1. How to Read Literature Like a Professor

So this is my first blog. Finally. Anyways, How to Read Literature Like a Professor turned out to be much more engaging and interesting that I had originally thought it to be.

Some thoughts after reading the first five chapters: Some of the advice Foster gives us can be puzzling at times, but I appreciate the examples that he gives and how thoroughly he explains himself.

Before starting this book, I remember that most of the symbolism and allusions in the readings that I studied were not evident to me until the teacher had revealed them to me. I thought that it was a bit of a stretch each time the teacher told us about symbolism, parallels, and allusions in the books. After reading through these first few chapters, I realized it was because I read too literally and often missed many of the signs. A few things popped up that were memorable for me, such as the term Intertextuality which was something I was never conscious of and after I read about that I began to see a lot of examples of that in my past and present readings. It was also nice to have a little review on Sonnets, because honestly, I don't remember much about poems and their forms. The Vampire chapter really stuck to me, with its symbolism that represents "selfishness, exploitation, and a refusal to respect other's autonomy..." It made me think about how that symbolism connected with real life while also having academic importance.
Ch.5 also raised a question, with Foster's statement of how , "There's only one story..." which led me to think.. "What is that one story that everything is related to and borrowed from?"

Irrelevant, but when Foster mentioned the Vampires, I immediately thought of Twilight and Edward Cullen.....