Notes - How To Read Literature by Thomas C. Foster
Introduction: How'd He Do That?
1. Interpreting Literature
A. Same Story, Different Theory, Why? The Professor is a lot more experienced than his students "We don't get it. And we think you're making it up." - His mind is open to different theories and situations, making him somewhat optimistic. While they're pretty much closed minded only viewing situations from one point of view. They're not using the same method of thinking They don’t have the same "language of reading," the students aren’t applying the same rules and strategies that the professor has learned to apply over time Putting aside the age difference, simply, people don’t think alike
B. Grammar of Literature Novels, poems, plays, movies, etc. all have patterns. After the pattern is complete the audience is either pleased or not. Memory, symbol, and pattern are interpreted differently, separating professorial reading from everyone else Memory - After watching a great movie, it sticks to you. So when reading a book that the same events somewhat relates to the characters actions in the movie, one will automatically apply what they saw in the movie to the characters action which opens up another view or interpretation of what’s going on. Symbol - Professors read symbolically, opening their minds to different ideas and comparisons between different things that a student, for example, wouldn’t be able to find alike any way, shape, or form. Pattern - Observing a pattern of literature has a lot to do with mechanism
2. Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
A. When It's Not? The story with the young teenager didn’t seem like a quest but in fact was because it had the same characters and actions that a quest has, it's a quest in disguise. A quest consist of five things and the story had those five exact things, it just wasn’t so obvious The quester is usually young and inexperienced