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
Chapter 14 is about how almost everything, in some form, is a Christ figure. The chapter gives a list to relate characters to. The list is 1. crucified, wounds in the hands, feet, side, and head 2. in agony 3. self-sacrificing 4. good with children 5.good with loaves, fishes, water, wine 6. thirty-three years of age when last seen 7. employed as a carpenter 8. known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred 9. believed to have walked on water 10. often portrayed with arms outstretched 11.
In the book “How To Read Literature Like A Professor” by Thomas C. Foster, many elements are brought to the reader’s attention. Three of these elements, happen to connect with the novel, “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” written by Mark Haddon.
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.
-We have to carefully compare and contrast all parts of the sonnet in order to see the deeper meaning that all sonnets hold.
The author uses description through the story of the surviving girl to convey the symptoms and side effects of the plague. For instance, “The skin grew a deep gold, the whites of the eyes turning brilliant yellow.” The author uses this imagery to depict how the virus turns the skin and eyes yellow, and the beauty and horror of it. By explaining the look of the side effects instead of saying just the skin turned yellow the author goes beyond blandness and goes
Foster’s idea behind the use of illness in a novel creates a deeper meaning to Hosseini’s use of the topic. In chapter twenty three, Foster reveals that more often than not, the use of illness in book is to emphasize an underlying issue. “There are certain principles governing the use of disease in works of literature: not all diseases are created equally, it should be picturesque, it should be mysterious in origin, and it should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities.” (Foster 224). Cancer has often been used as a common ailment in books because of the mystery behind what may cause it. It is also used because of the many different paths it can take. Brain cancer can have a very different metaphorical meaning than lung cancer. In
The book I was given to read about was the book “Ghost Map” by Steven Johnson. The central question for this book was “What key idea does the author of the book want to convey to you?”. I believe that Steven wanted to send the message that Cholera (the disease) was not an airborne disease but a disease that came from the digestion of water. Through this essay I will prove why I believe that this was the message that Steven was trying to portray when writing this book.
Diseases ran threw like a skater on the ice, the conditions are best described as “Harrowing”. This is ironic, due to Life warning about illnesses, and himself ebbing away from it himself. You may often wonder why people warn you about conditions or
That even the main character took drastic measures to keep himself from getting the disease but in the end that is the very thing that ends up killing him. That someone in the castle must have
But at the end, “the detailed scenes H. F. describes are his observations, not his experiences” (Kelly 55). So, by being more of a witness than a victim of the plague, he brings a lot of details to the story, which is his way of persuading his audience, by the use of Logos. For example, “As near as I may judge, it was about 40 foot in length, and about 15 or 16 foot broad; and at the time I first looked at it, about nine foot deep” (Defoe 2302). For some authors like Juengel, the excessive amount of details into the story goes more towards “eccentric and macabre” But, “What does the plague mean? ... Literature has reflected the tendency to make plague a vehicle for allegory, and the interpretive bent is usually religious: plague is the punishment of a sinful people by an angry god”
The Plague (1991) was originally written in French by writer/philosopher, Albert Camus. This translated work reveals the lives of the citizens of a large Algerian port city. The town of Oran traps its citizens, as the walls close due to an outbreak of a disease referred to as the plague. The text centers on physician, Dr. Riuex, as he and his colleagues attempt to save the plagued town. The setting that Camus chose for his writing plays a large role in the events of the text. Using various critical analysis, it is evident that if the setting had been different, many character profiles and main issues covered in the novel would have been significantly changed. The setting helps to exhibit many themes that Camus conveys throughout The Plague.
Illness is extremely common in literature there will be at least one character that is sick in almost every single novel and Foster sets out to say that there is always a deeper meaning than just being sick. He also mentions that whenever an author creates an ill character the disease is carefully chosen so that it is appropriate for a character’s life. Overall Foster’s central idea in this chapter is that when a character is suffering from an illness or a disease there is always a specific reason, possibly symbolic, that the character is suffering from that disease and not another and the understanding of this concept is important in understanding literary works.
Victorian illnesses are exceedingly prevalent throughout the novel’s plot. Numerous characters fall ill including, but not limited to, Catherine, Mr. and Mrs. Linton, and Isabella, however, is a virus guilty of the demise of countless characters; perhaps not. For some of the characters, unfortunately, their untimely death could not have been avoided without the advanced medical technology that exists today. For instance, Frances, although tended to by a doctor, could not be saved. Despite attempted treatment, the doctor revealed that, “misses (Frances) must go; he says she’s been in consumption for months” (Bronte, 59). Since medical knowledge of diseases such as tuberculosis was scarce, it was not uncommon for people to die resulting from waves of contagion. The deaths of characters in Wuthering Heights demonstrates how quickly disease spread during that time; the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Linton proving to be the most integral demonstration of this. The couple contracted the fever from
Disease, a word that has the connotation of suffering, grief, and physical, emotional, mental, and social pains. We’re all introduced to it at some point in our lives, whether it has afflicted a family member or a complete stranger. It brings great horror and turmoil for those of us that have to interact with it every day. My interaction began late in the third grade with my mother feeling aching discomfort in her bowels. I never knew my mother up until that point, we didn’t meet eye to eye on much, and didn’t have a strong bond like father and I did. Although, in a course of a week this would all change. The word disease would change my outlook on the value of life, and the happiness of our brief lives.
It appear in line 17, “Pain and pressure”, which are plosives and also appear in line 44, “cough-crying”, which are fricatives. The author uses quite a lot of sensory appeal in the third paragraph where the narrator is imagining things about the diseases’ names. They are mainly sounds and smells. There is a lexical choice of vocabulary in line 25, “IT had a fright and hiss in it”, this sentences has the word hiss which we usually uses to describe snakes. This shows that the disease is as danger as snakes. Imagery can be found in the prose too, in the last paragraph, line 48, “the autumn air darkening” using the image of autumn being the period when most living things die to describe the dying image. Last but not least, rhetorical questions can be found in the last paragraph.