How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines Review Chapters 9-14

“It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” Chapter 9 “It was a dark and stormy night” (69). “Here’s what I think: weather is never just weather. It’s never just rain” (70). So…what IS it used for in literature? “plot device”' “atmospherics” “misery factor” “democratic element”

“It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” Chapter 9 “What other things? For one, it’s clean. One of the paradoxes of rain is how clean it is coming down and how much mud it can make when it lands. So if you want a character cleansed, symbolically, let him walk through the rain to get somewhere” (71). “On the other hand, it is also restorative” (72).

“It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” Chapter 9 “Rain mixes with sun to create rainbows…While we may have minor associations with pots of gold and leprechauns, the main function of the image of the rainbow is to symbolize divine promise, peace between heaven and earth” (74).

“It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow” Chapter 9 “Once you figure out rainbows, you can do rain and all the rest…Fog, for instance. It almost always signals some sort of confusion…In almost any case I can think of, authors use fog to suggest that people can’t see clearly, that matters under consideration are murky” (75).

“Never Stand Next to the Hero” Chapter 10 “The average space between [Hector’s] new charioteer being named and being skewered is about five lines” (78) “It really doesn’t pay to get too close to hero- types” (80)

“Never Stand Next to the Hero” Chapter 10 Literature has its own logic because….. Characters are not people (80) This is not a person

“Never Stand Next to the Hero” Chapter 10 Always remember: “If it’s not in the text, it doesn’t exist” (81) “Characters are products of writer’s imaginations— and reader’s imaginations” (81)

“Never Stand Next to the Hero” Chapter 10 Two main types of characters: Round and flat “I’ve made this flat/round thing sound binary, but it is really more of a continuum” (87)

“Never Stand Next to the Hero” Chapter 10 “Plot is character in action; character is revealed and shaped by plot” (89)

Interlude “Does He Mean That?” Yes

“…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence Chapter 11 “Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications. It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent. Violence in real life just is” (95).

“…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence” Chapter 11 “Violence in literature, though, while it is literal, is usually also something else. (95).

“Is That a Symbol” Chapter 12 “Of course it is” (104).

“Is That a Symbol” Chapter 12 “The more you exercise the symbolic imagination, the better and quicker it works” (114) “…a reader’s imagination is the act of one creative intelligence engaging another” (114)

“It’s All Political” Chapter 13 “Writing that engages the realities of its world – that thinks about human problems, including those in the social and political realm, that addresses the rights of persons and the wrongs of those in power- can be not only interesting but hugely compelling” (117).

“It’s All Political” Chapter 13 “…most works must engage with their own specific period in ways that can be called political” (122) Always look at the assumptions the text contains: How are women and men “supposed” to act? What is the nature of the relationship between economic classes?

“Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too” Chapter 14 “Culture is so influenced by its dominant religious systems that whether a writer adheres to the beliefs or not, the values and principles …inform the literary work” (125) Crucified In agony Self-sacrificing Good with children Fish, water, wine Carpenter Humble transportation Outstretched arms Tempted/devil Seen with thieves Create parables Buried/rose on 3rd day Disciples Redeem unworthy world

2009 AP English Literature Exam Question 3 (Suggested time—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.) A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

Assignment Select one symbol from your summer reading novel, and: A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something else, creating a range of associations to other meanings beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select one symbol from your summer reading novel, and: sketch the symbol on an unlined 8 1/2x11 piece of paper, find at least three quotations from the work that refer to the symbol (include on front of sketch), and explain how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the work as a whole in ONE sentence(of normal length). Include this sentence on the back of the sketch.