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How To Read Literature Like A Professor Analysis

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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 …show more content…

Foster explains this idea through multiple literary examples such as novels like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dombey and Son, Time of the River, and even more. A central theme they all have in common is that all the main characters in the novels were described as being delicate, fragile, and having a sickly appearance. These books embody the picturesque component of a literary disease. All the patients are considered “beautiful”, in the sense that they are wasting away on the inside yet, the appearance clearly displays the harshness and suffrage they are going through. The second most important point is making sure the disease has a mysterious origin. Foster uses the works of Emily Bronte to showcase that sometimes, diseases come out of nowhere and the mysterious factor makes it more realistic because it signifies the dramatic effects the disease has on many people including the victim. One disease that fits this description is AIDS/HIV. Foster says that the fact that the victim does not know he or she has HIV until it is too late offers many symbolic interpretations of their

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