How To Read Literature Like A Professor Chapter 1 Summary

In the second chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster discusses the intimacy of eating throughout literature and how readers should draw important information from a scene at the table. This chapter quickly establishes that “whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion” (8). While the word communion is often associated with religious practices, Foster determines that in literary context, communion frequently refers to the close exchanging of intimate thoughts, feelings or actions. As the chapter progresses Foster begins to provide several reasons for why readers should pay attention to meal scenes, such as, “writing a meal scene is so difficult, and so inherently uninteresting that there really

Patterns are everywhere. A pattern is a "repeated decorative design." Whether in a constructed environment or a natural environment, patterns are made and set into stone with an intended idea or form and are repeated. As Thomas Foster shows us in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, there are patterns in Literature. In The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson, we are shown how the different patterns explained by Foster are put into place to form the story. Johnson uses the same techniques Foster presents in How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster presents a guide to help readers further understand the novels they read. In chapter one, he claims that every trip is a quest, and every quest has five main components. Each journey consists of a “quester”, or a journeying character that lacks self-knowledge. This character has a desired destination and a stated purpose of going there. Throughout this journey, the character experiences challenges and obstacles, eventually learning something new about him or her self. Thus, we learn that a simple trip has a deeper meaning and purpose.

In Chapter One of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster begins with an example of a situation that a boy, Kip, encounters. He goes to the local A&P in order to pick up bread for his mother, however comes in contact with several obstacles. Although this seems like just a trip to the store, Kip in reality was on a quest. Foster then goes on to explain the five parts of a quest—a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there. When a person goes on a quest, they often discover something different than what was intended. In the story about Kip, Kip’s quest was to pick up white bread. On the way, he encounters a German shepherd and then spots the girl of his dreams in

Many children who are in their teens have difficulty with reading books; whether that being with the wording of the book or the content of it. The novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, written by Thomas C. Foster, is a book aimed toward teens to help them better understand books that may usually be challenging for them. This book is written in second person since Foster uses the word “you” a lot in the novel. The main thing Foster thinks you will be after reading his book is a better reader overall. All of the chapters in the book have a reason for being where they are, and he also gives the reader examples from other books. He gives the reader insights into what authors did in their books that you may have never noticed before. This

The recognition of patterns makes it much easier to read complicated literature because recognizing patterns will help you relate two or more pieces of literature together, therefore making it easier to understand and analyze the literature you are focused on. Patterns in literature can help the reader understand plots, settings, themes, and other literary elements. I greatly appreciated the novel, Brave New World because of how different the society in the novel was from the one I live in. Using the Signposts from Notice and Note, I was able to see contrast and contradictions that enhanced my understanding of the book. I noticed how I was expecting Bernard, in Brave New World to be just like everybody else in the novel but instead he was a “normal person” that felt normal human emotions, such as the longing for love, that the other characters just did not feel. He also felt isolated and alone. Bernard thinks in a way we were not expecting. Patterns such as this helped me, the reader, to better understand literary elements.

My favorite passage is from How To Read Literature Like A Professor: A Lively And Entertaining Guide To Reading Between The Lines. In chapter four, page twenty-four, Foster states, "as you read it may pay to remember this: there's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature." This is my favorite passage because the author is trying to allude that all works of art and literature are somehow connected; whether it be because of the setting or the descriptions of the characters. Foster is saying that there are influences everywhere; that no story is ever just made up on the spot without some type of influence like a conversation or just a simple smile. This passage has taught me an abundance of things. It has taught me that many authors,

A book is like a puzzle, it contains many different pieces to make it into a whole. Thomas Foster, in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor, discusses the many aspects to decoding a book. There are many aspects included in the book, including the importance of weather and Foster incorporated lots of content in his book, but the two that stand out are irony and symbolism.

“The Hobbit” and “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” are both very interesting books. These books have many similar and different concepts. Eating with others, eating others, quests, and geography are all concepts that are in both books.

Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos' army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Along the way Percy will confront powerful enemies, find out the truth about the lost god Pan, and face the Titan lord Kronos’s most terrible secret. After the adventure at Percy’s birthday, Poseidon appeared. Then, Nico came and told Percy that he knew how to defeat the titan armies for good.

In order to proceed to Rome to finish their quest, Piper and Jason must retrieve the horn of the river god, Archelous. If they fail, Hercules will kill them. Many tricks and deceptions occur; they get the horn but refuse to hand it over and bury Hercules under an avalanche. Now, they arrive in Rome and each must go different ways as they all have different quests. Annabeth must follow the Mark of Athena to her mother’s statue. Frank, Leo, and Hazel must search for Hazel’s brother. Piper, Percy, and Jason are tricked and almost drowned. The three battle the giants and free Hazel’s brother. All have accomplished their quests, except Annabeth.

Challenges and trials: Lennie’s disability makes it difficult for George and Lennie to stay in one place for long because he gets in trouble a lot.

In the film, however, the majority of Percy’s journey is to locate and enter the Underworld in order to rescue his mother from Hades. Once again, the changes contribute to the plot of the story and remain entertaining for audiences.

In the book Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Percy is your typical 12-year-old boy who is a troublemaker in school and lives with his mother’s abusive husband. Percy’s life changes when he accused of stealing Zeus’ master bolt and attacked by monsters. Percy’s mother is killed along the way towards a camp called Camp Half-Blood and trains his heritage as a demigod. Percy is then sent on a heroic quest, with friends, to prove his innocence and along the way, rescue his mother from Hades. After a long and arduous journey of being chased by monsters, Percy managed to return the lightning bolt and save his mother. Percy is then betrayed by a close friend, as the friend was the thief, and escaped while warning them of the true mastermind.

Rick Riordan’s ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ focuses on Greek mythology and interprets this into a children’s story. Throughout the story, there are many references and adaptations to mythological tales, and each one is portrayed in a different way. Riordan writes this story as though Hercules, Zeus and Poseidon were still around today, and this would be the effect they would have on people in this day and age.