4. How to read lit.

Ch.16 It's all about sex...

I am confused as to when the author will be referring to sex or not.. since in literature... sex doesn't have to look like it. What is the point of putting sex into literature? How does it contribute to the plot or theme of the book? .. I guess it could symbolize or point to what the character is dealing with in his or her personal life....

Ch.17 ...Except sex

So usually what the author is writing about... it's not about sex. Simply because its quite awkward to elaborate on the act... well, if I had to ...it'd probably be extremely awkward..... . So I'm still wondering as to what sex means in literary works.. well, to answer my own question, there are many possibilities.... ... Duh.

ch.18 If she comes up, it's baptism

It's interesting how even though in certain situations when characters don't even experience the physical components of baptism , i.e. sprinkling water over their head or even coming into contact with the water, they can technically still be baptized .. if they are reborn ... I learned that we just need to look at symbols in baptism : death and rebirth through the medium of water. I also learned that.. just because a character goes through that physical process of baptism, it doesn't symbolically mean that they were , unless they were ready to receive the baptism..

Ch.19 Geography matters...

An author places his or her character or story in a certain place for a reason. It's where it is to define or develop character development, be a plot, or it could be a character in itself.

Ch.20 ...So does season

This chapter made me recall back to the weather chapter , "It's not just rain or snow" .. and always interpreted the seasons generically; Spring = New beginnings, youth, Summer = passion, romance , Fall= harvest, Winter = death...
I always thought about how harvest in the fall can mean different things , whether physically harvesting something or harvesting something as a person..
And of course, there's irony that can change the meaning of all these seasons.