Literature Essay

In chapter fourteen of Thomas Foster’s novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, when telling of Christ in our literature, he makes the all-composing assertion that we live in an overwhelming Christian culture. The common man or woman may not know all there is to understand in Christianity, but our media and minds are affected by it considerably and basic knowledge of its core is known by the majority. The figures of Jesus in literature are abstract and in no way have to be exact to Jesus in

In the first chapter of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, every trip a protagonist takes becomes a quest in the story. These quests often entail a Quester (the protagonist), a specific place to go, a reason to go to a said place, obstacles, and challenges on the way, and the Quester’s real reason to go to said place. Whatever is gained from this quest can vary from unlimited wealth to a whole lot of nothing, but the Quester seems to always be guaranteed to receive one thing: self-knowledge

In Thomas C. Foster's book entitled “How to Read Literature like a Professor” the chapter “Don't read with your eyes” helps one understand that reading from their own perspective does not help them understand the situation fully. In James W. Loewen's book entitled “Lies my teacher told me” the chapter “Red Eyes” focuses on history and how telling history from one perspective can give the reader a biased view. Foster's books point is to not just read from your perspective but to read with an open

Literature has a great connection with the construction of gender relations in society in a particular period written. Gender relations presented in works of literature vary from one period to another. However, at the same time, the relations have similar bases but the ways they are approached by the authors are different. English literature has introduced several gender relations in its literary works from the Elizabethan period to the modernism era. English authors challenged gender relations

To Censor Literature is to Censor Life       "All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books.  They are the chosen possession of men."  Thomas Carlyle spoke these words in the early 19th century.  Two hundred years later, it seems we still do not understand the breadth and magnificence of the written word.   Americans have forgotten the magical experiences that can be found in the pages of books.  Instead of respecting the chosen

The modernist period in British and Irish literature was one of the most important and exciting times in literary history. The term modernist stemmed from the beginning of the 20th century labelled the modern period. The modern period was a time of confusion and transitions, mostly due to the result of people returning from World War I. The modern period was an era of massive unemployment and technological changes. Freud, Jung, and Marx were redefining human identity, Assembly lines and factories

In “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, chapter 18, Foster speaks on the topic of rebirth and renewal. He says that when a character's body is submerged into a body of water there is a symbolic meaning behind it. If the character arises from the watery depths ,then there has been some form of transformation whether it be internal or external. This is actually one of my favorite motifs to speak on, or think about. It shows the change and development of a character, how they grow, and their thought

Modernism are not explicit categories; whereas Realism is concerned with the realistic portrayal of the characters, the universal morality of the story and the strict adherence to literary form, Modernism is an attempt to break free from Realist literature and not be bound by the same rules and traditions. Rather, it attempts to shock the reader, as T.S. Elliot says, “to startle and disturb the public” (Companion 3). Modern authors were living in a time of crisis during revolutions and wars where

In “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” John Foster describes methods on how to relate texts to each other. He writes about reoccurring character development, relation to Shakespeare, the Bible and any other reoccurring literary devices commonly used in books. The___ Foster states in his book is seen being used in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. In Foster’s writing, he believes the emphasis should be on the character’s personality being altered throughout the story, “No matter how large or

Gothic literature founded its origins in Old Norse literary traditions crafted by the Gothic peoples of Scandinavia (Monnet)(“Goth”). Common tropes native to Old Norse literature include the protagonist suffering punishment for failing “to observe the heroic code”, references to the supernatural including “soothsayers, ghosts, incantations, gory imagery, and the eagerness of a bloody death”, and using the human body as a medium to explore “social issues such as aristocratic privilege, as well as