By: Ziyad Fakhuri
Which is of greater importance, the writer or the reader? When asked with this question, answers may differ. Some may say the writer, and some may say the reader. I strongly believe that the reader is more relevant than the writer. I believe that the reader is more relevant than the writer as writers often write books as they feel that they want to share a certain story to the world, the reader being their audience and critic. As Anna George says in her article Getting Inside the Author's Head “The reader is most important because without a reader, there would be no literature in the first place.” With readers, comes opinions, with opinions comes discussions, with discussions comes themes. By this I mean that when books
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.
Chapter 21 of Everyone's An Author with Readings (Andrea Lunsford et al.) focuses on the synthetization of ideas from the author and the referenced work. The sources should be properly cited and tie into your argument or idea. In research based areas it's important to have sources that are able to support your stance. The sources can be from the same viewpoint or from another view. The origin of the sources should be credible in their area of expertise or from a credible source. By balancing both the stated argument can be improved. The chapter then gives an example of a Synthesis. War, Cartoons, and Society: Changes in Political Cartoons between World War II and the Iraq War by Julia Landauer is an essay from her second year writing course at Stanford University. It first starts by referencing a relative cartoon then tying it into the effects and uses of such cartoons. However, the chapter cuts it off as the essay starts to bring out the main questions it's analyzing.
The article “The Case for Fitting In” compares to my idea of conformity because I think that it means how you change your opinion due to social pressure. My idea of conformity relates to the article because it was talking about how when people were in a group and someone said the wrong answer they usually went with it. “Each subject saw 18 sets of lines, and the group answer was wrong for 12 of them” this proves that most of the time people went with the group rather than going with their personal opinion. I think that the article really compares with my definition of conformity because I think that it causes you to change your opinion and sometimes causes you to choose wrong answers. I also strongly think that the article agrees with me because
In the novel How to Read Literature like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the value in reading William Shakespeare’s works is displayed. Shakespeare’s works enables readers to help understand literature and pick up references in modern day entertainment. For example, Foster states “[William Shakespeare is] everywhere, in every form you can think of. And he’s never the same: every age and every writer reinvents its own Shakespeare” (30). This statement depicts that Shakespeare’s legacy lives on to today and even though he is dead, he continues to impact lives today. All authors create their own form of Shakespeare and if you know Shakespeare, it’ll make understanding literature so much easier. This is because authors based their works off of
A book is like a puzzle, it contains many different pieces to make it into a whole. Thomas Foster, in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor, discusses the many aspects to decoding a book. There are many aspects included in the book, including the importance of weather and Foster incorporated lots of content in his book, but the two that stand out are irony and symbolism.
In the book, How To Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster, the author, talks about diseases in literature and how they are never what they seem to be. The symptoms and the side effects all mean something more than the disease- or at least they do in literary diseases. He also states that there are 3 key elements to know if a disease or fever is significant to the plot and the character. First of all, the patient is usually very picturesque in the sense that their body and appearance shows their deterioration. Secondly, the patient does not know the whereabouts of their disease and would not know he or she acquired it - a mystery factor. Lastly, there is always symbolism about the character’s lifestyle and their actions that is shown through the disease. Overall, Foster claims that literary diseases almost always have a deeper meaning than what they seem to be or cause
In Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, both authors demonstrate the use of violence between characters in multiple ways. In Chapter 12 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes two different ways that violence is used in literature, both of which can be found in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. In addition, both books also explore how each type of violence has a different effect on the plot and the characters. These two books are related because of their exploration of a deeper meaning of violence between two or more characters in literature and the different effects each type has.
“The Hobbit” and “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” are both very interesting books. These books have many similar and different concepts. Eating with others, eating others, quests, and geography are all concepts that are in both books.
In How to Read Literature Like a Processor the scene of people eating together is considered to be communion. “Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s a communion” (8). Food was mentioned a few times in the second section on Divine Right’s trip. The some different times food were seen was once at Eddie’s funeral and then later on when D.R. ate with Marcella’s family. D.R. also discussed what his grandmother would make when he traveled home to visit. I think these notes of food and how it was eaten is very telling of how D.R. is interpreting and valuing life in general. The first tie to food this week, was at Eddie’s funeral right before Estelle and D.R. we’re leaving. “D.R. and Reed came in from the kitchen, eating chili and rice sandwiches. D.R.
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.
Indeed, reading starts with an initial idea spawned by the author, but it is the reader’s responsibility to interpret, ponder, and absorb this idea in a beautiful and meaningful way. For example, a quote from one book could be lackluster to one reader and have little to no effect on them; however that same quote can move another reader to tears.
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster outlines for his readers many techniques that authors often use to emphasize themes, patterns, and character relationships. C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet is a prime example of these techniques. The novel follows Dr. Elwin Ransom as he is captured by a greedy old schoolmate and a mad physicist before he unwillingly begins a space expedition to the planet of Malacandra, or Mars. After a series of events, Ransom finds himself alone and must begin to learn the language and history of the planet and its inhabitants, the hrossa, the sorns, and the pfifltrigg. Within the book, many of the techniques Foster mentioned were present and played a strong role in understanding the story
While reading “The Writer’s Way”, I began to realize several aspects associated with the context of the material and my own experiences in the academic world (Rawlins and Metzger). The first connection I discovered came when I read section “two Learning Equals Changing” (Rawlins and Metzger 3). I am no stranger to “experiencing and reflecting” in any part of my life (Rawlins and Metzger 3). When I take part in conversations, I analyze the content for long periods of time. Contemplating what happened, the conversation, what I could have done differently and many other questions occur in the process. In an academic setting, sometimes I process the information the same, however, I am not consistent with such a pattern. Academically I have found
How to Read Literature Like a Professor is a book Thomas C. Foster uses to expose his thoughts and feelings of many literary terms and devices. Such ideas can be found in James Joyce’s short story, “The Dead”.
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster teaches readers about the most commonly used symbols and their meanings and the similarities between stories.