How To Read Like A Professor By Thomas C. Foster

The motivation for the quest is implicit- the stated reason for going on the journey is

1. In chapter eleven of his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster examines violence in literature, and particularly the way violence functions on multiple levels. Foster identifies two different kinds of violence in literature, and discusses how those two different kinds create different literal and literary meanings. By examining Foster's categories of violence in more detail, one can see how violence in literature serves as an important link between the internal events of a story and the story itself.

In the twelfth chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster provides various information on how to identify symbols throughout literature. The chapter stressed the individuality of identifying symbols, Foster mentions multiple times that “every reader’s experience of every work is unique, largely because each person will emphasize various elements to different degrees” (110). After learning this and also having read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, one thing that stood out was that the main character, Oskar, only has and only wears white clothes. Not only does Oskar often reference his various white clothes, including the white scarf that Grandma knitted

Every character that travels down a path, that encounters obstacles on their journey, that makes sacrificial decisions faces each of these components as they undertake a life-altering quest. Often times the hero ventures out to save someone or solve a problem, but in fact, their true journey is a search for self-knowledge. Through every obstacle and road-block along the way, the character discovers more about themselves and their true identity. Though they may have journeyed across great lands to accomplish their mission, the thing they were searching for was inside of them all along; the journey and challenges only helped to reveal their real character. As explained in Thomas C. Foster’s literary criticism, How to Read Literature Like a Professor,

In the skillful novel, "How To Read Literature Like A Professor" by Thomas C. Foster, there is neither a protagonist nor antagonist. As a whole, the novel gives insights on how to pick up signs of symbolism, irony, and many other hidden details that are buried within the words of literature. Foster refers to many classis novels by classic authors to demonstrate the use of logic in writing. The novel is extremely educational, leaving many insightful questions and interpretations to the reader's opinion.

The third chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster writes of the recognizable pattern where a “nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates young women, leaves his mark on them, steals their innocence … and leaves them helpless followers in his sin” (Foster 16). In the fourth episode of the fourteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the detectives discover a girl from an accident with a barcode tattoo who was thought to be part of a sex slavery ring. The detectives tried questioning the girl, but she refused to release any details about the slavery. After questioning, she was picked up by an older girl who also had a barcode tattoo. The detectives promised to help the older girl if she would just stay

Author Thomas Foster thoroughly examines the overall concept of characters in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor.” He discusses round and flat character and how this impacts the eventual outcome of the characters, themselves. Although all characters are vital and add their own value to the plot, it just so happens that certain characters are more significant than others. This results in the more minor character suffering more hardships and in many cases dying in the story. This part of Foster’s book brought up many similarities to the novel “The Book Thief.”

Chapter 14 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor discusses how to identify and the significance of Christ figures in literature. According to the book, Christ Figures are prevalent in literature for various reasons including putting emphasis on the sacrifice of the character or deepening the plot with the parallel to Christ. This works because Christ is an important feature in our culture. I believe that literature from dominantly Christian areas will contain many figures resembling Christ simply because the religion is ingrained in the culture. Foster lists many of the qualities that help to indicate the presence of a Christ figure. Some of these include wounds on hand and feet, and struggle in the wilderness, a sacrificing character,

Aspects from chapters “or the Bible”, “Is it a symbol”, “Geography matters” from the book How to read literature like a professor can be seen in The Martian ranging from, biblical references, to symbols, to location. These aspects of the story greatly influence the story in a number of ways. " Or the Bible" in How to Read Literature like a Professor connects to The Martian because Mark Watney represents a Christ character by coming "back to life" and being willing to give his life to save the others. Everyone thinks that Mark is dead, much like in the bible when Jesus died on the cross.

In Thomas C. Foster’s novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes the aspects of a quest in literature as: “a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there,” (Foster 3). These aspects can be applied to many forms of literature and media. For example, in the theatrical adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the aspects of a quest are present. In this case the quester would be Harry Potter, the place to go would be the Mirror of Erised, the stated reason to go there would be to protect the Philosopher’s Stone from Professor Snape, the challenges and trials en route would be the three headed dog (along with the other trials such

When a novel is revealing, witty and whimsical it unlocks the hidden truths about literature as discussed in the book How To Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster. This book is written in second person so the reader can experience Foster’s personality that is directed towards them. A reader is given a fresh and clear perception on literature to understand what is being read. Foster clarifies the way writers uses symbols and themes. He believes by analyzing the deeper meaning in literature will help foster a better reader.

Fences are normally built around a house to keep people out and can be used to keep people in. While fences are known to be literal there is also a metaphorical way to look at them. In the drama play, “Fences” by August Wilson; the fence is used in both a literal and metaphoric ways. Wilson shows us how fences are used to keep people in and out. The symbolism of fences are shown to be used in the life of Troy, the father and husband; Rose, the mother and wife of Troy; and lastly Cory, the son of Troy and Rose. While some fences are built to keep the world out; others are built to keep people in; family.

When studying through a textbook, reading an online blog, or watching a YouTube video, most people simply absorb the raw information that is provided - after all, that is what those sources are generally used for. However, behind all that information lies deeper knowledge of a vast ocean of context. This context sets the criteria for effectiveness, a topic discussed in the essay “How to Read Like a Writer” by Mike Bunn. Bunn states that every text or video publisher has an intended audience that it aims to please, and they achieve those goals through a specific choice of conversation, selected diction, and an understanding of the consequences that could happen after the audience reads or watches their content. The correct choices increases the effectiveness of hooking the attention of their audience. There were several articles that displayed efforts of effectiveness for their target audience, but this essay will discuss one YouTube video that stood out amongst the rest.

The definition of a fence is a barrier, railing, or an upright structure enclosing an area to mark a boundary or prevent escape. The dramatic play “Fences”, by August Wilson, uses a fence to symbolize the barriers which destroy the relationships between a family of four. Troy’s affair was the obstacle that destroyed his and Rose’s marriage. Due to Troy’s selfishness, his bond with his brother Gabriel was also impaired. Finally, Troy’s relationship with his son Cory was ruined because of Troy’s own expectations of his son.

Joanna Genduso MSC3019 – Prof. Wollman Final Paper 5/20/15 Into The Woods Fairy tales have their roots in the oral tradition and can be described as fictional stories that may feature components like folkloric characters and enchantments, often involving an exaggerated sequence of events. Although it is difficult to put a strict definition on what exactly a fairy tale is, there are many common elements in these stories that not only cannot go unnoticed, but also help us classify the genre. These elements include: clearly defined good and evil characters, the presence of royalty and poverty, magical properties and enchantments, a problem that must be solved, impossible tasks, fundamental morals, and core values (Heiner). In Into The Woods,