English Final: How to read literature
What does it mean when literary characters fly?
It could mean being different from the human race, freedom, and counter freedom
What can rain represent in literature?
Rain can represent new growth, bring back to life, and restorative
Know Foster's points of parting advice for further reading.
Read things you like to read, great literature/good writings, reading should be fun and the author doesn't have to be dead
What does Foster mean "If it's square, it's sonnet"?
14 lines has about 10 syllables and it looks like a square
What are the five characteristics of the quest?
A quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go, challenegs and trials en route, and a real reason to go there
"Breaking bread together is an act of......"
An act of sharing and peace, if you're breaking bread then you're not breaking heads
What is "Intertextuality"?
An ongoing interaction between poems or stories. Other poems or stories can speak to each other
What things can "heart trouble" signify?
Center of emotion, love, loneliness, loyalty, cruelty,bad love, pederasty, lack of determination, difficulties of the heart, short hand for character
What irony chiefly involves, then is........
Deflection from expectation
What does eating represent in literature?
Eating can represent a sexual experience, bad sign, sharing a communion with each other
Explain what Foster means by "irony trumps everything"
Every chapter in books goes out the window when irony comes in the door
What is a Petrarchan Sonnet?
Has an octave with a rhyme scheme that ties the first eight lines together. Then has another rhyme scheme that ties the last six
Explain what Foster means by "Don't read with your eyes"
He means to look in the characters thoughts and perspective rather than your own
What is the difference between symbolism and allegory?
If a general symbol stands for only one thing, then it is allegory. An allegory conveys a specific message
What are the implications of violence in literature?
It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, and transcendent
What can Fog represent in literature?
It can represent mental and physical confusion
Foster says he loves "political" writing. What is his definition of it in that context?
It engages the realities of its world; it thinks about human problems including those in the social and political realm
Know the principles governing the use of disease in literature
Not all diseases are equal, it should be mysterious in origin,it should have a strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities
What can drowning mean in literature?
Rebirth, begin new life, revolution, thematic development, failure, or guilt
Why do so many writers use and quote Shakespeare?
Shakespeare has wide variety of plays and characters to provide a figure against whom writers can struggle and text where other texts can bring ideas
To get the most out of your reading of European and American literature knowing what is essential?
Something about the Old and New Testaments
What are the symbolic meanings of the seasons?
Spring: Childhood and youth Summer:adulthood, Romance, passion Autumn:decline of the Middle Ages,tiredness,harvest Winter:old age, resentment death
What is the "big secret" Foster reveals in this chapter?
That there is only one story. Every story ends up referencing another story or line
What does Foster suggest are the four reasons that writers allude to fairy tales?
They add greater weight, depth, and makes a story resonate with richness of things that actually happened before with power of myth
What is the list of what a character may be because they're flying?
They are a superhero, ski jumper, crazy, fictional, a circus act, departing a canon, suspended on wines, an angel, or heavily symbolic
What do Biblical allusions do for a piece of literature?
They provide a mythic context that many people can connect or at least have an idea
For what reasons do authors give characters deformities, scars, or other physical markings?
They want to signify some psychological or thematic point
Why do authors choose to make characters blind?
To add depth, to see a different perspective, the character doesn't know what they are doing
What does it mean when an author sends a character south?
To cause the characters to look at their deepest fears
About what does Foster warn readers?
Too much acceptance of the authors view point can lead to difficulties
What is a Shakespearean Sonnet?
Usually divides up by four the pattern. First three parts are four lines long, known as quatrains. The fourth part is a couplet
What are the three types of irony in literature?
Verbal, Dramatic, Situational Irony
What does Foster mean from "What irony chiefly involves, then is deflection from expectation."
What we expect isn't what happens
What does snow represent is literature?
cleanliness, stark, severe, warm, inhospitable, playful, suffocating, and filty
According to Foster sex can mean literally sex or it can mean something else Finally he says it can mean pleasure, sacrifice.....
failure of liberation; religious, political, artistic subversion, rebellion.
What are some of the roles geography plays in literature?
setting, psychology, attitude, finance, industry, theme, symbol, plot, and to develop characters
What are some reasons that authors kill of characters?
to make action happen, cause plot complications, end plot complications, and put other characters under stress
