Fant addresses the many of the different ways to read narrative and maintains the fact that allegory is the…
This chapter from How to Read Literature Like a Professor starts off as if Thomas Foster, the author, is having a conversation with the reader like they are in the same room. When one looks at the title, he preconceives a notion that it will be a formal, more academic book when what he truly finds is a casual writing style that makes the reader feel more at ease. Foster begins to introduce a conditional situation about a fictional character named Kip who is described as run of the mill; The story continues to unfold as Kip goes on an errand for his mother which is almost a “quest,” as Foster puts it. This quest is then compared to the Hero’s Journey, which was interesting in and of itself, because Foster created this hypothetical, seemingly-normal…
In Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Chapter 12 is dedicated to symbols, and how they are not concrete. Symbolism is all about interpretation, which makes them difficult to understand. Foster says the most difficult thing about symbolism is that everyone wants to have one concrete answer. He argues that symbolism has multiple gray areas, and a majority of people confuses symbolism with allegories. Allegories are things that stand for one certain thing.…
In the first chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster discusses the five aspects of a typical character’s quest and alerts all readers that “when a character hits the road, we should start to pay attention” (6). To start out the chapter a rather dull scene is set of a young boy commuting to a store to retrieve bread for his mother. Foster reveals that the seemingly unimportant commute is actually a quest. It is determined that “a quester” (3), a destination, an obvious reason for the travel, trials and tribulations and a real reason are all necessities to a character’s quest. While differentiating the obvious reason and the real reason can be challenging, Foster explains that the obvious reason to a quest…
Politics impact all aspects of modern life, both in real life and literary works. In the book How to Read Literature like a Professor, George Foster, the author, discusses how almost every novel has political undertones and that it is the author’s duty to not make their views obvious, but subtly place them in their writing as this will give off the greatest effect. The politically fueled novels 1984, by George Orwell, and The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both had instances where the authors were trying to convey their views, but did so in a way that paralleled the real world as to not make it completely obvious and off putting. These real world happenings were the fuel for the authors in writing their novels. Whether it was WWII…
Does everything in “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” match “The Hobbit”? Breaking down “The Hobbit” will help to further conclude what concepts it does and does not follow in Thomas C. Foster's book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”…
Within chapter 23 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster discusses the in-depth reasons authors use heart complications in novels and the meaning it can add to a story. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these various heart techniques that Foster talks about to further emphasize character’s personalities and guilt.…
When questers are on a stated mission they believe they must fulfill a task, but they…
2. When she attends the dance in brown saddle shoes, she gets embarrassed. The boys want to dance with her, but she is scared to dance with her shoes.…
When a person introduces a topic, then digresses onto other topics it doesn’t matter what examples, as soon as you see a couple of them you recognize a pattern.…
How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Thomas C. Foster) Notes Introduction Archetypes: Faustian deal with the devil (i.e. trade soul for something he/she wants) Spring (i.e. youth, promise, rebirth, renewal, fertility) Comedic traits: tragic downfall is threatened but avoided hero wrestles with his/her own demons and comes out victorious What do I look for in literature? - A set of patterns - Interpretive options (readers draw their own conclusions but must be able to support it) - Details ALL feed the major theme - What causes specific events in the story? - Resemblance to earlier works - Characters’ resemblance to other works - Symbol - Pattern(s) Works: A Raisin in the Sun, Dr. Faustus, “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, Damn Yankees, Beowulf Chapter 1: The Quest The Quest: key details 1. a quester (i.e. the person on the quest) 2. a destination 3. a stated purpose 4. challenges that must be faced during on the path to the destination 5. a reason for the quester to go to the destination (cannot be wholly metaphorical) The motivation for the quest is implicit- the stated reason for going on the journey is never the real reason for going The real reason for ANY quest: self-knowledge Works: The Crying of Lot 49 Chapter 2: Acts of Communion Major rule: whenever characters eat or drink together, it’s communion!…
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses symbolism and allegory to depict the actions of the main characters and what their actions truly mean. In How to Read Literature Like a professor, Thomas C. Foster asks his readers what you think a symbol stands for, Foster also writes “[whatever] you think it stands for, it probably does." (ninety-seven) Frankenstein contains many symbols, however there is only a few symbols that truly support our findings the whole nine yards. There are six specific symbols and allegories that were purposefully chosen to support our findings: Light, The Bible, Alps, Water, White, and Lightening. light, shelley establishes light as a symbol on the very first page, when walton tells his sister that he’s heading off to a “country of eternal light “ where the “sun is forever visible” (letter one.two), our first indication that light isn’t all good when the monsters first sensation is of “light pressed upon [his] nerves” (eleven.one). The light does not benefit to the daemen, it only allows people know how hideous he truly is. The Bible in frankenstein is not a symbol but in fact it is an allegory, the monster is compared to adam the first man in the Judeo-Christian Tradition, “like adam i was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence….” later on the monster is also compared to satan “Many times i considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition.” (15.7) The Alps is another important symbol that helps bring the true meaning to the characters actions, Frankenstein goes to The Alps, The Alps combined with it’s beauty took his mind away from his horrible time with the results of his creation. In Frankenstein, water figuratively brings life to Frankenstein whether he is traveling on it or drinking it. it brings him life and inspires him to be close to nature. Walton believes the light of the far North as eternal and full of hope “What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?” Light is important to all the…
Chapters five of ' how to read literature like a professor' tells us that ; nothing is original, that everything is taken from something that has previously been told of a or wrote about. The road by Cormac McCarthy abides by this. When i was in the eight grade I read The Picture of Dorian Grey, When i was in the ninth grade i read The Twilight Saga, and last week i read Fifty Shades of Grey. All three of the listed books are derived from one another , in all three books reader is presented with an irresistibly sexy, mysterious man. All three books also contain some naive, sheltered girl who falls hopelessly in love with the man. The man in all of the books is corrupt in some way, rather it be a power hungry prince, a vampire or a "dominant".…
of broad groups. One-to-one communication will allow for customized marketing packages and the ability to maximize revenues. However, information management systems currently in place are not capable of tracking customers to the degree needed to support a one-to-one marketing approach. Therefore, it...…
“The Gettysburg Address,” is Abraham Lincoln’s speech that he gave in dedication to the military cemetery on the battlefield in Gettysburg after the Battle of Gettysburg. He gave the speech because he wanted the people who had lost their lives to not be forgotten.…