Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor

In the film The Blindside, it was evident that Michael Oher was able to fit into the Tuohy family. This could be explained through the theory of structural functionalism. I believe Michael constantly ran away from his foster homes because he felt out of place and wasn’t able to establish a role in his foster families. When he was at the Tuohy residence, he seemed quite distant – as if he felt like a burden towards the rest of the family. However, the Tuohy`s were constantly making Michael feel part of the family and

As infants grow up to be adults, they succeed and surpass phases in their development that prove mental growth has occurred. These phases, such as learning to be independent and being able to make decisions on their own or being persuaded by others, are well explained within theories created by theorists and psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson. These theories were created to show a unique psychological outlook on ones’ personal developmental growth. One of the most crucial phases is the adolescent stage; this stage sees a growth and development in the biosocial, cognitive, psychosocial and moral aspects of an adolescent’s life. The Blind Side’s Michael Oher is a great example of someone who is experiencing the adolescent stage. Michael Oher is a seventeen-year-old African American who grew up in the housing projects in Memphis, Tennessee and was separated from his drug-addicted mother. As a result, Michael went from foster home to foster home until he was adopted by the Touhy’s. Throughout the movie, Michael demonstrated various cognitive and psychosocial developments. Even through his struggles and experiences, he was able to overcome the obstacles and become successful as a student and as an athlete.

The Blind Side depicts the story of Michael Oher, a seventeen year old African American homeless boy from a broken home, taken in by Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wife and mom of two living in a well to-do neighborhood. Repeatedly running away from the group home after group home, he was placed in after he was taken from him drug addicted mother, he happens to run into the exceedingly accepting family. Only after the catholic high school football coach sees his size and agility he is accepted to the privet school, despite a 0.7 GPA and lack of a place to sleep Leigh Anne Touhy, along with only one of his teachers, take a special interest in him. The families give him

The first example of this that I am going to mention is Hassan's minor Cleft Lip. In the beginning of the story, when Amir is describing Hassan he says, "And the cleft lip, just left of midline, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had simply grown tired and careless" (Hosseini 3). It started out as just one of his identifying features that he was born with, but unlike most people who are born with a cleft lip, his family could not afford the cost of the medical procedure to fix it. It wasn't until chapter 5 where Baba pays for Hassan to get his cleft lip fixed, leaving a scar on

Unfortunately, his father was murdered in prison so he could not overcome that obstacle. However, he was taken in by a foster family named the Tuohy’s who made him happy and treated him like real family. Biography.com says, “The young boy was finally taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy when he was 16, and the Tuohys became Oher's legal guardians when he was 17”. In his junior year of high school, Oher began to excel in football. By the beginning of his senior year, Oher was the starting left tackle on the varsity football team. He quickly became a top football prospect in the state of Tennessee, which led to multiple scholarship offers from Division 1 schools.” This means that when he was taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and they became his legal guardians he began to excel at school and football. His mother was taken into a rehabilitation center, but this was an improvement since at least Michael was able to see her sometimes. His other siblings were all taken to foster care. It’s amazing that while he had all of these obstacles he still overcame them with a determined attitude and the help of some special people.

Also he officially joined the Tuohy household at around the same time. For him, life and football became intertwined as he became a top prospect for colleges because of his high school games. Chapter five is a transition for the book, shifting towards how the stars aligned for Michael to become the prime example of a star offensive lineman. As he grew as a person and football player, the game evolved with him. When he got more mechanically skilled, Oher stood out. Meanwhile in the NFL, there was “a new prototype of the NFL tackle that made [Oher] so interesting to football coaches.” (103). Now he was a star, the perfect build and skills to make the NFL, which for a high school athlete is incredibly high praise. Without the growth he experienced playing for Briarcrest, Oher would not come close to the opportunities he received. Now more than ever he was his own person, and he had a way to express it through

As a young child Michael suffered abuse and enforcement to succeed by his father. Michael has said that this has affected his physical development as there had been times when his father would come to see him and he would be sick. This was just from the fear he had of his father hurting him if he did not do well.

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, he exclaims that when someone is thrown into the water, it symbolically has the same pattern that is seen in baptism. The pattern is death and rebirth becoming a medium of the water. Furthermore, this chapter relates to The Stranger as signs of water, such as swimming pools and the beach, submerges people into having a new start or ending their life. Failures of baptism is also present within the novel.

Throughout the chapter Tomas Foster, the author of the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor consistently mentioned that symbolism was relative and it is different for each reader. There is no debate on whether something is a symbol or not because in most cases it is. Foster mentions that the meaning of the symbol differs between readers because each person has a different perspective on the story. He also presents the idea that if a symbol can be reduced to have meaning that it actually isn’t symbolism being used, but allegory. Foster presents that a symbol has multiple possible meanings and that it changes between literary work and even between reader. He states that if a person wants to figure out the meaning of a symbol they have to look deeper, use their previous knowledge, and question what is happening in order to crack the code on the meaning of the symbol. These are new ideas because most casual readers usually believe that symbols have one specific meaning in each novel. By having Foster say that there are a limitless amount of interpretations for a simple it blows the door wide open. Symbols are used throughout novels of all genres, and sometimes even ironically. Foster’s belief in the importance of intertextuality shines through throughout

In how to read literature like a professor by Thomas Foster. Foster analyze and dissects novels each chapter using different methods and literary devices. Symbolism is just one of the literary devices he used to analyze novels. Biblical symbolism was one of the main focus in his book. Whether the reader is religious or not, religious symbolism is one of the most widely used symbolism. Biblical references have always assimilated in literature no matter where or when. . Foster also explains how ones religious background can influence literature. For example if your religion backgroud is buddhist, then literature written in that background would reflect a point of view of a buddhist and differ from another religious stand point.

In life and in literary text hidden meanings are quite common. There is basic level of understanding by the majority and a concealed meaning that requires a deeper level of critical thinking and analysis. Terrance Hayes provides a “poetic style that resist style” which proves hard to interpret, but I conclude he provides a common theme many might mistake for just an element of poetry (Fabu 1). A common theme present within two of his poems “Lighthead’s Guide to Galaxy” and “Antebellum House Party” as well as ”Mausoleum” from his signature book Wind in a Box is the idea of symbolism and underlying meanings within itself and how individuals tend to look for something more in things even in life instead of being as it is.

If you were to look upon a mall parking lot no car, blade of grass, person or piece of clothing would be the same. In society today, those with deformities or abnormalities will always be looked down by a few people for being indifferent when they shouldn’t. In Everyday Use and Cathedral there are characters with deformities who struggle to be viewed as equals in all eyes. However, the role of a deformity in Cathedral is more significant because of the way Carver uses irony and symbolism to illustrate the way society looks at those with deformities and how an insight into Robert’s struggles changes the narrator’s perspective of Robert’s and his own life.

In the poem, the purpose of symbolism is using an object or reference to describe a deeper meaning to a story. The poem " Music of Spheres" by displayes that how to use symbolism to describe an object with deeper meaning. This poem is written by Jean Follain who was a French author, poet and corporate lawyer. The reason why I selected this poem, is because Jean Follain only used a few sentences to reflect its deep symbolic meaning of this poem. Language makes us human. It helps us to understand our everyday experience and ideas. It will become more powerful by using symbolism instead of the customary language. In the written world, the role of symbolism in the poem is significant. It produces the same feeling as

As a final literature project, I felt it was most fitting and also most beneficial for myself, to do 360 degree recap of the literature we read throughput this class; especially since some of the readings felt like they were easier to digest than others. I will first discuss my three favorite readings:

The most obvious difference between real essays and the things one has to write in school is that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Certainly schools should teach students how to write. But due to a series of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed together with the study of literature. And so all over the country students are writing not about how a baseball team with a small budget might compete with the Yankees, or the role of color in fashion, or what constitutes a good dessert, but about symbolism in Dickens.