How To Read Literature Like A Professor John Steinbeck Analysis

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, he outlines the five elements of a quest. The elements that are needed for a quest to occur is a quester, a place to go, reason to go, challenges and trials, and a real reason to go there. In The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins the main character, Katniss Everdeen, goes on a quest that tests her courage, bravery, and will to survive. The quester, Katniss Everdeen is a sixteen year old girl who has a younger sibling Primrose who is 12 years old. The government where Katniss lives is run from the capitol. Every year the capitol holds the hunger games which is a punishment placed on the districts after an uprising that failed. There is a public reaping

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.

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.

In Thomas Foster’s book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” readers learn how to look past the surface of a literary work to find a deeper or hidden meaning. Writers use devices, such as symbolism, imagery, foreshadowing, irony and allusion to reveal these meanings. If these are overlooked, important aspects of the story can be lost. One literary device that Foster emphasizes in his book is allusion. Every story has elements of another story, and Foster devotes Chapters Four through Seven explaining the meaning of allusion in works by Shakespeare, the Bible, and fairy tales.

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 chapter 20 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes the significance of seasons in literature. Seasons can mean many different things besides the obvious change in weather. Shakespeare uses seasons as literary devices to make comparisons. Seasons often act as metaphors for age in his work. Fall, for example, can also be seen as middle age; the turning point between old and young, summer and winter. Seasons were also used by Shakespeare to convey moods and emotions. Winter is often associated with bitterness, dissatisfaction, or anger. This works because elements of winter include harsh winds and freezing temperatures that make people uncomfortable. Furthermore, authors connect season with the human experience. Each season

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.

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 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.

-Flight is freedom. When a character has the ability to fly they are free from the burdens of everyday life.

Kino no longer saw the pearl as “beautiful, rich and warm and lovely” (19), but rather “gray and ulcerous” (89). The melody that was “glowing and gloating and triumphant” (19) was now twisted, “distorted and insane” (89). Because of people imposing their selfish desires on the pearl, it was ugly to Kino. He, through the death of his son, understood that the people of his village had corrupted the pearl with what should have been a beautiful, elegant means for a better future. However, once Kino and Juana threw the pearl back into the gulf, it “settled into the lovely green water…the waving branches of the algae called to it and beckoned to it” (90). The pearl becomes destructive and dangerous when it is entangled with notions of material value. However, it is returned to its original beauty only after it is thrown into the gulf. Kino’s action of throwing it back into the ocean represents him finally rejecting the greed that consumed him.

My favorite passage is from How To Read Literature Like A Professor: A Lively And Entertaining Guide To Reading Between The Lines. In chapter four, page twenty-four, Foster states, "as you read it may pay to remember this: there's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature." This is my favorite passage because the author is trying to allude that all works of art and literature are somehow connected; whether it be because of the setting or the descriptions of the characters. Foster is saying that there are influences everywhere; that no story is ever just made up on the spot without some type of influence like a conversation or just a simple smile. This passage has taught me an abundance of things. It has taught me that many authors,

Greed is perhaps one of the most destructive forces in this world, it breeds anger, hate, jealousy, and more. The novella “The Pearl” is based on how the finding of a pearl causes greed to be awakened in the hearts of people and cause them to commit evil. During the Novella, Steinbeck develops the theme that greed left unchecked can cause immoral behavior and that is show in the doctor, the attackers, and Kino. All of them are forced by greed to commit sins that they otherwise would not do.

The pearl's evil infects Kino like a ravaged disease and consumes his mind. He starts off with good intentions, but they become twisted. He wants to sell the pearl and use the money to better his family's lifestyle. He has dreams and goals that each depends on the pearl selling for a good price. Juana sensing the evil and greed coming from Kino attempts to destroy it. Kino beats her unmercifully. "He struck her in the face and she fell among the boulders, and he kicked her in the side...He hissed at her like a snake and she stared at him with wide unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before a butcher." Juana sees through the outer beauty of the pearl and knew it would destroy Kino and herself. Kino's vision from the soul becomes blurred by the possible prosperity the pearl will bring. The evil invades Kino's life as well as everyone he knows and loves.