How To Read Literature Like A Professor, By Thomas Foster

Words: 493

Pages: 2

Open Document

Harry Potter, marked with an imperfection centered on his infant forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt, not your average scar. Perhaps this scar means more than what meets the eye, perhaps famous author J.K. Rowling meant nothing by the creation of the lightning bolt upon her protagonist’s forehead. Though Thomas Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, would beg to differ, “if a writer brings up a physical problem or handicap or deficiency, he probably means something by it” (475). Foster argues throughout chapter 21, that scars have a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface. By providing and demonstrating numerous examples of scars and deficiencies throughout literary history in this chapter, Foster attempts to convince his readers that physical markings generally call attention to themselves and go on to signify a …show more content…
For one example, Foster discusses the plot of Sophocles and the unfortunate deformities he has for ankles. Foster seeks to explain the deeper meaning of this essential literary deficiency, “his scars speak of his personal history, which of course is hidden from him until it is revealed during the course of the play” (466). This plot line is very similar to that of Harry Potter, where the protagonist has a meaningful scar or deformity, but the relevance of the marking is not revealed to the main character until later in the play or movie. In Harry Potter, his scar never insinuates much meaning to him, until he is told the significance of the marking. Harry Potter learns that he defended himself against the most powerful wizard’s death spell, only resulting in a small scar rather than

How To Read Literature Like A Professor By Thomas Foster

In Thomas Foster’s novel, How To Read Literature Like a Professor, he allows readers to gain inside knowledge of how literature is written throughout history. Foster identifies the different styles of literature and focuses on each style in each chapter. Foster’s novel is a tool used to view why a style of writing is written a certain way and the trends that are in each style. The purpose of this novel is for readers to appreciate literature and understand difficult levels of writing. In order to…

Words 258 - Pages 2

How To Read Literature Like A Professor Thomas Foster Summary

“The heart wants what the heart wants”, probably something you heard on tv or movies at least once, but science has confirm that the heart has nothing to do with emotion. That’s where Thomas Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, argues that otherwise. In literature, the heart has everything to do emotion, so when a character has heart disease it’s considered lyrically and symbolically powerful. This is due to the fact that in the Ancient Greek era, the heart was considered to…

Words 239 - Pages 1

Into The Wild: Nature's Impacts On American Literature

on American Literature When an author starts to write a piece of literature, there are many things that influence the author including anything like culture, nature, and anything in-between. With all pieces of writing, nature has some type of impact on the author therefor having an impact on American Literature. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, “God Bless America” written by Irving Berlin, from Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster are all pieces…

Words 1071 - Pages 5

How To Read Literature Like A Professor Essay

“How To Read Literature Like A Professor” written by Thomas C. Foster is a well written guide book to breaking down any story and looking at the reasoning behind the author's ways- “Star Wars Episode: IV” directed by George Lucas is a two hour, action packed film of about a young orphan teen, Luke Skywalker, and his quest to master the force, find princess leia and defeat Lord Vader. Many scenes of “Star Wars Episode: IV” can be broken down using Foster’s ideas in “How To Read Literature Like A Professor”…

Words 676 - Pages 3

Violence In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Chapters 10 and 11 emphasize the presence of societal and cultural symbolism in violence and how weather changes in literature signify deeper meanings; this is proven true in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, a powerful Ibo man, views violence as a sign of masculinity and strength. For instance, this is evident when he tells Nwoye and Ikemefuna narratives that he views as "masculine stories of violence…

Words 356 - Pages 2

Rain Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye

In Thomas C. Foster’s novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, an abundance of claims are made revolving around the hidden meanings and reasons behind symbols and words that authors use in their text. With each chapter and new subject Foster introduces, lists of examples are provided, but none of the examples are from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye is a universally known novel that offers textual evidence that readers can relate to and first hand…

Words 1063 - Pages 5

How To Read Literature Like A Professor

Thomas Foster grew up in the small town of West Cornfield Ohio, spending all of his time reading and discovering new stories. When he grew up, Foster went to Michigan State University and later became a professor there. Now he is an author continuing his love for books. One of his more famous books is How To Read Literature Like a Professor published in 2003. In the book it teaches kids how to identify different aspects and elements of stories to help them analyze the text. This helps readers better…

Words 155 - Pages 1

Springtime Symbolism

Both How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston explore the idea that the season of spring is utilized in literature as a symbol for rebirth and renewal. Foster refers to the Christian story of Easter to reinforce his point, pointing out that “ the crucifixion and resurrection come very near the spring equinox, the death of winter and beginning of renewed life” (Foster 191). The fact that the renewal of life occurs just as spring approaches…

Words 399 - Pages 2

Summer English Essay

LGHS Honors English II Summer Reading Assignment How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised Edition: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines Thomas C. Foster In Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Red-Headed League," Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson both observe Jabez Wilson carefully, yet their differing interpretations of the same details reveal the difference between a "good reader” and a "bad reader." Watson can only describe what he sees; Holmes has the knowledge…

Words 1746 - Pages 7

Robinsoncrusoe: Robinson Crusoe and Thomas C. Foster Essay

Buchanan 1 Ar iana Buchanan Car rie Alano AP Language IV 30 September 2014 ORA # 1 –Robinson Crusoe In the novel How To Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster , ther e ar e many differ ent str ategies for analyzing and identifying meanings within liter ary wor ks. Some of these tactics fr om Thomas C. Foster’ s book can be put to use when r eading the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe is nar rated by the main char acter and pr otagonist, Robinson Cr usoe. This…

Words 651 - Pages 3