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Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor

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One chapter in Thomas C. Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor that were not only extremely challenging, but was also enlightening and surprisingly engaging was Chapter 12: “Is That a Symbol?” In this chapter, Foster states that “So some symbols do have a relatively limited range of meanings, but in general a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing” (Foster, 105). This conveys that, generally, symbols have different symbolic meanings even though some symbols may have a very limited range of meanings. Essentially, this means that symbols in literature often have different symbolic meanings. The idea mentioned above is upheld by Cormac McCarthy’s book All the Pretty Horses, as the horses in the book are symbolic …show more content…

Here, the author emphasizes the blood of horses by telling the reader what John Grady Cole loves in horses, which is their blood and the heat of their blood. Since blood can be seen as being symbolic of life, as it is a pivotal component to the life of many living organisms, and the author emphasizes that the blood of horses, the author consequently conveys that horses are symbolic of life. Furthermore, horses can also be seen as being symbolic of being free in the novel. When the text says, “... the young boys naked on wild horses jaunty as circus riders,” the idea that horses are symbolic of being free becomes apparent(McCarthy, 5). Here, the author conveys that young boys of the Comanches rode on wild horses while being naked. In short, one must understand that being free is simply defined as being unrestricted. Since the author depicts young boys of the Comanches riding on horses while being naked, and being naked causes one to be unrestricted, being naked causes one to be

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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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How To Read Literature Like A Professor In the book how to read literature like a professor every chapter is based on symbolism. The author uses creative ways of symbolism to create different scenarios. The author uses different stories and symbolism to make people look at things from a different perspective. Foster states in the first chapter that everything you do is a quest and that the point of having quests is to have self-knowledge, which is saying that everything you do in life no matter how big or how small can teach you something.

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In the introduction of Thomas C. Foster’s book, How to Read Literature like a Professor, Foster explains how professors think differently while being compared to beginning readers. He says that professors think symbolically and that “Everything is a symbol... until proven otherwise.” What Foster means by symbolism is seeing things “as existing in themselves while simultaneously also representing something else.” That means you have to think further than just what the author says and take it out of the book. Foster also brings up that beginning readers are usually overwhelmed by all the detail put into a book.

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Symbol In Foster’s book “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” he writes a chapter on symbols. Foster explains that symbols aren’t just black and white, so to speak. Symbols can be as broad as you make them.

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Symbols occur throughout the novel and represent aspects of Holden’s developing character. A symbol is a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract. Pencey Prep and Elkton Hills are examples of institutions that serve as symbols. Allie's left-handed baseball glove is a physically smaller but significant symbol in the novel. Holden's red hunting cap is another small artifact of symbolic meaning.

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*My name is Saleen Nelson and I chose to do my presentation on Symbolism in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club *I chose to do my IOP on The Joy Luck Club because it was the most interesting book to me out of all the ones we read and I was intrigued by the symbolism in every chapter. * Symbols are things that can be images, ideas, words etc. Symbols are used everyday to get a point across to others.

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Again, in literature, everything is intentional. With that said, it’s unsurprising that the answer to the chapter’s title is yes. Foster points out that symbols mean something different for each individual due to their differing past experiences. This concept has brought great frustration to me throughout English classes. When it comes to symbolism, I always find a different meaning than what the multiple choice answer options list.

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In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster teaches readers the meanings behind commonly used symbols, themes, and motifs. Many readers of all ages use this book as a guide to understanding messages and deeper meanings hidden in novels. The deeper literary meanings of various symbols in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale are explained in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. By using Foster’s book, readers can better understand the symbols in The Handmaid’s Tale.

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Symbolism in general is the building blocks to all sources of literature and can shape a piece of writing in many ways. Symbols in general can portray what something or someone represents, giving a deeper and metaphorical meaning to a symbol. Symbolism is often used within poetry, literature, music, or even art. This is how an author conveys a different meaning to the audience. For example artists may use the color “red” not only because of the color theory, but to convey love, passion, and maybe even health.

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The books The Handmaid’s Tale and The Plague are exemplary examples of extraordinary novels. Both novels take the reader on an exhilarating ride of suspense, mystery, and joyfulness. Both novels are very high quality literature which the reader can easily recognize by reading the two dystopian classic books. The Handmaid’s Tale stands out greater than The Plague relating to symbolism, description, etc. The Handmaid’s Tale was superior than The Plague because of its superior usage of symbolism, characterization, description, and point of view.

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Symbolism is one of the most important properties a story can have. It's often used to develop a character or a theme throughout the story that is being told. Symbolism in literature is best described by as the use of symbols and objects to signify ideas and qualities by giving them a symbolic meanings that are very different from their literal sense. The short stories "Where are you going, Where have you been?" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" have very obvious examples of symbolism.

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Some authors might struggle with certain subjects because it could mean something different to them hence the two author’s stories being able to turn out drastically different. Symbolism. Symbolism is a literary device that is the use of symbols to signify something larger. A symbol in a story could range from a gold coin to a block

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Art is way of expression. People can use actions and art or express themselves in ways other than speaking. In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, symbolism holds a big significance. The trees mentioned throughout the book symbolize Melinda’s changing “seasons” (her “growing” as a person). People, like trees, go through phases, they freeze in the winter, becoming nothing but lonely limbs without leaves covered with white slush.

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According to Oxford dictionary, symbolism is defied as “the use of symbols to represent ideas, especially in art and literature”. It means that there exist an essential relationship between symbol and symbolism. Thus, it is necessary to know something about the knowledge of symbol before learning about the symbolism in the movie. In ancient Greek, the appearance of symbol is when two different people hold a half of board as a token for the next meeting after one board pieces into two parts.

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Symbolic meanings of colors and color terms The word symbol comes from the Greek word sýmbolon – a sign or a combination of a few signs. Symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance [Merriam-Webster online dictionary]; real or conditional code designating or resembling any notion; image embodying any idea. A symbol may be broader or narrower than the meaning of the phenomena it represents. Through this approach, a symbol can be interpreted polysemantically, and sometimes ambiguously (Telicyn 2005: 494).

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