What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface—a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character—and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you.
In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.
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Rating: - How to Read Literature like a Professor is a popular introduction to critical reading skills for students, teachers and readers
Dr. Thomas C. Foster is a Michigan Professor of English who has written this bestseller and its sequel "How To Read Novels Like a Professor". This is the initial volume published in paperback by Quill in 2003.
Foster is well versed in all aspects of the literary field from ancient works to fiction by living writers. In his lively little book he introduces us to such terms as the following:
Seasons; Food; the Bible, Greek and Latin classical allusions and the world of fairy tales. ... Read More
Rating: - It may ruin literature for you unless you can both appreciate your opinion and the authors.
Most people I encounter, after reading this book, complain that it is pushing a single opinion about the meaning of a story. That's not the case. While it does convey the language that people use to communicate, since that is what literature is supposed to do, it still does recognize that everyone will hear a story differently, due to the intertextuality it even mentions. This is an excellent book to have people "join the conversation" instead of being trapped in their own interpretation which ... Read More
Rating: - makes you look a the novels you read in a different way
How to Read Literature Like a Professor explains some of the devices used by authors to express themselves. The author covers many aspects of the novel such as the quest and the frequent appearance of references to previous authors such as Shakespeare. The author's approach is flexible, he explains that, for example the weather, can have many uses as a device rather than just one. Rather than tell you precisely what to think about a use of a literary device in a novel, the author encourages you to ... Read More
Rating: - Like a professor? Hardly...
This book provided a handful of interesting things for me to consider (and a small list of interesting titles to check out later). However, as a literature major, the whole endeavor seemed a bit too elementary to be worth reading. The title should have been something akin to "How to Read Literature in Such a Way So as to Pass AP English Lit." Most of the concepts Foster discusses may be easily grasped through one critical read of a novel in a high school senior literature class.
Rating: - Great for Anyone Interested in Literature
It's an interesting, funny, and informative book that can give you ideas of how to interpret the literature you're reading, and even give you more ideas of what to read next. It's entertaining, and you learn more than you even realize until the next time you read a difficult novel.
- It may ruin literature for you unless you can both appreciate your opinion and the authors.
- Like a professor? Hardly...
