Analysis Of How To Read Literature Like A Professor By Thomas C. Foster

In the first chapter of How To Read Literature Like A Professor, Thomas C. Foster begins with the idea that every trip is a quest. Foster theorizes that every trip must meet a certain five criteria to be considered a quest as well. Foster’s theory can be found in literature throughout the ages and into media today. Foster claims the quest always grows during the underlying adventure.

A key concept is that a story must contain five simple things to have a hidden quest. The five qualities included are a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and the real reason to go there (Foster, 2). Foster explains that if a storyline meets these requirements it has an underlying quest. The tale of Little Red Riding Hood has all of these concepts. Little Red is the quester who travels through a dark forest to visit her elderly grandmother. The Big Bad Wolf is the challenge or the trial that Little Red has to face on her trip. And finally, the true reason why she went on this trip is to learn to listen to others when told not to talk to strangers. This example of The Little Red Riding Hood illustrates the fact that even in the seventeenth century authors used this style of writing.

Foster uses symbolism to explain the reason that a character takes a

Scott Fitzgerald. A trip to town during the story of The Great Gatsby is a trip that consists of every requirement for Foster’s ideal quest. In this trip, Daisy has to choose between her husband, Tom Buchanan, and her young love, Jay Gatsby. Foster’s main assertion says that the real reason for a quest is always for self-knowledge. Even though Daisy is not the protagonist of the story, the quest is made for her realization that she cannot leave her husband for Jay Gatsby. In The Great Gatsby we see that even though Fitzgerald implied it to be a simple trip to town, his intentions were far beyond