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How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines |  | Author: Thomas C. Foster
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $6.49
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Rating:  93 reviews
Sales Rank: 305
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1
ISBN: 006000942X
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9780060009427
ASIN: 006000942X
Publication Date: March 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9780060009427 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
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Product Description
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface -- a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character -- and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 93
An excellent tool August 31, 2010
Aldhelm
I purchased this book because it was a required text for me. I am a former high school English teacher, and I was involved in a program where I was able to teach a course for college credit as an adjunct to advanced students in my high school. They never had to leave the school grounds, and could still knock out a Freshman-level literature class. This book made the teaching of the class possible for me. While it was full of information I already knew, it helped me move from a vague, gut-level understanding of the issues to a more specific articulation of the material.
I also encouraged a few former students to read this book. One of them is now in college training to be a high school language arts instructor, and another is preparing to enter graduate studies in Russian literature. While most language arts instructors probably will find the material to be a review of previously-learned information, it is well-written and interesting. It helped me advance my thining to a new level, and helped me become the thinker that I am today.
What can I say, it was a required book. August 19, 2010
Norma Olivia Gacia (HOUSTON, TEXAS, US)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book purchased was on the summer required reading list. Although it was delivered in a timely fashion and in perfect condition, my child totally dislikes the content. She is a reader, and thought the first chapter was good. However, things went downhill from there. She is not finding it an easy read, not by a long shot.
 A Friendly Look Inside Literature for Those Who Majored Outside of the Humanities August 19, 2010
Professor Donald Mitchell (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 97,000 Helpful Votes Globally)
"And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?" -- Genesis 21:28-29 (NKJV)
Literature professors have a reputation second only to French professors for being rather snooty about those who don't share their expertise and devotion to the Holy Grail of their specialties. Professor Thomas C. Foster is the happy exception, taking great glee in revealing the secrets (it's all connected to everything else) and showing simple ways to grasp more of the intended (and unintended) meanings of literary prose. He makes the subject fun, something I remember very little of from my college classes . . . which were usually pompous, dull, and discouraging.
If you can read at the eighth grade level, you can get quite a lot of benefit from this book. You also don't have to have read very much. Professor Foster provides the information you need to grasp more of the references and to look for more.
I was particularly grateful for his list of rewarding literary books to read. The ones I have read were all superb, and I assume the ones I have still to read will be, too. I was also encouraged to realize that my love of Greek myths would be helpful if I take the time to refresh my memory about those lovely tales that I enjoyed so much as a youngster.
As a writer, I'm grateful to his suggestion that drawing from kiddie lit is the best way to knit together references that will be relatively universal.
The book culminates in a case study where you have a chance to try your wings and compare answers.
Someone who has studied literature will find this book too elementary to be very useful, but if someone teaches literature I think this book can be a great blessing for showing how to make literature much more accessible.
Bravo, Professor Foster!
Overall a good book for introduction to literature July 21, 2010
Ngan Chai Hou
I like this book. Written in a humorous, informative and engaging manner, it is clearly intended for layperson. Literature need no other elementary book than this! But beware, some parts of the book are quite boring and long-winded. Maybe you can skip that parts and re-read those interesting portions instead. This introduction is mainly for western literature where most if not all of the author's reasonings are right-on. Literature from other cultures (e.g. Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Indian) are based on different premises.
Three-credit Literary Analysis Class in Book Form July 20, 2010
Aerete (Michigan)
How to Read offers a lecture series in a handbook. Each chapter can stand alone and can be read in approximately 15 - 20 minutes. If you are already widely read, you'll pull information from your background knowledge and find yourself saying, "Oh, yeah!" or "So THAT's why the author did __________." If you are still a few books short of widely read, I'm sure you'll apply the information to each future read. Regardless, How to Read will surface in your thoughts throughout the rest of your life.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 93
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