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Literature Like A Professor Reflection

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Recommended: Symbolism in the things they carried literary criticism

Reflection How to Read Literature like a Professor was definitely a ‘thought provoking read’ like the table at Barnes & Noble said. Although at first, I have to admit that Foster’s writing had bored me a bit, until I realized fact that I had subconsciously been thinking about what certain items symbolize and how they were important to the story. Overall, I enjoyed the work; Foster’s book is truly “A lively and entertaining guide to reading between the lines.” I liked the references Foster constantly gave to novels and movies, that helped me with visualizing what kind of ideas he was talking about, since I personally learn better through visualizations. Finding out about the classic fairy tales becoming modern ones, surprised me a bit; …show more content…

The chapters with weather were interesting, because I had never thought of the multiple meanings of rain, let alone know how many countless meanings rain could represent. The chapter about the seasons was not actually surprising since I had a basic understanding that spring is birth, winter is death, fall is old age, and summer is youth. The seasons also have multiple meanings, which I thought was interesting since they are considerably long amounts of time and a great deal can happen in a short amount of time, so it was feasible how abundant the symbols for a single there are. To put the use of Foster’s knowledge into context, I had a friend over this summer and we watched Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Having both read How to Read Literature Like a Professor, we began to discuss how the mythical element of the Force could play the role of God and that Anakin Skywalker is a Christ figure since his mother had conceived him on her own. Our biblical referencing to the movie did not go far when we encounter the problem of the Dark Side of the Force. Having known the fate of Skywalker going to the Dark Side, we faced a problem with our chosen Christ

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How does How To Read Literature Like A Professor applies to every piece of literature? This novel is written by Thomas Foster and he gives the better understanding on many things, including patterns, symbols, and other literary devices. He helps the reader to gain knowledge on how to recognize each small detail of the story. This novel makes the connection with The Scarlet Letter and makes it easier to comprehend. The Scarlet Letter is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne; this novel is about Hester Prynne, who is a young and beautiful woman and committed adultery with town’s minister, Reverend Dimmesdale.

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In the introduction of “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” , Thomas C. Foster focuses on the grammar of literature and the qualities of a professorial reader. He asserts that practise is crucial to learn how to read literature in a more rewarding way. In addition, he defines main elements of the context such as pattern , symbols, and conventions. The purpose of Foster appears to be informing students who is beginning to be introduced to literature. Although Foster’s style is slightly condescending, he utilizes the conventions of literature quite well, and mentions the arbitrariness of these conventions in a sensible way.

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Beginning with the first chapter it stresses how the author

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In the beginning of Chapter ¬15 of How To Read Literature Like A Professor, Thomas C. Foster first introduces the very known fact that humans cannot fly. So if a human is able to in a piece of literature, it belongs to the categories he lists later on. However, the categorization is an superficial analyzation of flying. He introduces the history of flying and how humans have strived to defied the laws of gravity forever. Foster analyzes Morrison’s Song of Solomon and explain how when Solomon flew off to Africa it is an act of returning “home” and “casting off the chains of slavery on one level”(Foster 92).

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How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids Correlations to Eragon Literature in all forms can be connected with each other. No matter the type, genre, or author all stories have underlying meanings that can be linked with another. These connections can be categorized and applied to all varieties of written composition. In Thomas C. Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids, he dictates various aspects that can be found in pieces of literature. There are many instances from Christopher Paolini’s bestselling novel, Eragon, that correlate with Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids; the most prominent of these occurrences are coincident with chapters fourteen: “Marked for Greatness”, sixteen: “It’s Never Just Heart Disease… and Rarely Just Illness”, and eleven: “Is That a Symbol?”.

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Thomas Foster, a professor at the University of Michigan, taught literature and writing. He was born in West Cornfield, Ohio, and living in such a small town caused him to become very associated with books. In 2003, Foster published a book, How to Read Literature like a Professor, written in second person. The book is written as a guide for readers to know the parts of nonfiction books. It teaches young readers how to include important elements into their stories.

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Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, is a thought provoking guide to reading literature. This book helps with understanding the “language of reading” and the importance of details. Foster opens up a new side of literature where rather than reading emotionally, you dig deeper into the grammar of the literary work to discover the true meaning. How to Read Literature Like a Professor, is beneficial when reading any kind of literary work. It explains the particular “set of conventions and patterns, codes and rules” (Foster xxv) used when dealing with literary works.

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How to Read Literature Like a Professor is a book that shows numerous ways and strategies to understand what their reading. Each chapter shows examples from books and use of literary devices that can help develop the meaning of the story. Think of this book as reading between the lines. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald used people to symbolize objects or things to let the reader have an interpretation on the characters. For example, the green light represents Gatsby's future for him and Daisy to be together.

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Chapter five of How To Read Literature Like An English Professor is about how Shakespeare is prominent in both old and current works of literature and in the media. Foster states “He’s everywhere, in every literary form you can think of. And he’s never the same: every age and every writer reinvents its own Shakespeare.” (33). So why Shakespeare?

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One of the main ways George Lucas based Star Wars off of the Catholic Church includes the idea of a savior. Luke and Jesus' fight for good to turn people away from evil (Marquand). Basically, Jesus and Luke fight to spring from the clutches of an evil tormentor. They both have extremely powerful fathers, but still fight for the good of the people (Lucas, Revenge).

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Certain ideas and concepts that are discussed in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster are evident in the two pieces of literature Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Foster opens with the popular quest story type and what are its elements. There must be a quester, a destination, a basic objective, obstacles, and a hidden significance. In Jane Eyre Jane’s experience at Lowood could be exemplified. Jane being the perfect quester at this point in the novel since she is young, unwise, and inexperienced in the real world.

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All of which helped tremendously with becoming a more precise writer and developing my identity as a writer. In the beginning of this course we worked with different readings that were intended to challenge us intellectully. Readings such as “To see your story clearly, start by pulling the wool over your own eyes” which is found the New York Times and “All Writing is Autobiography” by Donald M. Murray where readings that were meant to be challenging yet unfamiliar to us as well. This concept helped me greatly because it proved that I can be a flexible reader.

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Behind each movie lies the meaningful aspects and significant features worth noticing. All movies and books can be carefully examined and interpreted. Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor provides a new view on interpreting literature. In the novel, Foster identifies and analyzes common patterns, themes, and motifs found in literature, many of which are also present in Disney’s film, Maleficent. This movie showcases several of his ideas, including quests, flight, geography, and symbolism.

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As each writing assignments is graded, I realize how much I have improved as a writer by the grade and the fewer mistakes that I have made in them. As each time the grammatical and spelling mistakes are fewer on each paper. I want to share how I have grown as a writer on second semester by being in class and reflecting on my previous assignments. Even though there weren’t many writing assignments this semester. There were some assignments that I have done poorly on.

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In the list of the world’s most watched fairy tales, Cinderella is of no exception. Over the years, seven hundred versions of Cinderella have been created all over the world in different languages (Kelley, 1994). In the 19th century, the first written form of the story was published in China. However, a modern version of Cinderella collated in France in 1697 by Charles Perrault (Williams, 2016) has become very popular in the United States (Kelley, 1994). Based on Perrault’s version, Walt Disney created a full-length animation of Cinderella in 1950 (History.com Staff, 2009).

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