How To Read Literature Like A Professor Analysis

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”.

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.

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.

-Every time a character sets out to do something it's a quest. The idea of a quest has evolved greatly, as literature has evolved.

Foster discusses the idea that when two characters eat together, that moment acts as a bonding experience and causes the characters to come together. I had never noticed the significance of a meal between characters before. After reading this chapter, I can think of so many moments in stories when the characters share a meal together to form friendships or come to a peace. In one of my favorite novels, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Picoult writes that “Emma Alexis- who was one of the cool, beautiful girls…she rolled her wheelchair right beside Justin. She’d asked him if she could have half of his donut” (367). Splitting the donut between one of the popular girls and one of the quieter, nerdier boys was a representation of the deformation of the high school social classes. After reading this chapter, I could recall the significance of meals together in so many novels and movies but I never noticed this pattern before.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster is a book that explains there is more to literature than just a few words on a paper or a few pages in a book. Thomas Foster’s book portrays a relatable message to a wide based audience. This book is relatable for two reasons, the way it is written and the examples it uses. The book is written in a conversational manner, as if the reader was in a group discussion about books and writing. As for the examples, they are informative, descriptive, relative, and entertaining.

The recognition of patterns makes it much easier to read complicated literature because recognizing patterns will help you relate two or more pieces of literature together, therefore making it easier to understand and analyze the literature you are focused on. Patterns in literature can help the reader understand plots, settings, themes, and other literary elements. I greatly appreciated the novel, Brave New World because of how different the society in the novel was from the one I live in. Using the Signposts from Notice and Note, I was able to see contrast and contradictions that enhanced my understanding of the book. I noticed how I was expecting Bernard, in Brave New World to be just like everybody else in the novel but instead he was a “normal person” that felt normal human emotions, such as the longing for love, that the other characters just did not feel. He also felt isolated and alone. Bernard thinks in a way we were not expecting. Patterns such as this helped me, the reader, to better understand literary elements.

As an infant, Harry James Potter was given a scar after a powerful wizard tries to kill him. However, his mother was willing to die for her son, and her love protected Harry from Voldemort. Because of this, Harry Potter survived with a small scar on his forehead, and Lord Voldemort disappeared without a trace. In Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature like a Professor, he states that in most stories a character’s strange marks and shapes signifies that they have an important role. Therefore, Harry’s battle scar indicates not only his past but also his future. Foster notes that the markings indicate the damage life inflicts. For example, when Harry first came into the wizard world, most people knew who he was because

Now, no child wants to read a book for school over the summer. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s just the reality of life. The two books that were required to read for the summer were long, but interesting in a way. The Hobbit is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have never read any of the Lord of the Ring trilogy but this book was very interesting to read. How to Read Literature Like a Professor breaks down the literature world into a much, easier understanding so that, us as the reader, can see literature in the eyes of the writer and a literature teacher. The Hobbit and How to Read Literature Like a Professor connect to each other in various of ways.

At the beginning, Gandalf pretty much has to trick Bilbo into going on this adventure, but by the end of the book, Bilbo is much more courageous and willing to adventure out on his own, as evidenced by his willingness to confront Smaug. Due to Bilbo being a son of a Baggin ’s he was very conservative and didn’t enjoy adventure but due to Bilbo also being a son of a Took’s he was more adventurous and acknowledged life. Bilbo’s Took side convinced him to go on the quest with Gandalf. Bilbo becomes much more adventurous during the book by JRR

The Hobbit follows the typical pattern of the Quest in many ways. Like most quest heroes, Bilbo begins the story ignorant and untried, and he undergoes a series of preliminary adventures which help him in two ways. First, they give him the opportunity to learn about the world and the extent and proper use of his own powers. Second, they bring him the friends and talisman that he will need in order to prevail in his greatest adventure, the culmination of his quest.

The Hobbit is a novel that is actually a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “How to Read Literature like a Professor” explained a vast amount of archetypes that could be compared to Bilbo’s journey in “The Hobbit”. A hero’s quest and communion will be up for discussion and compared to certain parts of Bilbo Baggins’ journey.

The Hobbit is a fantasy novel, by J.R.R. Tolkien that tells the story of an unexpected story. Rather than being about a main character who is brave and noble, this story is about Bilbo Baggins, a predictable, mild-mannered hobbit. He lives in his cozy home and avoids anything out of the ordinary until he is presented with the opportunity of an adventure with Gandalf the wizard along with 13 dwarves. The goal is to take back the homeland of the dwarves from the dragon, Smaug, who has attacked and taken over. The journey entails mountains, forests, and creatures such as trolls, goblins, elves, and more. And even though no one sees much potential in the seemingly weak hobbit, Gandalf sees traits of a hero within Bilbo. This journey results in

The Hobbit novel, written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1937, is a story of a Hobbit. This Hobbit’s name is Bilbo Baggins, from Hobbiton. He is a respected Hobbit who never did anything out of the ordinary, or unpredictable. One morning Gandalf, a wise wizard came to Bilbo inviting him on a journey. Bilbo on any other occasion would not have any part in an adventure, but his mother’s side of the family got the better of him. On his way to rediscover “Long forgotten gold,” Bilbo, and his new dwarvish friends, run into many trials and challenges. In the year 2013 the second part of the book was made into movie, directed by Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson decided to make many changes from the original book to the movie. Two of the major changes were in the scene in which the company of dwarves, The Hobbit, and The Wizard go to an old acquaintance of

The Hobbit is a book of adventure and growing into someone that was never considered to be able to be. It is also about perseverance. The characters continue on their journey no matter the obstacles in their way and the challenges they face. For example, when Gandalf’s gone off to fight the necromancer and the dwarves get captured by the wood-elves, Bilbo has to find a way to aid them in escaping and getting back on course. This quote, to me, seems to grasp the struggle Bilbo has: “Bilbo, however, did not feel nearly so hopeful as they did. He did not like being depended on by everyone, and he wished he had the wizard at hand...But of course, as you have guessed, he did rescue his friends in the end…” (Tolkien, p 191). Bilbo is scared, has no