Haley Cox AP Lit Summer Assignment How to Read Literature Like a Professor Ch 1: Every journey a character makes is a quest

in which they learn about themselves and discover something. The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge. (Foster, 3) Ch 2: Eating or drinking together in literature usually means that they like each other and are comfortable among one another; it is an act of friendship. Whenever people eat or drink together, its communion. (Foster, 8) Ch 3: Monsters are chiefly used to symbolize something about human nature or the characters, and a monster doesnt even have to be a monster at all. Ghosts and vampires are never only about ghosts and vampires. Foster (17) Ch 4: A short poem is harder to write than a long poem, because it must be perfect, and a sonnet is a deeply complex poem, the category of the sonnet itself having a multitude of different facets. Lines and stanzas are necessities in poetry, but if the poem is any good, its basic unit of meaning is the sentence, just as in all other writing. (Foster, 26) Ch 5: A lot of characters or situations allude to/are borrowed from other works, and recognizing that helps one understand and analyze a work better, giving a difference perspective on the novel. Stories grow out of other stories. (Foster, 33) Ch 6: Most literature alludes to Shakespeare, because the themes and stories he created and used were so widely adaptable and relatable; they were timeless. Shakespeare also provides a figure against whom writers can struggle, a source of text against which other texts can bounce ideas. (Foster, 43) Ch 7: The Bible is another commonly alluded to/quoted text found in literature, and understanding that material is biblical in origin helps provide a different perspective on the work. The story becomes timeless and archetypal, speaking of the tensions that exist always and everywhere with all their caring and pain and guilt and pride. (Foster, 56) Ch 8: Pulling ideas and quotes and characters and instances from fairytales and kids books is a great way to get the audience to understand the allusion and to easily portray the struggle, archetype, or whatever the main point of focus is for the characters, since they (kids books) are usually so straight forward and defined. Whenever fairytales and their simplistic world view crop up in connection with out complicated and morally-ambiguous world, you can almost certainly plan on irony. (Foster, 62) Ch 9: Stories can allude to or reach to myths, because it is a sure-fire way to touch or affect a community of people. Myth is a body of stories that matters. (Foster, 65) Ch 10: Weather always has a deeper significance than just setting or description, especially rain, the equalizer and cleanser. Rain falls on the just and unjust alike. (Foster, 76)

Interlude : The Authors usually spend a great deal of time mulling over small passages and usually come in with references of their own in mind, but it is up to the reader to decide whether or not something is a symbol or allusion. Writers can keep their eye on the target, whether it be the plot of the play or the ending of the novel or the argument of the poem, and at the same time bring a great deal of at least tangentially related material. (Foster, 85) Ch 11: Violence always means something deeper, and there are two types: 1) Specific injury authors cause characters to inflict on one another or themselves; 2) Narrative violence that causes harm in general. Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications. (Foster, 88) Ch 12: Symbols can be interpreted a multitude of ways and mean a lot of different things, depending on the reader and author. The thing referred to is likely not reducible to a single statement, but will more probably involve a range of possible means and interpretations. (Foster, 98) Ch 13: Nearly all writing is political on some level. (Foster, 111) Ch 14: Characters that bear a resemblance to a Christian figure/Jesus are probably Christ figures. Culture is so influenced by its dominant religious systems that whether a writer adheres to its beliefs or not, the values and principles of those religions will inevitable inform the literary work. (Foster, 118) Ch 15: Flight symbolizes freedom and escape In general, flying is freedom, we might say, freedom not only from specific circumstances but from those more general burdens that weigh us down. (Foster, 127) Ch 16: If something seems like encoded sexual imagery, it probably is; Authors couldnt allude to sex back in the day, so they used symbols to represent it. It is displaced into other areas of experience in much the same way it is in our own lives and consciousnesses. (Foster, 142) Ch 17: When the author writes about literal sex, it almost always symbolizes something else. Sex can be pleasure, sacrifice, submission, rebellion, resignation, supplication, domination, enlightenment, the whole works. (Foster, 150) Ch 18: By soaking a character, submerging them, or just bringing them into the water, it usually symbolizes some sort of baptism or rebirth. Take rebirth. Does it represent baptism? If you mean, Is it spiritual, then we can say sometimes. Sometimes, though, it may just signify birth, a new start, largely stripped of spiritual significance. (Foster, 159) Ch 19: Geography can affect and influence any aspect of a story or character, and the direction in which characters travel also defines the story/character. Geography in literature can be more. It can be revelatory of virtually any element in the work. Theme Symbol Plot. (Foster, 166) Ch 20: The season the story is set in brings serious implications and tone to the story and characters.

The seasons have stood for the same set of meanings This pattern has been ingrained in our cultural experience that we dont even have to stop and think about it. (Foster, 178) Interlude: Every author is essentially writing the same story, and no one can create something completely new. Pure originality is impossible. (Foster, 187) Ch 21: If a character is different/deformed, it means they are destined for greatness. All characters who are as famous for their shape as for their behavior their shapes tell us something about them of other people in the story. (Foster, 193) Ch 22: By introducing a blind character, it adds another dimension, point of view, and level of understanding to the story. If you want your audience to know something important about your characters (or the work at large) introduce it early, before you read it. (Foster, 205) Ch 23: Having a heart-attack or dying of heart disease creates a deeper and more relatable death of a character. The emphasis is on the humanity, not the misdeeds. And authors, as a rule, are chiefly interested in a characters humanity. (Foster, 210) Ch 24: Illness also says something about the character that contracted it, especially the type of illness. There are certain principles governing the use of disease in literature: 1) Not all diseases are created equal; 2) It should be picturesque; 3) It should be mysterious in origin; 4) It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities. (Foster, 215) Ch 25: If you want to fully grasp the meaning of what the author is trying to say, you have to read as a person of the setting and time of the novel would. Dont read with your eyes. (Foster, 228) Ch 26: Irony sends a message without using traditional methods or sounding too preachy. Irony trumps everything. (Foster, 235)