Complete the notes* for each chapter from How To Read Literature Like a Professor (Revised Edition) [There will be a temptation to copy someone else s guide, but that would be a disservice to your learning. This guide should be a product of your own work/reading. For each section you must add an additional note next to the last bullet/dash. Write down something of interest to you or additional notes based on the above directions. This guide will also be your reference sheet during the year.] Chapter: 1. Every Trip Is a (Except When It s Not) A consists of 5 things: (1) a, (2) a place to go, (3) a stated to go there, (4) and trials en route, and (5) a real to go there. The real reason for a quest is always self. 2. Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Whenever people eat or drink together, it s. Breaking together is an act of sharing and peace. A meal symbolizes and a celebration of. There are all kinds of communion; it is not solely religious; communion doesn t have to be holy or even decent. 3. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Ghosts and are never only about ghosts and. Vampirism symbolizes,, a refusal to respect the autonomy of other people. With ghosts, the ghost grows in strength while someone else. Vampires and ghosts represent exploitation in its many forms Using other people to get what we want. Denying someone else s right to live in the face of our overwhelming demands. Placing our above the needs of another. 4. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? There s no such thing as a wholly work of literature. There s only one. Stories grow out of other. I is the ongoing interaction between poems or stories. (dialogue between old texts and new) 5. When in Doubt It s from Shakespeare Most literary periods between the 18 th and 20 th centuries have been influenced by and have made reference to s works. Below are some famous Shakespearean quotes [Next to each quote, write the name of the work where it is found. You ll have to search on the web for these quotes.]: To thine own self be true All the world s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players. What s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell so sweet. What a rogue and peasant slave am I. Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Get thee to a nunnery. Who steals my purse steals trash. [Life s] a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing. The better part of valor is discretion. A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn and cauldron bubble. By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes. The quality of mercy is not strained, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. O brave new world, / That has such people in t! To be, or not to be, that is the question.
6. Or the Bible Common biblical references and themes: garden, serpent, plagues, flood, parting of waters, loaves, fishes, forty days, betrayal, denial, slavery and escape, fatted calves, milk and honey, the devil, cup, and many more. Look for loss of. To be East of Eden means to be in a world (Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and went east). Four horsemen = the Apocalypse (a.k.a. Judgment Day) 7. Hanseldee and Greteldum Fairy tales (and folk tales) Most readers will recognize fairy tales so writers will use them for parallels, analogies, plot structures, and references. In the late 20 th century, and (a story of children lost and far from home) has influenced 20 th century literature (it has shown up in a variety of ways from the 1960 s and beyond p. 59). Oftentimes writers use the plot of fairy tales and rework them into new stories. Common plot are borrowed from Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland. 8. It s Greek to Me Mythology makes our experience of literature richer, deeper, more meaningful, so that our own modern stories also matter. Myth is a body of that matters. p.65 (it matters and shapes/influences the culture that identifies with the myth). Some common retellings/allusions: Homer s and ; Virgil s ; Ovid s 9. It s More Than Just Rain or Snow It s never just. And that goes for snow, sun, warmth, cold, and probably sleet Rain is often associated with (i.e. Noah) and the fear of d. Rain can be (a washing away), restorative, and associated with spring (spring rains, new growth/beginnings). Rain mixes with the sun to create. Fog is mysterious or associated with. is clean, pure, blanketing, comforting (or suffocating). 10. Never Stand Next to the Hero all literature is based. That is, it s about. In story or song, book and film, there is generally no more persuasive reason for revenge, outrage, or prompting to an action than the killing of the (or progeny). It really doesn t pay to get too close to herotypes. characters are not. if it s not in the text, it doesn t. Characters are products of writers and readers. The plot needs something to happen in order to move forward, so someone must be. 2 types of characters: 1. Round (a.k.a. ) 2. Flat (a.k.a. ) Why aren t all characters round? Intensity of labor of purpose Just consider length plot is character in ; character is revealed and by plot.
11. More Than It s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence Violence can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent. 2 categories of violence: The specific that authors cause characters to visit on one another or on themselves (shootings, stabbing, drowning, poisonings, bombings, accidents, starvation, etc.) The narrative violence that causes characters harm in general. ( the death and suffering authors introduce into their work in the interest of plot advancement or thematic development and for which they, not their characters, are responsible. ) Writers kill off characters for the same set of reasons make happen, cause plot, end plot, put other characters under stress. Questions to consider: What does this type of misfortune represent thematically? What famous or mythic death does this one resemble? Why convey this sort of violence and not some other? 12. Is That a Symbol? Some symbols do have a relatively limited range of meanings, but in general a symbol can t be reduced to standing for only. Exception: things stand for other things on a oneforone basis (i.e. Pilgrim s Progress; Animal Farm) Symbols have a range of possible and interpretations (which takes imagination, organization, brainstorming, rereading, etc. in short, a lot of work). Ask: What is the writer doing with this image, this object, this act; what possibilities are suggested by the movement of the narrative or the lyric; and most important; what does it feel like it s doing? 13. It s All Political Nearly all writing is political on some level. Writing that engages the of its world that thinks about human problems, including those in the social and political realm, that addresses the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power can be not only interesting but hugely compelling. (i.e. Dickens, Ibsen, Morrison, Shaw) Knowing a little something about the social and political out of which a writer creates can only help us her work, not because that milieu controls her thinking but because that is the world she engages when she sits down to write. 14. Yes, She s a Christ Figure, Too Some features that make a Christ figure: Crucified, in the hands, feet, side and head In ; Self Good with children; Good with loaves, fishes, water, wine years of age when last seen Employed as Known to use humble modes of transportation, feet or donkeys preferred Believed to have on water Often portrayed with arms Known to have spent time alone in the Believed to have had a with the devil, possibly tempted Last seen in the company of Creator of many aphorisms and Buried, but arose on the day Had, twelve at first, although not all equally devoted Very f Came to redeem an unworthy A character conveyed as a Christ figure can deepen our sense of the character s sacrifice; maybe it has to do with redemption, hope, or miracle; maybe it is used ironically to make the character look smaller rather than greater.
15. Flights of Fancy Flights (flying) as a symbol for f ( flight is f ) Descriptions in the text may include explicit flights (the character actually lifts off the ground in some manner), metaphorical flights (language of comparison), or subtle clues or hints that flight may or will occur. Other literary/figurative flights include maturation and the freeing of the spirit or the soul taking flight. Scripturally, flight is one of the temptations of Christ: Satan asks him to demonstrate his divinity by launching him from the promontory. Flying is freedom from not only specific circumstances but from those more general burdens that tie us down. Flying is escape, the flight of the imagination. 16. It s All About Sex Freud s work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), unlocked the sexual potential of the. Tall buildings? Male. Rolling landscapes? Female. Stairs? Sexual. Falling down stairs? Oh my. Because of Freud, critics and readers are learning that sexuality may be encoded in their reading, while writers are learning that they can encode sexuality into their writing. Part of the reason for all this sex is that, historically, writers and artists couldn t make much use of the real thing Another reason is that scenes in which sex is coded rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense than literal depictions. Those multiple levels have traditionally been to protect. (i.e. Dickens). Examples: Holy grail and lance fertility; lock and key; bowls; curtains blowing in the wind; wrestling. 17. Except Sex Sex isn t about sex; when authors write about sex, they re really writing about something else. Sex can be, sacrifice, submission, rebellion,, supplication,, enlightenment, the whole. 18. If She Comes Up, It s Baptism If a character gets wet, pay attention. Baptism is symbolically the death of the old and the rebirth of a new. Submersion in does not always signify baptism, but most of the time it does (sometimes it means death). When a character goes into water and emerges from it, then he/she is. Not every character gets to survive the. When writers baptize a character they mean death, rebirth, new. Drowning serves its own purpose: character revelation, thematic development of violence or failure or guilt, plot complication or denouement. So when a character goes underwater, figure out why. 19. Geography Matters Geography involves hills, creeks, deserts, beaches, degrees latitude. It also includes economics, politics and h. In fiction and poetry, geography may be mostly people. Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans. Geography is used as theme, symbol, plot, etc. Geography is setting, but it s also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry anything that place can forge in the people who live there. Geography can also define or even develop character. OR it can be. When writers send characters south, it s so they can run. they run because they are having direct, raw encounters with the subconscious. So high or low, near or far, north or south, east or west, the places of poems and fiction really matter It s place and space and shape that bring us to ideas and psychology and and.
20. So Does Season Seasons have stood for the same set of meanings for about as long as anyone s been writing anything. Since you know this pattern, start looking for variation and nuance in its use. Seasons are archetypes in literature. They refer to the m process (life cycles); they parallel human emotions and experiences. 21. Marked for Greatness In real life, when people have any physical mark or imperfection, it means nothing thematically, metaphorically, or spiritually. In literature, imperfections and marks are highly. Physical markings (scars, deformities, handicaps, missing limbs, etc) call attention to themselves and signify some psychological or thematic point the writer wants to make. 22. He s Blind for a Reason, You Know Something important must be at stake when blindness pops up in a story. Clearly the author wants to emphasize other levels of sight and blindness beyond the. When literal blindness, sight, darkness, and light are introduced into a story, it is nearly always the case that seeing and blindness are at work. 23. It s Never Just Disease And Rarely Just Illness In literature, there is no better, no more lyrical, no more perfectly metaphorical illness than disease. Since ancient times, the heart is the symbolic of emotion The afflicted character can have any number of problems for which disease provides a suitable emblem: bad love, loneliness, cruelty, pederasty, disloyalty, cowardice, lack of determination. ( Something seriously amiss at the of things. ) There are certain principles governing the use of in works of literature: Not all diseases are equal. It should be. It should be in origin. It should have strong symbolic or possibilities. 24. Don t Read with Your. Understand the time/culture; walk in the character s or the audience s. If we want to get the most out of our reading, as far as is reasonable, we have to try to take the works as they were to be taken. don t read only from your own position in the Year of Our Lord two thousand and some. Instead try to find a reading perspective that allows for with the historical moment of the story, that understands the text as having been written against its own social, historical, cultural, and personal. Caution / danger in too much perspective: Too much acceptance of the author s viewpoint can lead to. For example, you don t have to accept the (esp. negative or deleterious values) of an author. 25. It s My Symbol and I ll Cry If I Want To If enough writers use a given object or situation in enough works, we start to recognize and understand the range of possible meanings. The difference between primary meaning and secondary meaning is. When it comes to understanding, decoding, or interpreting symbols, use what you know. Every work teaches us how to read it as we go along. Not every private symbol is entirely.
26. Is He Serious? And Other Ironies Irony trumps. Ironic mode Whereas normally in literary works we watch characters who are our equals or even superiors, in an ironic work we watch characters futilely with we might be able to overcome. [E]very chapter in this book goes out the window when irony comes in the door. How do you know if it s irony?. Think about it: Spring comes and the wasteland doesn t notice; the heroine is murdered at a dinner with the villain, during a toast in her honor; the Christ figure causes the destruction of others while he survives very nicely. * The entire content of this handout was taken and/or adapted from: Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor (Revised Edition). New York: Harper Perennial, 2014.