The short Essay, An Experiment in Criticism, by C.S. Lewis brings to light many new perspectives to how people read and experience literature. Throughout the essay Lewis works to give the message that; how good a book is doesn’t depend on the quality of writing but on the reader. He begins by defining two types of readers- the “literary” and the “non-literary”- which he uses through the rest of his essay to categorize different traits for treating literature.…
References: Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Eds. (2009) Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth.…
In “How to Read Literature like a Professor” Foster conveys new insight to books and movies. He explains about literature that isn’t just on the surface. He explains how the author chooses the correct season to put the movie in. Foster talks about the true meaning of flight. He also tells of what water means.…
Reading a process. The first step is to learn how to read the letters that are written on the page. Next, you have to learn to understand what all of these words mean put together. Finally, you think about there meaning in coordination with all of the other words in the essay, book, article, etc. and relate them to things that you know from previous encounters and form a perspective. Throughout the course of this paper, I will use Malcolm X as an example to show how someone grows as a reader. I will also discuss the how when a writer speaks of themselves in a story they are both the teller of the story and the character.…
The book How to Read Literature Like a Professor written by Thomas C. Foster covers a variety of topics from the hidden symbolism in a novel to hidden allusions made to famous pieces of literature such as the Bible or works by Shakespeare. These tips and guidelines help the audience to better connect with literature, and to really feel involved with a novel.…
Freire, Paulo. “The Importance of the Act of Reading.” Academic Universe: Research and Writing at Oklahoma State University. Eds. Richard Frohock, Karen Sisk, Jessica Glover, Joshua Cross, James Burbaker, Jean Alger, Jessica Fokken, Kerry Jones, Kimberly Dyer-Fisher, and Ron Brooks. 2nd ed. Plymouth: Hayden-McNeil, 2012. 281-286. Print.…
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster…
Mike Bunn observes diverse of methods and tactics for reading in his essay “How to Read Like a Writer”. This helps the readers become a better writer by just reading over what we read with the mindset of a writer, rather than reading to gain a common understanding of context or with the goal of completing a piece for the fulfillment of a grade.…
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster has shown me how to reach true understanding in my future reading of literature and has helped me to reach a new depth in works of literature I have already analyzed. Swimming, seasons, weather and diseases have all taken on more than simply a set scene. Abuse of power over youth or the uneducated is more noticeable. The use of irony is more noticeable. This book has armed me with the ability to recognize political meaning within literary works. Armed newly with this knowledge I reanalyze several novels from my high school career and I learn more about the author as well as the characters who the authors present me with.…
6) “Most professional students of literature learn to take in the foreground detail while seeing the detail reveals. Like the symbolic imagination, this is a function of being able to distance oneself from the story, to look beyond the purely affective level of plot, drama, characters. Experience has proved to them that life and books fall into similar patterns. Nor is this skill exclusive to English professors.” pg.4…
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster is a book that explains there is more to literature than just a few words on a paper or a few pages in a book. Thomas Foster’s book portrays a relatable message to a wide based audience. This book is relatable for two reasons, the way it is written and the examples it uses. The book is written in a conversational manner, as if the reader was in a group discussion about books and writing. As for the examples, they are informative, descriptive, relative, and entertaining.…
● Consider the interpersonal meanings in the text: The ways in which the reader and…
The best advice I ever got about reading came from the critic and scholar Louis Menand. Back in 2005, I spent six months in Boston and, for the fun of it, sat in on a lit seminar he was teaching at Harvard. The week we were to read Gertrude Stein’s notoriously challenging Tender Buttons, one student raised her hand and asked—bravely, I thought—if Menand had any advice about how best to approach it. In response, he offered up the closest thing to a beatific smile I have ever seen on the face of a book critic. “With pleasure,” he replied.…
Gioia warns that as increasing numbers of Americans put down their books, they also invest less in the nation’s civic and cultural life. In a program moderated by writer Jewelle Gomez, Gioia calls for a revival in reading, beginning in the schools.…
Bibliography: Bartholomae, David, and Anthony Petrosky. Ways of Reading. New York: Bedford/ St. Martin 's, 2002.…