- Hanseldee and Greteldum
- More than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
- Is that a Symbol?
- Is He Serious and Other Ironies
- Geography Matters
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
G Bell - How to Read Literature Like a Professor - Due Tuesday, September 14th
How to Read Literature Like a Professor attempts to make literary interpretation accessible to everyone by clearly and humorously breaking down the interpretation into manageable "chunks". Each chapter hones in on symbols, themes, and/or motifs that aid in the art of literary analysis.
Choose two of the following five chapters and analyze a novel or short story you have read recently. Use these analytical tools to help increase the reader's comprehension of characterization, plot, setting, theme, etc. Be sure to use specific textual evidence to support your interpretation gleaned from using these tools. Remember to avoid listing or "pointing out" this information. You should analyze and look for the larger meaning created via the use of this technique.
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A theme, plot, setting, and characterization can become mundane to identify after doing so for the past five years. However in Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he is able to re-define the literary analysis of a work for the average reader to identify other things such as irony, sarcasm, and even the senses, as the author may have intended, to deepen the meaning of the work. Keeping all of this in consideration, there are some writers who simply do not have a symbol, metaphor, or something behind every word, such as Franz Kafka, but John Steinbeck is not this type of writer and therefore Foster’s novel can aid in the literary analysis of “Flight.” In the short story “Flight,” Pepé, a young man, leaves home once to buy goods for the house and a second time because he has killed another man. Steinbeck is able to strengthen his plot, theme, setting, and characterization of Pepé through violence and geography. Violence and geography are just two of the many chapters from Foster’s book that are useable in the literary analysis of Pepé’s journey. Violence is present to two different ways. The first is Pepé stabbing a man, and this stabbing, in context, only causes Pepé to flee the area for fear of putting his family in harms way. This also speaks to his character and although he did kill someone over what they had said, he flees in attempt to protect the rest of his family. The second type of violence mentioned is authorial violence. Authorial violence came in the story when Pepé’s horse was killed by nature as he was fleeing and when he died. When Pepé died “he drew a shaky cross on his breast” (“Flight”) as he struggled to his feet at the top of a mountain, in asking for forgiveness. Authorial violence, in Pepé’s case, provides some suffering to advance the thematic development that people’s actions have consequences. The mountaintop he was standing on as he died also allows the reader to ingest the geography of the surroundings. The mountain may get him closer to God, however when he dies his body, “startling a little avalanche [fell from the mountain top]. And when at last he stopped… the avalanche slid slowly down and covered up his head” (“Flight”). Although he was asking God for forgiveness, Pepé descends down the mountain when he dies and the earth recovers him as if he was stuck beneath Earth because of his actions. This larger theme of Pepé searching for him self and ultimate peace with the world while escaping reality, although not found before his death, came from the analysis of violence and geography within the short story.
ReplyDeleteSorry this got a little long!
Thomas Foster provides many tips that are useful in deciphering literature. In the chapter “Is He Serious and Other Ironies”, Foster explains discusses the title of Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell to Arms. Foster concludes, “[Hemingway’s] title is taken from a sixteenth-poem by George Peale, “A Farewell,” about soldiers rallying enthusiastically to the call to war, the first of which are “To arms!” By conjoining these two in one seamless phrase, Hemingway makes a title as nearly opposite Peale’s rousing meaning as it’s possible to get. That ironic stance pervades the novel right up to the end” (237). Similar to the example provided by Foster is Shirley Johnson’s short story “The Lottery”. The setting is described in the opening words by the narrator as, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green." Observing the title and reading this passage foreshadows something pleasant in the future, and the reader enthusiastically waits to find out the lucky winner is of this famous lottery. By using irony, Jackson furthers the plot of the novel. She gives small hints as she provides a characterization of the black box. The narrator describes how, “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained." Upon reading the characterization of the box, the reader is bewildered by the fact that the townspeople do not worship the box that will determine their financial status for the future. Finally, Jackson reveals at the end of how winning the lottery actually means the death of a person from the village. The reader is not aware of this and views the winning of the lottery as a delightful event because that is how today’s society depicts the lottery. Similar to the idea that Foster provided with A Farewell to Arms, the reader is kept in the dark until the end when Mrs. Hutchinson is crucified. The irony in the title “The Lottery” is that in today’s society, mostly all of us desire to win the lottery, but in the story the plot shows how the lottery is not a good thing as it leads to death.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter “….More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence”, Foster explains how, “Authors rarely introduce violence straightforwardly, to perform only one appointed task, so we ask questions. What does this type of misfortune represent thematically?” (96). In “The Lottery,” Mrs. Hutchinson, is stoned to death. A theme depicted throughout the story is violence. The stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson is the culmination of the violence exemplified throughout the story. The narrator describes, “The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.” Everyone in the town, including the small children, is aware of the process of the lottery. Like Foster explained, the death represents the misfortune of this society where no one decides to stand up for themselves. Mr. Summers substituted paper “for the chips of wood that had been used for generations” because the town had such a large population, which shows that the town had been following this tradition for a plethora of years. Even though this has been going on for so long, no one had the strength to stand up and prevent this from happening, instead accepted the tradition as a part of their daily lives, and prayed that they would not be the one that gets the paper with the black dot. Foster’s analytical style shows the misfortune in the Jackson’ society of “The Lottery”. By using Foster’s analyzing tools, the reader is able to get the deeper meaning out of the story instead of just the mere plot.
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster portrays many different methods to help the reader obtain a better understanding of literary devices within written works. He analyzes terms such as: characterization, setting, plot, and theme (just to name a few) and connects them on a deeper level towards certain novels. He frequently mentions The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and this work of fiction’s importance in literature. This book tells the story of a young boy, and his journey down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, Jim, and their quest for freedom. Foster expands on the importance of this famous river in the chapter “Geography matters…” The author believes that being on that particular river, traveling through that specific landscape, at that exact moment in history are important geographical details that make this novel a classic. Without Twain’s attentive detail towards topography, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would lose its setting and main symbol. Foster states, “Geography is setting, but it’s also psychology, attitude, finance, industry-anything that place can forge in the people who live there” (166). This novel is defined by Foster’s statement because Huck is constantly faced with witnessing geography in action throughout his journey on the Mississippi. The river became his home, as much as his home became the river, meaning that “literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans” (165). There is more to geography than just a hill, river, or mountain. It represents different themes and symbols, rather than just a physical surrounding.
ReplyDeleteAs previously mentioned, The Mississippi River is also seen as an important symbol in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the beginning of the novel, it signifies destruction by killing Huck’s father, but is seen as a sign of freedom for Jim, even though ironically the raft leads him deeper into the South, where slavery is even more prominent. Foster includes his own opinion of the symbolism of the river in “Is That a Symbol?” chapter by proclaiming, “The river is both danger and safety, since the relative isolation from land and detection is offset by the perils of river travel” (103).Even though this symbol ultimately corresponds to destruction, it also provides the platform for a young white boy to connect with a slave, not for the color of his skin, but for his personality and character. In order to interpret a symbol, Foster states, “The meaning isn’t lying on the surface of the novel. Rather, it waits somewhere deeper, and part of what it requires of us is to bring something of ourselves to the encounter. We have to use a variety of tools on it: questions, experience, preexisting knowledge” (99-100). Foster implies that the Mississippi River is more than just a river. It represents the sovereignty that Huck wants from civilization, and Jim’s desire to become a liberated man; however, in the end, their quest for freedom becomes merely a temporary escape from the terror and destruction of the world.
Thomas Foster ingeniously describes how to better analyze any piece of literature in How to Read Like a Professor.
ReplyDeleteIn Geography Matters...,a chapter about what location and setting represent, one is given the tools to decrypt reasoning behind a character's personality, actions, and motives. Foster states, "Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans"(166). The surroundings that a character is submerged in largely reflects upon their tendencies.These techniques prove to be especially useful in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, which is set in the middle of the seventeenth century in Boston, Massachusetts. Location and culture is everything to Hester Prynne, the protagonist, as it determines her fate. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Puritanism is absolute. Puritan society is extremely rigid and believed in uniformity. In order to weed out people who committed "immoral" acts, the townspeople who resort to public humiliation. Hester is found to commit adultery when she becomes pregnant. As punishment, she must wear an "A" on her chest to represent adulteress. This results in the townspeople shunning Hester. Isolated and trapped, Hester moves to the edge of the town with her daughter Pearl. Being on the "outskirts" of the town symbolizes that Hester is an outcast and does not belong with everyone else. Abandoned, Hester attempts to regain a sense of purpose and purity by sewing for charity. Hawthorne gives Hester and her lover Dimmesdale a secret escape from the judgement, scorn, and guilt in the forest. The forest is void of civilization, the mandates of laws, and strict Puritanism. Here, Hester can express her free spirit rather than quietly suppress her emotions. In the forest, the sunshine no longer hides from Hester, but instead it seeks her out to shine on her beauty.
Is That A Symbol? points that almost everything in literature can be found to possess a symbolic nature. However, in large part the true meaning of symbols is revealed uniquely for each reader. "Every reader's experience of every work is unique, largely because each person will emphasize various elements to differing degrees, and those differences will cause certain features of the texts to become more or less pronounced" (103). Each person, bringing a different viewpoint and background, will see things a bit differently. One symbol that stood out to me was Pearl, Hester's daughter. Pearl is a constant reminder of Hester's sin. Hester must face this living consequence each day. However, Pearl also represent the love that is shared between Dimmsdale and Hester. She shows the ironic pleasure we often get from sins. Although she was punished for the act, Hester is not regretful of it because it was what made her happy. Pearl continues to make Hester happy and give her small joys each day. Pearl represents motivation and purpose to Hester. This gives Hester's life a whole new meaning.
Without utilizing Foster's techniques one would surely be lacking the full spectrum of understanding of The Scarlet Letter. Paying close attention to the 17th century Boston society reveals much about the nature of the novel, as does observing the surroundings, such as the forest. Additonally, by encourageing the reader to draw in their personal expiriences and knowledge, I was better able to identify symbols.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough Thomas Foster’s methods for analyzing literature in How to Read Literature like a Professor at times seem idiosyncratic or inane, the techniques he offers to aid in the dissection of literature is both rewarding and grants the reader a deeper insight into the brilliance of a wide range of genres. Universal themes, cryptic symbolism, and a host of other devices all lurk beneath the ink on the page and in between lines of apparently plain text. Take for example, the novel The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. At the onset, the work takes on the simple guise of a Victorian ghost novel. Using Foster advice, however, the reader will begin to gain valuable knowledge into the author’s purpose and themes they attempt to communicate. Taking Foster’s “Hanseldee and Greteldum” and applying to the child characters of Miles and Flora leads to a host of realizations because “…our responses-anxiety, trepidation, excitement- are conditioned by our previous encounters with the original fairy tale” (Foster 60). We understand why Miles “…never spoke of his school, never mentioned a comrade or a master” or why Flora “…expressed in her little way an extraordinary detachment”; they are innocents, like Hansel and Gretel, on their way to experience having been abandoned by both their biological parents and their guardian (James 20, 13). Once the reader comprehends the journey of enlightenment in which Flora and Miles proceed and the allusion to the ancient fairy tale, a gamut of other themes appear: sexual repression and desire, atonement, societal taboos, and the dynamic of a broken family. For instance, two ghosts appear habitually to the children: that of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel, “infamous” lovers (James 34). Victorian etiquette made taboo even broaching the subject of human sexuality and as James illustrates, the journey from innocence to experience contains frightening and strange phenomena, like that of ethereal wraiths. The repressed desires, as Freud would come to theorize later, led to battles between one’s id and superego. James shows this conflict so powerful that it even lasts into the afterlife. Further dismantling the novel based on the Hansel and Gretel underpinning, one can understand the feeling of hopelessness and need for affection in children. James illustrates the confusion of the children based on their concept of maternal and paternal figures. At different times Flora and James were “…covered…in kisses…” from a variety of personas: Mrs. Grose, the narrator, Mr. Quint, Miss Jessel, and their supposed guardian uncle (James 13). Nevertheless all of these characters communally contribute to the fragmentation of the children’s lives and even Miles’ eventual death. They are all, in fact, the age-old manical witch.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of Foster’s work also lies in the interconnecting of his methods. After applying the fairy tale core to The Turn of the Screw, symbols begin to abound related to not only pertinent themes but also said children’s literature. Drawing on the previous knowledge gained from Foster’s advice, the reader should instantly realize an assortment of symbols throughout the novel. The tower with its “…gingerbread antiquity…” is not only another allusion to Hansel and Gretel but a symbol for a coveted desire: sexual freedom in a Victorian world of repression (James 17). Because this sweet Christmas staple was only served in a small portion of the year, the reader makes the connection between a literary forbidden apple and its real life application. Utilizing another fairy tale, “Beauty and the Beast” we recognize the manor the narrator has come to live in as a castle with its master, the beast, absent. James even explicitly states “The change was actually like the spring of a beast” (James 16). Foster’s explication on caves in Forster’s A Passage to India also holds implication for the young narrator of James’ story: she, symbolized as the house of which “…[she] was…at the helm”, is violated by the presence of the ghost of a notorious interloper, Mr. Quint (James 11). Not only does this represent again the lost of experience but the lends to the characterization of both persons; the narrator is weak and assailed like Victorian women expected to be “dainty” and Mr. Quint as a roughhewn and masculine embodiment. The narrator, like Adela, “…has some very inderstandable anxieties about matrimony and sex” (Foster 102). Foster’s excellent and step-by-step guide to analysis in literature abets both understanding and appreciation, as seen in this mere tip-of-the-iceburg discussion of The Turn of the Screw.
ReplyDeleteThomas Foster incorporates rather boring lessons of literature and English, and comprises it into a novel full of satire and funny quips that make understanding different elements of a story more fun and entertaining. In the chapter Hanseldee and Greteldum, Foster writes about readers sense of safety they feel when reading a novel with a familiar plot line or structure, usually associated with fairy tales or childhood stories such as Hansel and Gretel. Foster writes, “Here’s what I think we do: we want strangeness in our stories, but familiarity, too” (63). Most stories that I enjoy usually incorporate a familiar storyline, such as Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. The novel incorporates a fairy like story of two young people in a time of war who love one another, but get separated due to unforeseeable circumstances (war) but eventually are brought together and live a happy life together far away in their perfect little kingdom in the solitude of a small town in the mountains. This novel reminds me of a similar storyline of Cinderella, where again two lovers are separated by unforeseeable circumstances (evil stepmother/ stepsisters, fairy godmother wish ending) but eventually brought together and live happily ever after. The familiarity of the story drew me in, and aided in my understanding of the novel, but Hemingway incorporates a twist when the female lover, Catherine, dies in childbirth, which is exactly what Foster points out. Farewell to Arms is a novel which basic plot line is familiar, but “not quite like anything we’ve read before” (63).
ReplyDeleteFoster also writes about symbols in a chapter called “Is That a Symbol?”. Symbols are prevalent throughout every piece of literature studied within a classroom, and often play a crucial part in a novel such as in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald wrote the novel about a wealthy man who is in love with a married woman named Daisy. In the novel, Gatsby owns a yellow car which symbolizes freedom, escape, and transportation both physically and mentally from life itself. Foster writes that, “…in general a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing” (98). This is true within the positive context of the yellow car because Gatsby’s car also represents corruption, death, and destruction because it was used by Daisy to kill another woman, which ultimately lead to the blame and murder of Gatsby. On the surface a yellow car seems like a flashy toy, but Foster writes that to understand symbols, “…we have to use a variety of tools on it: questions, experience, preexisting knowledge” (100). Once I began to question whether the yellow car represents more than just freedom, I found a deeper more rounded meaning behind it.
Foster’s novel incorporates many helpful hints, tips, and different views on analyzing and understanding literature in order to help readers develop good reading comprehension skills in life within his novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
Thomas Foster incorporates rather boring lessons of literature and English, and comprises it into a novel full of satire and funny quips that make understanding different elements of a story more fun and entertaining. In the chapter Hanseldee and Greteldum, Foster writes about readers sense of safety they feel when reading a novel with a familiar plot line or structure, usually associated with fairy tales or childhood stories such as Hansel and Gretel. Foster writes, “Here’s what I think we do: we want strangeness in our stories, but familiarity, too” (63). Most stories that I enjoy usually incorporate a familiar storyline, such as Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. The novel incorporates a fairy like story of two young people in a time of war who love one another, but get separated due to unforeseeable circumstances (war) but eventually are brought together and live a happy life together far away in their perfect little kingdom in the solitude of a small town in the mountains. This novel reminds me of a similar storyline of Cinderella, where again two lovers are separated by unforeseeable circumstances (evil stepmother/ stepsisters, fairy godmother wish ending) but eventually brought together and live happily ever after. The familiarity of the story drew me in, and aided in my understanding of the novel, but Hemingway incorporates a twist when the female lover, Catherine, dies in childbirth, which is exactly what Foster points out. Farewell to Arms is a novel which basic plot line is familiar, but “not quite like anything we’ve read before” (63).
ReplyDeleteFoster also writes about symbols in a chapter called “Is That a Symbol?”. Symbols are prevalent throughout every piece of literature studied within a classroom, and often play a crucial part in a novel such as in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald wrote the novel about a wealthy man who is in love with a married woman named Daisy. In the novel, Gatsby owns a yellow car which symbolizes freedom, escape, and transportation both physically and mentally from life itself. Foster writes that, “…in general a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing” (98). This is true within the positive context of the yellow car because Gatsby’s car also represents corruption, death, and destruction because it was used by Daisy to kill another woman, which ultimately lead to the blame and murder of Gatsby. On the surface a yellow car seems like a flashy toy, but Foster writes that to understand symbols, “…we have to use a variety of tools on it: questions, experience, preexisting knowledge” (100). Once I began to question whether the yellow car represents more than just freedom, I found a deeper more rounded meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteFoster’s novel incorporates many helpful hints, tips, and different views on analyzing and understanding literature in order to help readers develop good reading comprehension skills in life within his novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
In Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor he shares his wisdom on how to properly analyze literature to get the full understanding of a written work. In the Chapter “Is That a Symbol?” Foster encourages the reader to go with instinctive thoughts on what a symbol means, as it is probably correct. He also says if you have to question if something is a symbol, it probably is, in fact, a symbol. In Edgar Allen Poe’s famous short story “The Black Cat” the main character, a husband and an extreme lover of animals, after becoming an enraged alcoholic eventually murders his favorite cat, Pluto, after cutting out its eye. He then later murders his wife and another cat sticking their bodies in a wall. When the police investigate, they hear a cry, open the wall, and find the bodies. While the story is relatively short, it is filled with symbols. The cat, Pluto, is completely black. This symbolizes death or darkness as this cat is the death of his sanity. Another symbol in the story is the fire that burns down the man’s house after he hangs the cat from a tree. The fire represents hellfire, which when Poe wrote the story, was a popular belief that sinner would suffer hellfire if they strayed from the path of a typical, religious society. A third symbol is the eye that the main character cuts from the cat’s body. It is believe that the eye is the window to the soul. Because the main character cuts out the cat’s eye, his soul could be seen as doomed. That cat’s disfigurement also represents the mental disfigurement the character suffers as a result of his alcoholism. In Foster’s chapter “…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence” Foster analyzes why many literary works contain violence. Foster believes that without violent acts, many stories would lack a certain spark that enthralls the reader. Violence also provides insight into a character’s psyche that other actions by the character could not let us see. Many of Poe’s works contain graphic tales of violence. Torture, murder, and suicide often appear in his works. Poe incorporates these elements to allow a reader to see the world as he sees it, a place where the basis of human nature is violence. In “The Black Cat” the violent murder of the main character’s wife and two cats provides insight that the main character is heavily unstable. He cannot function normally in society as he is arrested in the end. The violence foreshadows the main character’s doomed future in a dirty, cramped prison cell.
ReplyDeleteIn Thomas C. Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor he offers tips of how to get the most out of books whether it is understanding the critical theme or the specific symbols. He helps a reader analyze and understand what the author is trying to reveal in his or her work. Within the the chapter"Hanseldee and Greteldum" Foster explains authors sometimes use well known fairy tales to help guide his or her work in a commonly seen way. Most everyone knows the story of Hansel and Gretel. The bread crumbs help them find their way back home. Well in James McBride's The Color of Water, James writes about his struggle to define himself as a person. He battles with his mother's secrets of her past and ultimately finds out that he knows nothing about his mother. Throughout the novel the his journey of putting the pieces of her past together to ultimately define himself is a very good comparison the "H&G" story of putting together the crumbs to find their way home. This connection is used "to add depth and texture to your story, to bring out a theme, to lend irony to a statement" (62 Literature).
ReplyDeleteWithin another chapter, "Geography Matter..." Foster explains that "Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans. Who can say how much of us comes from our physical surroundings?"(166 Literature). James McBride writes about not only his struggle to find who he really is but also obstacles he faces throughout his life that counteract his efforts to define himself. One of the major obstacles he faces is the constant moving of his family. His mother never liked to stay in one place for very long. She had trust issues and also could not always financially support he larger family in one place for very long. In this, James never felt at home and rarely experienced the comfort of living and growing up in the same state, city, community, school, or house. Foster's idea that the surroundings play a huge role within a novel is very true. It reinforces James' lifelong battle to find his true self and the effect that a constantly changing geography had on his life. It left his with more questions than answers.
Within the many chapters of advice Thomas Foster providesin How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he offers the reader with tips to allow that reader to perform better in class and when analyzing stories. Foster stresses focusing on every detail of the story as many of the most important parts of the story involve the smallest details. One of Foster's most interesting chapters was "Geography Matters..". This part of the book opened my eyes to the importance of knowing the environment surrounding a story's plot. I applied this idea to Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner. While I generally understood the concept and intensity of the story, after looking at "Geography Matters.." I realized the setting of the novel adds that much more to the true message and events within it. The Kite Runner is set against the backdrop of several significant events in Afghanistan's history, from the Soviet invasion to the rise of the Taliban. These events divided the nation based on beliefs, religion, and skin color. This is the basis of why Assef criticizes Amir, a Pashtun, for socializing with Hassan, a Hazara. Though the story of The Kite Runner (the events of a friendship being broken apart by guilt, a family being forced to adapt to the ultimate switch of social status, and the subsequent regret and remorse as to the killings of Hassan), the story would have lost some significance if it were not for its setting. If not for the division of races in Pakistan, Assef may have never raped Hassan and, therefore, Amir and Hassan would have stayed friends and lived very different lives. However, because of the historical geographical location of Afghanistan, with it being between the controversial nations of Pakistan and Iran, the turmoil in Afghanistan adds that much more catastrophe to the novel. "Geography is setting, but it's also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry - anything that place can forge in the people who live there," states Foster. Afghanistan has long been known as a country of turmoil and civil war, with it's citizens living in constant fear and hysteria. The social and economical status of the country affect every citizen's mindset with the fear of death. Without this setting in The Kite Runner, some of the novel's credibility would be lost.
ReplyDeleteAnother chapter of Foster's I was able to apply to The Kite Runner was "...More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence." Foster describes violence as "one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications." In The Kite Runner, violence is expressed steadily throughout the novel, from Hassan's raping to his murder to Sohrab shooting out Assef's left eye with a slingshot. The significance of all these uses of violence is that they all have a deeper meaning behind them than just "simply aggression", as Foster acknowledges violence to be in reality. The violence acts in The Kite Runner each have a purpose. Hassan's raping is because he is of different ethnicity than the other locals, Assef specifically. His murder is because he does not obey the Taliban's order. The most important and deep act of violence is the slingshot incident, however. Sohrab's action of pulling back and releasing the rock from his weapon was in retaliation for all the pain and suffereing Assef had put him through. Amir's pain was also put behind it. Amir dealt with Assef as children, witnessed him rape his best friend, and now was being abused by Assef himself. Hassan's spirit was also a driving force, his emotion and integrity within the projected rock. This chapter taught me to look at the causes of the violence and not just the effects. I learned to pay attention to the build-up of events leading to the climatic act of violence and "aggression." "Authors rarely introduce violence straightforwardly, to perform only its one appointed task, so we ask questions. What does this type of misfortune represent thematically? What famous or mythic death does this one resemble? Why this sort of violence and not some other?" It was through this excerpt that I developed questions for myself concerning The Kite Runner. By answering the questions I strengthened my understanding of the novel and was able to draw deeper, more contrite conclusions between events. Answering questions of your own help you understand the plot and meaning behind certain events more. Violence was just a catalyst to jump start one's literary analysis of the concepts of a novel that are harder to grasp.
ReplyDeleteReading in-between the lines, this is Thomas Foster’s vital lesson in his work, How to Read Literature like a professor.
ReplyDeleteIn Is That A Symbol?, Foster reveals that the majority of elements in literature are linked to a symbol of some kind. These symbols, however, are not cemented to just one meaning, typically they posses multiple interpretations, just depending on the reader. “…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” (97). Symbols are limited in that they all relate back to one thing… the human experience. However, different viewpoints lead to different interpretations in the field of human experience. The novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, possesses excellent examples of symbols embedded throughout the work. One symbol that vividly stands out amongst others is the bloody sow’s head known as the “Lord of the Flies.” This head is amongst stranded children on a desolate island, and without the role of authority and rules of society, standards are dropped, and a decaying animal part becomes the center of all evil, bringing out the darkest malevolence within an uncensored human. It not only is a symbol of the power of evil, but is physically morphed into a vision the beast. The children confide in it, and feel the power to kill from it.
Geography Matters is about what is meant by setting and location, and provides a complete interpretation of what is intended by a character’s actions, intentions, traits, and drives. In this chapter, he reveals that what a character is surrounded by leads to their actions. Foster explains “Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans” (166). These devices prove to be beneficial when analyzing Lord of the Flies. The setting on a remote island that lacks authority and outside engagement, leads to the boys animal like instincts. Sandwiched in-between a dark forest, and a vast open ocean, the boys are lured by the darkness and distribute evil tendencies, while others rely on the serenity of the ocean to keep collected.
Foster’s methods of understanding literature provide for a more enhanced comprehension of what is open to the reader to interpret from the author. By teaching the reader to look deeper, I was more capable in understanding the in-depth meaning of the symbol, and how surroundings affect a character’s inclinations.
Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor gives many tips about how seemingly coincidental things are actually carefully planned to give deeper insight into various aspects of the novel. I applied the techniques of Foster in the chapter More than it’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence and Geography Matters to José Saramango’s Blindness.
ReplyDeleteOn the surface Blindness tells the story of a woman who is the only person not stricken by sudden blindness. Foster says “it’s place and space and shape that bring us to ideas and psychology and history and dynamism” (174), while the city that the novel takes place in is made to translatable to any major city, it is the smaller locations that reveal the hidden meanings. As the plague of blindness spreads, those who are stricken are placed in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Applying Foster’s techniques we can see that this is no coincidence, the psychiatric hospital was a place for those who were unfit for society and could were unable to conform to the rules. Instead of holding a few people who can’t function in society, more and more people are packed in and any semblance of order dissolves. The craziness that a psych ward is supposed to keep locked away takes over.
As the chaos takes over, the violence begins. A gang of blind men who have a gun take control of the hospital, hoarding the food and demanding payment in the form of women. The woman are brutally beaten and raped. Foster says that violence can be “cultural and societal in its implications”(88). In this case the violence illustrates the evil nature of human beings. Without any society to control them, and without having to see the consequences of their actions and thus not empathize, then people will do whatever they want regardless of how others are affected. Later the gang is barricaded into their ward and the entire hospital is caught on fire. This act of violence is the physical embodiment of all that has happened in the hospital. The flames of the unrestrained greed of people are fueled by the detritus that the blind have left littering the hallways. The chaos of the order less society that existed is represented by the legions of the blind trying to escape the building and eventually the hospital premises. By applying Foster’s techniques the book becomes a commentary on human nature.
Thomas Foster connects expectations and irony in the chapter “Is He Serious? And Other Ironies,” from his work “How to Read Literature Like a Professor.” As in Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” the road is expected to be a symbol of fulfillment and challenge. The road is taken to embrace life’s challenges; however, in “Waiting for Godot,” the road serves the opposite, ironic to the first and expected meaning. The road is a representation of the fear of taking risks and the failure to welcome life’s mysteries. The irony of the opposites of expectations presents a different lesson to be learned; sitting and watching life pass by results in life and opportunities never coming. In Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” the unexpected is to be expected. As Gregor turns into a viral bug, this sign predicts that he will die feeling depressed, when in fact he passes after he accepts his meaningless life. Foster explains, “In each case, the sign carries with it a customary meaning, but that doesn’t guarantee it will deliver that received meaning. The signifier is stable… The signified’s meaning stands opposed to what we expect” (239). Veering off of the usual path allows for further character growth and mystery for the reader.
ReplyDeleteFoster states, “Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings” (88). Gregor’s relationship with his father is more deeply outlined through the violence his dad displays towards Gregor. The back and forth struggle between the two imitates the emotional trials. The injury and challenge forces Gregor to reflect on his father’s relationship to him. The violence allows him to realize the pain he has been through emotionally to satisfy an ungrateful person. The underlying and non-physical effort deepens the situation to more than the surface problem, as explained by Foster. The symbolic significance of the violence has a major role on the future behavior of Gregor. Fosters tools to analyze literature go past the surface of any predicament. He suggests entering character’s minds and pulling information from other areas outside of the one single event addressed.
Sorry Mrs. Maurno; I know that it sounds like terrible excuses, but my blog was erased once again and I had to redo it. Needless to say, I will be doing all of my blogs in Word in the future to hopefully prevent this from happening anymore. I really do have awful luck.
Foster presents the tools necessary for the excavation of literary labyrinths that adorn bookshelves, used yet forgotten and read but misunderstood. He literally opens new pages of literature, or perhaps he simply reminds us of what another writer has already told, as, “...all literature grows out of other literature” (Foster 57).
ReplyDeleteIn his chapter “Hanseldee and Greteldum,” he invites the reader to revert back to happy childhood times of enjoying watered-down and Disneyfied versions of adult fairy tales. Although Shakespeare offers valid points, why would one swim through a linguistic river of mud when a clean, river of purified water or modern day translation runs alongside? Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” not only embodies but entirely embraces the simplified breakdown of thematic symbols and ideas. Like the outwardly simple and straight forward fairy tales of our infancy, this novella utilizes laconic language that speaks of a fisherman swimming against the powerful current of destitution and starvation. As he is pulled by a giant marlin, holding fast to his line and life gamble, the Santiago watches as the shore drifts further into the distance, a symbolic passing of the past and abandonment of unachieved hopes and aspirations. His trail of bread crumbs could almost be eaten by the paralleled sea birds that seem to be constantly, “...looking and almost never finding...” (Hemingway 29). The old man’s struggle with the marlin echo the past of universal fairy tales and biblical allusions which support the common ground that transcends or perhaps descends the reader to Hemingway’s eye level. Foster pin points the two driving desires of a reader: strangeness and familiarity. This is not to say that writers overly input or even intentionally include references of a children’s stories and biblical anecdotes into their stories, but rather the principles and themes of fairy tales are universal themes omnipresent in the majority of literature. Foster points out that, “...you may invoke the whole story simply by a single small reference” (62). By describing Santiago’s groan of, “‘Ay,’” to, “... a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood,” Hemingway evokes the million emotions associated with the crucifixion of Christ, calling upon the New Testament history spun into the mind’s tapestry along with “Ring Around the Rosey” since childhood (107). He thus not only vividly explains his onomatopoeia in a way otherwise impossible, but calls upon the foundational intelligence of the reader, as Foster encourages, and opens up the audiences mind and imagination into interpreting his novella in it’s intended way. Hemingway does not need to compare the disappearing shore to bread crumbs, the marlin to his trophy princess if only he could climb the stair-less tower, or even the Mako shark to a dragon that reaches the distressed damsel’s window first, for all of these allusions are already present in the mind’s bookshelf of other stories. It is therefore not the fairy tales themselves that offer precious value in storytelling of other stories, but the ubiquitous ideas they possess, as found in everyday life and everyday literature.
In “More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence,” Foster extends the mere brutality of violence into a symbolic, thematic, or alluding event. His two categories of literary ferocity, or specific injury and narrative violence are both present in Hemingway’s story. The first occurs between beings of the novel, thus Santiago and the Marlin battle each other until both of them die. The marlin and old man are mutually unable to coexist, and thus one or both must die for their lives to continue. The marlin and old man’s stubbornness drag the old man to exhaustion and starvation, and the sadistic nature of fishing destroys the fish. Thus the battle is so great that both must die. This is a progression of ferocity presents the man smaller than world concept that Foster observes regarding death in many stories as, “..the brevity not merely of a teenager’s life but of any human existence, particularly in cosmic terms” (89) coincides with Santiago’s existence. As Santiago stumbles onto the shore half dead with his mutilated prize, the fishing town’s attentions are drawn to the lost potential of the size of the fish and dwell only shortly on Santiago’s state of health. Only the boy notices his dire state, until the second category of violence, narrative violence results in his death. His death is the summation of a cosmically depressing theme, Christ-like sacrifice, and reference to the “lost boys” of the world war during Hemingway’s time. Violence brings his novella to the literary life Foster emphasizes, offering a connection to the mundane monotony and pain of human existence, while offering deeper meanings of theme, allusion, and symbols. This pushing of characters toward death drags that same character out of the black and white ink of literature into the grey-filled realm of reality. Death is arguably the greatest event of human existence, second only to birth.
ReplyDeleteThomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature like a Professor is a glimmering expression of the complexities and idiosyncrasies involved in literature. Every word has a specific meaning and contribution to the book. In the chapter entitled “Is that a Symbol” perfectly describes the aforementioned axiom. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, symbols are omnipotent throughout the text. Books in the novel symbolize so much more than human’s thirst for knowledge. They also symbol freedom of expression and speech. Foster’s intricately detailed sketch of literary elements and their applications are objective and sometimes have more than one meaning.
ReplyDeleteThomas’ chapter “Hanseldee and Greteldom” arises another prevailing enigma in literature. Fairy tales and children’s books have been fed with heavy dosage to our youth to help instill the values that we hope they develop in a different way. Why would anyone want a complicated message (in novel’s such as The Awakening By Kate Chopin) instead of a cookie-cutter watered down happy ending. Simply put, people are always pushing boundaries. We feel the need to be cutting edge in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes our quest for avant-garde foresight quells our desire for simplicity.
Thomas C. Foster transforms the commonly dull experience of learning the elements of literature into an entertaining adventure through his novel, How To Read Literature Like a Professor. He breaks down the subject of Literature into different chapters. From the start of the book the reader dives into his work and is able to understand through his witty sarcasm and relative examples. This approach makes it easy for the reader to follow what he is saying and better be able to apply the concepts to other works. After reading How To Read Literature Like A Professor, I was enabled to experience a deeper view of books I had read in the past. The first novel that came to mind was The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Edna Pontellier feels as though she is trapped; caged by her role in society and through her relationship with her husband. She struggles to take a stand for her self in discovering her identity. She wants the freedom to be able to be herself and in the end of the novel she finally takes a stand for herself. Foster stresses the importance of symbolism in the chapter “Is That A Symbol?” He says a helpful strategy can be to “organize your thoughts, grouping them together under headings, rejecting or accepting different ideas or meanings as they seem to apply. Ask questions of the text: what’s the writer doing with this image, this object, this act; what possibilities are suggested by the movement of the narrative or the lyric; and most important, what does it feel like it’s doing?” (Foster, 106). Using this method, I was able to discover the main theme of The Awakening. I now was able to understand many symbols that I did not pick up on the first time that I read the novel. Edna jumping into the sea is one of the most important instances of freedom in the novel. Her jump into the water expresses her escape. It is as though she is leaving everything in her old life behind in hopes of being able to be herself and her own person. The geography of where the novel takes place also plays a major role with Edna feeling as though she is trapped and being held back. As Foster says in his chapter “Geography Matters…”, “Geography in literature can also be more. It can be revelatory of virtually any element of work. Theme? Sure. Symbol? No problem. Plot? Without a doubt” (Foster, 166). In The Awakening the plot has everything to do with the major theme in the novel of Edna feeling trapped. The story takes place in the Grand Isle, New Orleans. It is surrounded by the Mississippi river and therefore is “trapped” in a way. Edna is not only trapped by her role in society, but she is also physically trapped due to the geography of the novel. Being able to understand the different elements of Literature is crucial to experience the full meaning and depth of a novel or work. Thomas C. Foster’s sarcastic approach makes comprehending his guide a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
ReplyDeleteThomas C. Foster transforms the commonly dull experience of learning the elements of literature into an entertaining adventure through his novel, How To Read Literature Like a Professor. He breaks down the subject of Literature into different chapters. From the start of the book the reader dives into his work and is able to understand through his witty sarcasm and relative examples. This approach makes it easy for the reader to follow what he is saying and better be able to apply the concepts to other works. After reading How To Read Literature Like A Professor, I was enabled to experience a deeper view of books I had read in the past. The first novel that came to mind was The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Edna Pontellier feels as though she is trapped; caged by her role in society and through her relationship with her husband. She struggles to take a stand for her self in discovering her identity. She wants the freedom to be able to be herself and in the end of the novel she finally takes a stand for herself. Foster stresses the importance of symbolism in the chapter “Is That A Symbol?” He says a helpful strategy can be to “organize your thoughts, grouping them together under headings, rejecting or accepting different ideas or meanings as they seem to apply.
ReplyDeleteAsk questions of the text: what’s the writer doing with this image, this object, this act; what possibilities are suggested by the movement of the narrative or the lyric; and most important, what does it feel like it’s doing?” (Foster, 106). Using this method, I was able to discover the main theme of The Awakening. I now was able to understand many symbols that I did not pick up on the first time that I read the novel. Edna jumping into the sea is one of the most important instances of freedom in the novel. Her jump into the water expresses her escape. It is as though she is leaving everything in her old life behind in hopes of being able to be herself and her own person. The geography of where the novel takes place also plays a major role with Edna feeling as though she is trapped and being held back. As Foster says in his chapter “Geography Matters…”, “Geography in literature can also be more. It can be revelatory of virtually any element of work. Theme? Sure. Symbol? No problem. Plot? Without a doubt” (Foster, 166). In The Awakening the plot has everything to do with the major theme in the novel of Edna feeling trapped. The story takes place in the Grand Isle, New Orleans. It is surrounded by the Mississippi river and therefore is “trapped” in a way. Edna is not only trapped by her role in society, but she is also physically trapped due to the geography of the novel. Being able to understand the different elements of Literature is crucial to experience the full meaning and depth of a novel or work. Thomas C. Foster’s sarcastic approach makes comprehending his guide a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
ReplyDelete