which has a hero who rises during a time when something in society is broken beyond belief and someone comes to fix it (similar to an Arthurian legend). In this story of course, it has alot to do with wastelands and of course rain is seen as fertility. So as shown , weather can play a major role in driving a story as a function or symbol.
Another example of weather playing a role in a plot would be Fog. Fog in most stories symbolizes confusion and a barrier to clarity.As shown in the Bleak House (1853) and Party Going, fog is a barrier that people cant see clearly.In the Bleak house, there is a figurative fog that is going on around an American probate court which manages estates suggests that people don’t know about something in the court.And then in Party Going, there is a barrier that surrounds a hotel that prevents the people from leaving the place.In conclusion, weather can be used as a plot function or symbol to drive the story.
can be used to explain human nature. It could represent the clash between adult wisdom and a child recklessness,youthful exuberance leads to self-destruction, and a cure to no-flight that proves as deadly as the disease. Myths are also used in literature to enhance stories as Foster mentioned and our culture is shaped by myths.
In 1558, Peter Bruegel painted Landscape with Fall of Icarus ,obviously in the right corner of the picture, there is Icarus falling to his death and is represented as a symbol that gives the poem meaning to our own world.For example it could be interpreted in many ways.For example,poems W. H. Auden’s Musée des Beaux Arts(1940) and William Carlos Williams’s Landscape with Fall of Icarus (1962) interprets the poem differently. Williams’s poem stresses the pictorial elements of the painting, trying to capture the scene while sneaking in the thematic elements while Auden’s poem, on the other hand, is a meditation on the private nature of suffering and the way in which the larger world takes no interest in our private disasters. As shown ,the Fall of Icarus shapes our culture, represents us, and even appears in our own cultures.
Aside from Icarus, there are of course many other myths.Myths can also be used to make a plot more richer and deeper.Let’s take for example the famous Greek author Homer who wrote the epic poem The Iliad.Homer’s epic poem contains many themes that are used today.In his epic poem, the themes of course are represented by the people fighting(Achilles, Hector, etc.).The themes represent human struggles for these warriors :the need to protect one’s family, the need to maintain one’s dignity and the determination to remain faithful.Now look at Walcott’s Omeros which patterns Homer’s poem which also has heroes performing the same actions that we can recognize as symbolic reenactments of those in Homer’s Iliad.
Another would be Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce which has a character called Leopold bloom that parallel Odyssues who also falls into a human struggle by trying to maintain his dignity in what he believes to be noble. In conclusion, myths such as the ones created by Homer represent human themes and they clearly shape contemporary literature and
culture.
Chapter 10
In Chapter 10 of How to read literature like a Professor, it goes into the topic of setting and weather. According to Foster, weather can definitely can definitely impact a story.One example would be rain does many things as a plot function and symbol. As a plot function, one thing it could do is trap character together as shown in the The Three Strangers.Basically,a hangman, and the escapee’s brother all converge on a shepherd’s house during a christening party.Eventually the escapee and his brother do try to run away but the result is a chase from the hang man.Eventually, it rains and the three are forced to take shelter together and forces them to be together in very uncomfortable circumstances.The rain here serves as a plot function because it forces the character to interact and this interaction will drive the plot. As a plot symbol, rain could serve as many symbols. One example would be as a symbol of peace and hope after a rain is done and spring comes. This is shown in the book From Ritual to Romance by Jessie L Weston which has a hero who rises during a time when something in society is broken beyond belief and someone comes to fix it (similar to an Arthurian legend). In this story of course, it has alot to do with wastelands and of course rain is seen as fertility. So as shown , weather can play a major role in driving a story as a function or symbol.
Another example of weather playing a role in a plot would be Fog. Fog in most stories symbolizes confusion and a barrier to clarity.As shown in the Bleak House (1853) and Party Going, fog is a barrier that people cant see clearly.In the Bleak house, there is a figurative fog that is going on around an American probate court which manages estates suggests that people don’t know about something in the court.And then in Party Going, there is a barrier that surrounds a hotel that prevents the people from leaving the place.In conclusion, weather can be used as a plot function or symbol to drive the story.