Summary Of How To Read Literature Like A Professor By John Foster

In chapter 9 of “How to Read Literature Like a Professor,” Foster explains that a myth is a body of story that matters, and can be Shakespearean, biblical, and/or folk and fairytales. Foster says, “…we’re chiefly concerned with how that story functions as material for literary creators, the way in which it can inform a story or poem, and how it is perceived by the reader,” (39). All three of these mythologies work as sources of material, of correspondences, depth for the modern writer, and provided they’re recognizable to the reader, they enrich and enhance the reading experience. The biblical myth covers the greatest range of human situations, covering all ages of life including the next life, all relationships whether personal or governmental,

For example, in the late twentieth century Toni Morrison introduces human flight into “Song of Solomon.” During that time many white readers thought she was referring to Icarus, when in fact she was referring to the myth of flying Africans, a myth that matters to her community and her tribe. Even though Icarus has nothing to do with Toni Morrison’s story, there is a reason why so many people jumped to the conclusion that her story connected to Icarus. The myth is about Icarus not listening to his father, Daedalus, and plunges to his death. Daedalus crafted wings to get off Crete and safely reach the mainland. Foster says that Icarus represents “…the parental attempt to save the child and the grief at having failed, the cure that proves as deadly as the aliment, the youthful exuberance that leads to self-destruction, the clash between sober, adult wisdom and adolescent recklessness…” (40). Its one of those myths that is embedded in our consciousness and comes to mind when flying or falling is invoked. Because writers and readers share knowledge of a big portion of mythology, when writers use it, we readers recognize

We always ask why do writers draw on a story from twelfth through the eighth century B.C. The Illiad for example is not a story about the Trojan War; it’s about the wrath of Achilles. This story “dominated by the theft of two women has come to epitomize ideals of heroism and loyalty, sacrifice and loss,” (41). This is why a story about a community of poor fishermen in the Caribbean can be connected to myths such as The Illiad. Derek Walcott has his heroes perform actions that symbolize events in Homer. “Homer gives us four great struggles of the human being: with nature, with the divine, with other humans, and with ourselves,” (42). Also, Oedipus shows up in many different variations. There tons of stories about family triangle, being blinded, and dysfunctional families. In order to be able to better analyze literature, we need to remember that myths are stories, that take the shape of stories that are deeply ingrained in our group memory, that shape our culture and our in turn shaped by it, that constitutes a way of seeing by which we read the world and ultimately