Comparing Fuentes’ Aura and Ligotti’s The Last Feast of Harlequin

In “How to read literature like a professor” by Thomas Foster he explains different literary techniques that writers use when writing a story. Some of these techniques were symbolism, tone, major conflicts, foreshadowing and using certain settings. Even though all of these techniques are important to the story, symbolism is more important because it is used the most throughout the book. Symbolism is the use of people or objects to portray a certain idea or quality of something.

Many authors who write of religious, philosophical, or moral issues frequently use symbolism and allegory to spark the reader’s interest. This style of writing builds on the emotions of the reader. It creates a visual image making the story real and believable.

Epics and legends show important values and traits that certain cultures, ethnic groups and even religions find important.

Throughout this course, I have learned about what a myth is and all of the themes that fit into myths. The most common themes seen throughout the myths we have studied during this course are fate, pride and hubris, heroism, justice and vengeance, and beauty. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about mythology throughout this course and I have always felt that the controlling question driving this course is, why is mythology so important to us, even today? It is important to know the answer to this question and to know about the different themes seen throughout the myths studied in this course.

To begin with, the use of symbolism creates obscurity, and causes the reader to examine the story. To further explain, the symbols also causes the reader to look deeper into the story's meaning, as it creates an interaction between the story and the reader. As a result, it enhances the effectiveness of the story. For example, a quote in the story states, “We all dancer an Owl dance, a Friendship dance, and a couple of Circle dances”(Sears 21).

Rudolfo Anaya, author of “Bless Me, Ultima”, uses an analogy of a lake during one of his interviews. He states that the top of the lake is the story and as you go deeper into it, you discover several important symbols and archetypes. The archetypes he uses connects the audience to the “the collective memory” and “connects us to every human being who has ever existed”. Archetypes help authors develop their stories and/or novels with characters that symbolize something meaningful. People often can relate to certain books because of author ’s uses of archetypes.

In the novel “How to Read Literature like a Professor” the author, Thomas Foster, analyzed and broke down many literary techniques and reoccurring themes in literature. One of the most widely used literary techniques as shown in the novel was Symbolism. Symbolism is heavily used in literature from precipitation and weather to politics, almost everything we read in literature is a form of symbolism.

Another symbolic image in this mural is the bald eagle. In America, it is also a way of displaying freedom because that is the emblem of our nation. The last main symbol in this mural is the Native American woman because Native Americans were here in the land we call as the United States. They were nomads who traveled throughout the country and even beyond the country since there were no border or a sign displaying if they can pass or not. They were just free to go anywhere with no problem at all. Overall the whole message of this powerful mural is that migrating is natural for the reason that animals and human beings have been migrating since the beginning of time. In other words, they had freedom to migrate from place to place. This message can be connected towards the Latino community because many of them come to America to start a new life where they can have opportunities for themselves and their family. But coming to America, is not allowed without having papers since it is illegal and what Levi Ponce is saying in his mural is that they should come without having a problem because they just want their life change for the

Using symbolism can take your story to a whole new level by showing us how each character feels in additional it can make a person or even an objects stand out a whole lot more. In Eudora Welty they used symbolism in many different ways that you can even notice them right away.

The themes of myths speak to concerns for every human being. This shows that different cultures are interconnected and share ideas. From reading the Epic of Gilgamesh we can begin to understand the values help by ancient Mesopotamian society. By reading the Ramayana we can analysis the religion and world view of Hinduism. Many ancient stories seem to parallel each other. Although stories are written in diverse cultures, there tend to be likenesses, especially between the protagonists. This is true with the stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Ramayana when it comes to the depictions of their hero’s.

Symbols are important in each story to define the theme. Close observation of the symbols within each story proves to one their

A key to understanding his writing, says author Tom Robbins, is a knowledge of Greek myth. A particular influence on him is the life and work of Joseph Campbell, author of several books on mythology (Hoyser and Stookey 9). Campbell, in turn, owes influence to the insights of analytic psychologist Carl Jung. Jung recognized the patterns within myths --- throughout the world and across all cultures -- of characters, situations, and events, and identified these recurring images as archetypes (Harris and Platzner 40). Campbell

This symbol is identified due to the use of a lizard which is a reptile, and most reptiles are known to be predators who hunt the weaker prey for food and survival. The author uses to portray men as predators and women as the prey. This is especially evident when Dulcidio meets the lady who does not fall into the lure as all the other women feel into which is the proclamation of his wealth (Galeano). She is not the least bit interested, and this evokes the predatory characteristics of the lizard. He keeps going back to the same place he met her in the hopes of meeting her again and convincing her to be his wife. He is behaving like a predator waiting for his

Often times great novels and plays allude to religion, to mythology, or to other literary works for dramatic purposes. Shakespearean plays are perfect examples. Allusions help the reader or spectator better understand, through visualization, a character or an event in a novel. In some cases, the characters, the events, or a series of events are structured according to the people and the action in other stories, whether the stories be religious, mythological, classical, or historical. The character or the event, therefore, becomes a prototype of the character or event alluded to. A prototypical character in a novel is usually referred

Archetypes are used in literature to portray a certain meaning, that helps create a better and more meaningful story. The archetypes used can be embedded in the characters, symbols, or even rituals involved in a story. These archetypes can help give deeper meaning to the story by giving a underlying reference to concepts that are used over and over again in literature throughout history. When an author uses an archetype in his or her writing, they link it to many other stories that use that same archetype. Some do this for a reason, to give an underlying meaning, to symbolized something of importance, or even just to make their story more interesting. Many readers may not notice the underlying archetype, but sometimes the author uses them because he or she knows that the reader will.