How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapter 26

Chapter 26-- "Irony trumps everything." Irony is one of the most important connections to make within a story. Irony is an element that can be difficult for many readers to recognize. A good reader should always try to look for irony.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapters 23-25

Chapter 23 -- When an author involves heart problems or heart disease in writing, it doesn't just mean heart disease. It can typically demonstrate heartbreak, sadness, loneliness, or other emotional pain that "break our heart".

Chapter 24-- Chapter 24 discusses diseases and certain principles that go along with them.
                          1) Not all diseases are created equal: some diseases are used in more stories than others due to the symptoms or effects of that disease.
                        2) It should be picturesque: the reader should be able to picture the character suffering with this disease.
                          3) It should be mysterious in origin: the cause of the disease should be unknown in order to add suspense to the story.
                          4) It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities: different diseases are known by a certain name or effect. These characteristics can be used to symbolize something within the story.

Chapter 25-- In this chapter we learn that in order to fully grasp the book, you cannot just read with your own eyes. You have to put yourself in the position of different characters and understand what the story is like from their viewpoint.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor interlude-22

Interlude-- Even though literature includes multiple different hidden details such as symbolization and irony, there is only one story. Also, any piece of writing is always connected to other writing. You can always make a connection between two different stories or maybe two different elements within the story.

Chapter 21--Multiple characters will contain scars, and these can be either physical or emotional. This represents hardships and damage that the character has gone through. Monsters are a wonderful representation of scars. A few movies that I referred to were Shrek and Beauty and the Beast, where the characters are not very beautiful on the outside but contain an exceptional personality.

Chapter 22-- This chapter discusses blindness. Blindness can typically exhibit failure to see reality. Usually when the author introduces blindness, they do it for an emotional effect over physical.  "If you want your audience to know something important about your character, introduce it early, before you need it." This implies that introducing a detail towards the beginning of the story will make the reader think it has high importance throughout the rest of the story.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapt 18-20

Chapter 18: Baptism and drowning were a few of the topics discussed in this chapter.Drowning is similar to violence. It is typically used to develop theme, to end a character, or create problems within the plot. Baptism is supposed to symbolize rebirth. It is also a sign of cleansing.

Chapter 19: Location is always a vital factor in literature. Landforms, politics, history, and people are all part of geography. Geography is also relevant to the theme,plot, and symbolization. Location and every aspect of it help with the psychology and history of the story.

Chapter 20: The four contrasting seasons of every year can add detail and meaning to any piece of literature. Spring typically represents fresh, new birth. Spring and summer can also symbolize happiness. Winter, being dark and cold, is a simple symbol of death. Fall refers to harvest and how each person is always growing and blossoming into something new.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapters 15-17

Chapter 15-- Flying is another symbolic aspect that is often times used in literature. When the author discusses flying, he isn't necessarily talking about the act of flying, but referring to symbols that have the ability to fly. Typically flying can imply freedom, love, letting go, etc.

Chapter 16--Various items can be symbols for sex. There are certain symbols for males and other symbols used for females. A curtain swaying or moving is an erotic symbol. Fireworks and waves of the ocean also denote sexual acts.

Chapter 17-- This chapter discusses that the act of sex is usually implying something else other than just sex. "When they're writing about other things, they really mean sex, and when they write about something else, they really mean sex." The author is always promoting an alternative symbol or meaning besides flat out sex.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapters 12-14

Chapter 12 -- Symbols usually contain multiple meanings. If it can be simplified down to just one meaning, then it is allegory. Objects, characters, actions, and feelings are all different types of symbolic elements.

Chapter 13 -- The best writers are those that are concerned about all of the problems that our society contains. Some issues include racism, rights, and interaction between the different sexes.

Chapter 14-- Different elements can help identify a Christ figure. Some of these identifiers include 33 years of age, employed as a carpenter, believed to have walked on water, and multiple more. Christ figures won't contain all of these characteristics, but can relate to many.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapt 10-11

Weather is a crucial symbol in literature. Rain and snow can both be considered symbols of cleansing, and rainbows are a sign of hope. Weather greatly affects the mood of the story. The mood of the story can quickly be altered by a change in weather.

In the interlude, we learn that authors do intend to use multiple different symbols and references in their writing in order to create connections and help add a deeper meaning to the overall piece of writing.

There are multiple different types of violence, such as thematic, symbolic, transcendent, allegorical, Romantic, Shakespearean, and biblical. Symbolization is usually a main purpose of violence. Violent acts can be used to complicate the plot or to create action in the story.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor chapt 7-9

All three of these chapters make references to different types of literature and genres. Chapter seven discussed the Bible. Most people are familiar with this book. Therefore making connections to other media is an easy task. Also, each biblical story includes symbolization and words that we can instantly relate to the Bible.

Chapter eight discusses fairy tales. Most fairy tales also include similar patterns and symbols that people are familiar with. This chapter brought Disney movies to my head. Almost everyone has seen at least a few Disney movies, and they all have comparable plots.

In chapter nine, the author is writing about Greek mythology. Each of the myths that the author refers to are closely related. They include a main character overcoming a challenge or obstacle.

In conclusion, each of these chapters include different books and stories that contain coincidental plots. People are also accustomed with these genres.  

How to Read chapt 4-6 8/21

Chapter four mostly describes a few different types of poems and their layout. The overall thought and idea should be studied before looking at the structure.

“There’s no such thing as wholly original work of literature.” In chapter five, Foster reveals that pieces of literature are based off of others’ ideas. All stories are similar to each other. Stories and poems are always interacting with each other in order to deepen the overall meaning and give a few different perspectives.

Chapter six discusses that Shakespeare is the greatest writer of all time. Multiple writers try to utilize the same writing style as Shakespeare.

Chapt 1-3 How to Read Literature Like a Professor - 8/21/12

The gist of chapter one in How to Read Literature Like a Professor was trying to imply that every story will have five parts included. The main character is on a jounrey and will encounter different situations along the way. Other characters and/or objects will intervene and the main character will have to conquer these characters and objects. Multiple different stories can relate to this chapter, and it is also relevant to life.

In chapter two, the author mainly wrote about communion. Communion is one word that can be used for countless situations. Communion can be between a group of people, or just a couple. It doesn't necessarily have to be holy. Most people would refer to communion as a holy situation. The author is taking this word and twisting it into a different meaning that most of us don't think of. In this chapter, communion is mostly sexual. It is almost the opposite of what we think of it to be.

Chapter three referred to vampires. Vampirism isn't only about vampires, but almost any character that is deep, dark, and out of the ordinary. This chapter wanted to portray the idea of people changing into something different, going through devil-like changes. I felt as if the author wanted to imply that everyone has a dark side at some point. A sketchy personality in which is similar to ghosts and vampires.