How to Read Like A Professor Ch. 12-Postlude

what does it mean when an author sends a character south?

"when writers send characters south, its so they can run amok"

what are the principles governing the use of disease in works of literature?

1) not all diseases have/carry literary significance 2) physical symptoms can carry literary significance 3) disease should be mysterious in origin 4) the disease should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities

what do you do when you suspect symbolism?

1) start with the idea that the symbol can mean x, y, or z. then keep that in mind to see which one, if any, proves to be the case. 2) start breaking down the work into manageable pieces, associate freely, brainstorm, and take notes 3) organize your thoughts, grouping them together under headings, rejecting or accepting different ideas or meanings as they seem to apply 4) ask questions of the text: whats the writer doing with the image, this object, this act; what possibilities are suggested by the movement of the narrative of the lyric; and most important. what does it feel like he is dong?

Foster explains why most literature can be called "political". Summarize his argument.

1) you could argue that the role of the individual is always politically charged 2) most works engage their own specific period in ways that can be called political

who does foster accuse of teaching writers to encode sexual messages in their writing and of teaching readers to decode sexual messages in literature? what is the title of the work?

Sigmund Freud- Interpretation of Dreams

Foster defines irony like this: "What irony chiefly involves, then, is ____________________________________________________________" Explain what he means by this.

a deflection from explanation; he means that our expectations point us in one direction but the author of the work deflects the meaning away from the expectations; this irony is structural and dramatic rather than verbal

symbols in literature can be objects,______

actions, images, and/or events

what things can "heart trouble" signify in literature?

bad love, loneliness, cruelty, pederasty, disloyalty, cowardice, lac of determination, something seriously amiss out at the heart of things

How can a writer's personal geography inform his/her work?

can express the writer's psyche and also convey theme

what are the two categories of violence in literature?

character on character: an injury that characters do on one another or on themselves, including usual behavior narrative violence: this causes harm in general; for plot exigency

what are some of the things that drowning can mean in literature?

character revelation; thematic development of violence, failure, or guilt; plot complication or denoument

foster writes, "When they're writing about other things they really mean sex and when they write about sex they really mean something else". what are some of the other things that a sex scene can mean?

characters freedom from convection, removal of restrictions, cover for espionage, personal sacrifice, psychological neediness, desire for power over someone else

what are some of the things that baptism (or immersion in water) can mean in literature?

death, rebirth, new identity

explain what foster means by "don't read with your eyes"

don't read only from your fixed position

list and define the three types of irony in literature

dramatic: audience knows more than what the characters know verbal:characters say opposite of what is expected situational:a situation plays out opposite of what is expected or considered normal

what is the premise of intertextuality?

everything's connected... everything you write is connected to other written things

what is a conceit?

extended metaphor running through the poem as an organized device

what about figurative elements that are not part of the common share? what do we do with an uncommon, individual reference?

figure it out through context. where is it in the work? how does the author use it? what does he mean by it? use what you know, you know more than you think

Foster asserts that a character need not have all of the distinguishing characteristics of Jesus Christ in order to be considered a Christ figure in literature. Why? Explain.

foster says "its effects we're after, not details" and "its the symbolic level we're interested in"

what does it mean when literary characters fly?

freedom, imagination, escape

"In literature there is no better, no more lyrical, no more perfectly metaphorical illness than_____". Why is this?

heart disease; because the symbolic nature(respiratory of emotion) of the heart, authors use the heart to mean the center of emotion within the body

what is the troubling question of literary analysis? what is the answer?

how do i know i am right? if something in a work has captured your attention, it is there for a reason.your claim is correct as long as it has substantial evidence and support

what are the tools you should use when trying to determine symbolic meaning?

if we want to figure out what a symbol might mean we have to use a variety of tools on it: questions, experience, and preexisting knowledge

"we have... a common pool of figurative data built up over the centuries... a store of __ , __ ,__ ,and __ that we not only can access but do automatically.... this permits texts to ___."

images, symbols, similes, metaphors; mean more than 1 thing simultaneously

what is the difference between symbolism and allegory?

in general, a symbol cannot be reduced to standing for only one thing and if it does it is an allegory not symbolism. allegory is one for one basis; one thing.

explain what foster means by "irony trumps everything"

irony always wins because it provides additional richness tot he work and keeps the reader on their toes, compels them to dig through possible meaning and competing significance

what are the four reasons that authors kill off characters in literature?

make action happen, cause plot complications, end plot complications, put other characters under stress

Does a character always have to actually fly in order for there to be "flying" in a piece of literature? Explain.

no, "often in literature the freeing of the spirit is seen in terms of flight ... (for example) we speak of the soul as taking wing"... this is because any symbol that indicates freedom of spirit counts, as well, and can represent figurative flight

what is the problem with symbols?

people expect them to mean something in particular

Foster asserts that, "Nearly all writing is ________"

political on some level

what is the primary meaning of a text? the secondary meaning?

primary: the story it is telling, the surface discussion (landscape description, action, argument, and so on). secondary: that which provides texture and depth to a work

what are some of the roles geography plays in literature and what are some of the effects of geography in literature?

roles: setting, psychology, attitude, industry, finance, anything that place can forge in the people who live there effects: define or develop a character, be a character, play a specific plot role, be a metaphor for the psyche

Foster writes, "... to get the most out of your reading of European and American literature, knowing about the ______________ is essential. Similarly, if you undertake to read literature from an islamic or a Buddhist or a Hindu culture, _____ _________ __________." why?

something about the Bible; you're going to need knowledge of others literary traditions... because culture is influenced by religions and as a writer you must adhere to its beliefs or not

if you come across a character flying in a piece of literature, they are one or more of the following:

superhero, ski jumper, crazy, fictional, circus act, suspended on wires, an angel heavily symbolic

what is the great truth, revealed in a previous chapter, that is reiterated here? why does foster bring it up again?

there's only one story. because "writers notice all the time that their characters resemble somebody... and they go with it. what happens ... the work actually acquires depth and resonance from echoes and chimes it sets up with prior texts"

for what reason(s) do authors choose to make characters blind in literature?

to emphasize other levels of sight and blindness beyond the physical (its a metaphor)

for what reason(s) do authors give characters deformities, scars or other physical markings in literature?

to signify psychological or thematic (or spiritual or metaphorical) point the writer is trying to make

about what does foster warn readers?

try to take the works as they were intended to be taken... don't have to accept value of another culture to step into the story

define figuration

types of figurative representation such as symbols, metaphors, allegory, imagery that allows readers to discover possibilities in a text beyond the literal

what are the implications of violence in literature?

while it is literal, it usually always means something else, like a metaphor

what are the symbolic meanings of the seasons?

winter: old age, resentment, death spring: childhood, rebirth, youth and renewal summer: adulthood, romance fulfillment, and passion autumn: decline, middle age, tiredness, and harvest