Introduction:
Once readers are able to recognize and depict symbolism and other literary devices, literature becomes much more meaningful and thought-provoking. It can create new thoughts and opinions of the reader and it will help create an in-depth appreciation of the writing. By becoming more familiar with different styles, patterns, and literary knowledge, reading more complicated literature will become easier. For example, Symbolism is one of the key literary devices in The Great Gatsby. By studying and discussing Fitzgerald's symbolism, I really understood the meaning and purpose of his writing. Looking into and understanding the symbols created a deeper understanding of theme and characters, as well as giving me an entirely new perspective on the story.
Chapter 1:
The five aspects of a quest are (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go. In comparing this to Of Mice And Men, (a) George is the quester. (b) He is in search of success and dreams of having his own farm where Lennie can have rabbits. (c) George wants to be in charge, successful, and wants to help Lennie. (d) George's main challenge is Lennie. Since Lennie is disabled, it makes it very difficult to succeed in anything. They are also poor migrant workers, so they are not given equal or fair opportunities. (e) As with most quests, the real reason is self-knowledge. George is actually looking for true companionship and learns that even if you try your hardest, reaching your goals may not be realistic.
Chapter 2:
Foster describes the significance of meals in literature as communion. He says that authors describe food in order to help the readers feel the realism of the moment. For example, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald has Tom and Daisy at the dinner table with a pile of cold chicken sitting between them. This is a symbol of their marriage and the relationship with each other. Although they do not truly love one another, they end up together. This negative meal is showing the coldness and lack of affection between them.
Chapter 5:
Intertextuality is defined as connecting or comparing new and old text. For example, when reading Divergent, I found it very similar to The Hunger Games. The whole idea of a dystopian society, the female underdog becoming the heroine, and the good guys taking over and saving the day- I couldn't help but compare the two the whole time I was reading. I found West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet to be the same way. Many love stories are centered around the idea of forbidden love, and these are no exception. Both couples come from different backgrounds, and it is socially unacceptable for them to be together. They both have to hide their relationships from their families. When watching West Side Story, I immediately made the connection to Romeo and Juliet, especially when a false message of Maria's death was spread to Tony. Another example of similar movies are Grease and High School Musical. The relationships in these movies are also based off of forbidden love, but I think that the main theme in these two are becoming adults, being yourself, and not being afraid to do what you want. Both have the same plot of a boy and a girl falling in love, unexpectedly winding up at the same school, and then being judged by their friends, both having to decide what is truly important to them.
Chapter 7:
"Araby" has many Biblical allusions, the most obvious being Adam and Eve. It is stated that there is an apple tree in the garden behind the house. This leads the readers to begin thinking about The Garden of Eden and the loss of innocence, which is exactly what happens to the narrator. He falls in love with the girl next door, and although there is no sign that she loves him back, he puts in all of his efforts to win her over. I think that the "two great jars" are symbols of guardian angels protecting the narrator from 'evil'. Once he sees that he cannot afford them, he realizes that the girl will never love him back, so he gives up. The jars prevented him from completely losing himself to an unrequited love. They may also symbolize the gates of heaven, which would serve the same protective purpose.
Chapter 8:
It is easy to find many similarities between basic fairy tales and works of literature. Reading Twilight I found many similarities to the fairy tale Beauty and The Beast. In The Beauty and the Beast, a prince is turned into an ugly beast because he is cruel and does not know how to love. Belle, a beautiful young girl is sent to live with the beast because of a deal her father made. Eventually, Belle falls in love with the beast, and true love turns him back into a handsome prince. Twilight follows the same basic plot. Bella (coincidence?) goes to live with her father, and falls in love with Edward, who turns out to be a vampire. Edward tries to stay away from her because he views himself as a monster, but they end up together, happily ever after. I think it deepens the appreciation of the tale by showing that not all 'scary' things are bad.
Chapter 9:
Who can resist it's beauty?
Who can explain to me it's nature
To follow the Sun, until he fades away into the night
and again waiting for a new day, prepare for a light.
Turned on the south,
with her head held high
she greets the Apollo, god of the son,
while his sun rays caress her trough the sky.
From sunrise to sunset,she follows her love
making sure not to take her eyes off him
not even for a second of time,
perennially in love with her love, sun "divine"
That is her curse of unrequited love,
the curse of great legend
and story of her heart, blinded by lust,
like a lost man with his eyes in a dust.
She was blinded by love
that was so honest and so pure,
yet so far away and so unfathomable,
and it was her illness without cure.
According to Greek Mythology, Clytie was a princess who fell in love with Apollo, God of the Sun. She waited for him every night and day, but Apollo secretly came every night to visit Clytie's sister. Clytie was so angry and jealous, she told her father about their secret love. Her father punished her sister and refused to let them be together. Apollo was so angry with Clytie, he turned her into a sunflower for eternity. In the poem, the sunflower follows the sun every second, but the sun never returns the love. Apollo cursed Clytie with eternal unrequited love, which is ironic because this was the reason for Clytie's actions to begin with. This describes how powerful love is, and how painful it can be if the one you love doesn't love you back.
Chapter 11:
Foster tells that in literature, there are two types of violence: character caused and death and suffering (not created by characters). Examples of both types can be found in The Outsiders. An example of character caused violence would be when the Socs attack Johnny, when Dally slaps Ponyboy, and when Johnny kills Bob. This violence builds characterization. In this case, Johnny killing Bob symbolizes Johnny taking control of his life and growing up. Death and suffering in The Outsiders would be Ponyboy's parents death in a car crash or when Johnny dies from the fire. This violence develops the plot and/or themes. The death of Ponyboy's parents sets up the story and shows that it will be a coming of age story.
Chapter 12:
To me, fences are used as protection or as a barrier. This leads to believe that in "Araby" the fence is a symbol of the emotional distance between the narrator and the girl. Even when they stand and talk face to face, the fence is still a barrier between them. This is because the girl feels no love in return; there is no emotional connection. It shows that there is an obstacle between the boy and his love for Mangan's sister. The fence may also be symbolically protecting the girl from losing her innocence.
Chapter 14:
According to Foster, many literary characters are symbols of a Christ figure. I believe that based off of Foster's criteria, Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby could be compared to Christ. Many quotes, especially from Nick, lead readers to picture Gatsby as a God-like figure. "He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Father's Business" (Fitzgerald 104). In another scene, wile looking into his eyes, Daisy points out that his eyes are similar to the "God-like eyes" of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg's. In addition to these and other quotes, other support includes Gatsby's age (about 30), his agony yet hopefulness, and his mysteriousness. Everyone is intrigued and amazed with him. Lastly, Gatsby's death could be compared to the crucifixion. As Gatsby is shot, he is carrying an air mattress over his shoulder just as Christ carried the cross to his death. Also, symbolically, Gatsby died for Daisy, his one true love, as Christ did for us.
Chapter 15:
In The Notebook, Allie has spent her childhood doing what her parents tell her, obeying all the rules, and not doing much for fun. When she falls in love with Noah, she quickly learns that she isn't who her parents want her to be. She begins to let go and makes her own decisions. In the scene at the beach, Allie runs around chasing after seagulls. She tells Noah that if she were to be reincarnated, she would want to be a bird. He replies to her saying "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." The use of birds and flight in this scene symbolizes Allie's new found freedom from her parents. She wants to be her own person and to live her own life.
Chapter 18:
In literature, rain or water can often symbolize a "baptism" or a change in character. In The Great Gatsby it pours the day Gatsby and Daisy are reunited, and Gatsby gets drenched. Once they see each other again, instantly everything changes because they immediately fall back in love. Another example of a "baptism" can be found in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Lena, a main character, has always been shy, introverted, nervous, and extremely conservative. On the first day of wearing the jeans, she is at the edge of a dock, and she falls in. Her pants get stuck on something at the bottom of the ocean, and she almost drowns. Nearby, a man sees her and quickly jumps in and saves her. They eventually fall in love. Their relationship is a time of change for Lena, because she learns how to speak up for herself, be brave, and let go.
Chapter 19:
The use of geography is very important in The Hunger Games. Katniss is from District 12 which is very poor. This environment shaped her character and gave her many important qualities that helped her win the Games. She grew up in the forest and learned hunting and survival skills at an early age. Katniss was forced to mature early because she had to support herself and her family. This gave made her very brave and independent. The arena for the Games was a forest, which instantly gave Katniss an advantage and eventually helped her win. The Capital is also important because it showed what type of society created the Games and it disgusted Katniss to see people act this way.
Chapter 20:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
In this sonnet, Shakespeare uses summer in a very passionate, meaningful, and traditional way. Summer is often used to describe passion, happiness, and romance, and this poem is no exception. Shakespeare adds that unlike summer, his love will be eternal. Like summer, his love is very intense and powerful, yet beautiful and lovely.
Chapter 26:
Romeo and Juliet is a very good literary example of irony and it includes multiple different types. The most effective form Shakespeare used was dramatic irony. This is when the audience knows something the other characters do not. The audience knows that Juliet is not dead, but Romeo does not, thus causing him to commit suicide. The use of dramatic irony makes Romeo's death much more powerful and passionate, which is the main tone of the play. Situational irony is also used, which is when the opposite of expected happens. The readers want Romeo and Juliet to end up together happily ever after. They do spend eternity together, but they are dead, not alive. This further adds passion and emotion. As stated by Foster, irony is "deflection from expectation."
Chapter 27:
After reading "The Garden Party" and completing the exercise, I would say that I did decently well, but there were definitely things that I missed or didn't connect. I knew that social class was a theme, and I figured that Laura was beginning to question her family's values, wanting to create her own. I knew that the hat symbolized the mother's pressure to act like the rest of the upper class. I see Laura's trip to the lower class as a quest. I am not overly familiar with Greek Mythology, so I didn't make the connection between Laura and Persephone. Once I read up on Persephone, I made many more connections, and it helped me understand the theme at a deeper level. There are many similarities. After reading this and the rest of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I think I will be able to make many more connections and be able to pick out different aspects of writing that I wouldn't have before.
Once readers are able to recognize and depict symbolism and other literary devices, literature becomes much more meaningful and thought-provoking. It can create new thoughts and opinions of the reader and it will help create an in-depth appreciation of the writing. By becoming more familiar with different styles, patterns, and literary knowledge, reading more complicated literature will become easier. For example, Symbolism is one of the key literary devices in The Great Gatsby. By studying and discussing Fitzgerald's symbolism, I really understood the meaning and purpose of his writing. Looking into and understanding the symbols created a deeper understanding of theme and characters, as well as giving me an entirely new perspective on the story.
Chapter 1:
The five aspects of a quest are (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go. In comparing this to Of Mice And Men, (a) George is the quester. (b) He is in search of success and dreams of having his own farm where Lennie can have rabbits. (c) George wants to be in charge, successful, and wants to help Lennie. (d) George's main challenge is Lennie. Since Lennie is disabled, it makes it very difficult to succeed in anything. They are also poor migrant workers, so they are not given equal or fair opportunities. (e) As with most quests, the real reason is self-knowledge. George is actually looking for true companionship and learns that even if you try your hardest, reaching your goals may not be realistic.
Chapter 2:
Foster describes the significance of meals in literature as communion. He says that authors describe food in order to help the readers feel the realism of the moment. For example, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald has Tom and Daisy at the dinner table with a pile of cold chicken sitting between them. This is a symbol of their marriage and the relationship with each other. Although they do not truly love one another, they end up together. This negative meal is showing the coldness and lack of affection between them.
Chapter 5:
Intertextuality is defined as connecting or comparing new and old text. For example, when reading Divergent, I found it very similar to The Hunger Games. The whole idea of a dystopian society, the female underdog becoming the heroine, and the good guys taking over and saving the day- I couldn't help but compare the two the whole time I was reading. I found West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet to be the same way. Many love stories are centered around the idea of forbidden love, and these are no exception. Both couples come from different backgrounds, and it is socially unacceptable for them to be together. They both have to hide their relationships from their families. When watching West Side Story, I immediately made the connection to Romeo and Juliet, especially when a false message of Maria's death was spread to Tony. Another example of similar movies are Grease and High School Musical. The relationships in these movies are also based off of forbidden love, but I think that the main theme in these two are becoming adults, being yourself, and not being afraid to do what you want. Both have the same plot of a boy and a girl falling in love, unexpectedly winding up at the same school, and then being judged by their friends, both having to decide what is truly important to them.
Chapter 7:
"Araby" has many Biblical allusions, the most obvious being Adam and Eve. It is stated that there is an apple tree in the garden behind the house. This leads the readers to begin thinking about The Garden of Eden and the loss of innocence, which is exactly what happens to the narrator. He falls in love with the girl next door, and although there is no sign that she loves him back, he puts in all of his efforts to win her over. I think that the "two great jars" are symbols of guardian angels protecting the narrator from 'evil'. Once he sees that he cannot afford them, he realizes that the girl will never love him back, so he gives up. The jars prevented him from completely losing himself to an unrequited love. They may also symbolize the gates of heaven, which would serve the same protective purpose.
Chapter 8:
It is easy to find many similarities between basic fairy tales and works of literature. Reading Twilight I found many similarities to the fairy tale Beauty and The Beast. In The Beauty and the Beast, a prince is turned into an ugly beast because he is cruel and does not know how to love. Belle, a beautiful young girl is sent to live with the beast because of a deal her father made. Eventually, Belle falls in love with the beast, and true love turns him back into a handsome prince. Twilight follows the same basic plot. Bella (coincidence?) goes to live with her father, and falls in love with Edward, who turns out to be a vampire. Edward tries to stay away from her because he views himself as a monster, but they end up together, happily ever after. I think it deepens the appreciation of the tale by showing that not all 'scary' things are bad.
Chapter 9:
Who can resist it's beauty?
Who can explain to me it's nature
To follow the Sun, until he fades away into the night
and again waiting for a new day, prepare for a light.
Turned on the south,
with her head held high
she greets the Apollo, god of the son,
while his sun rays caress her trough the sky.
From sunrise to sunset,she follows her love
making sure not to take her eyes off him
not even for a second of time,
perennially in love with her love, sun "divine"
That is her curse of unrequited love,
the curse of great legend
and story of her heart, blinded by lust,
like a lost man with his eyes in a dust.
She was blinded by love
that was so honest and so pure,
yet so far away and so unfathomable,
and it was her illness without cure.
According to Greek Mythology, Clytie was a princess who fell in love with Apollo, God of the Sun. She waited for him every night and day, but Apollo secretly came every night to visit Clytie's sister. Clytie was so angry and jealous, she told her father about their secret love. Her father punished her sister and refused to let them be together. Apollo was so angry with Clytie, he turned her into a sunflower for eternity. In the poem, the sunflower follows the sun every second, but the sun never returns the love. Apollo cursed Clytie with eternal unrequited love, which is ironic because this was the reason for Clytie's actions to begin with. This describes how powerful love is, and how painful it can be if the one you love doesn't love you back.
Chapter 11:
Foster tells that in literature, there are two types of violence: character caused and death and suffering (not created by characters). Examples of both types can be found in The Outsiders. An example of character caused violence would be when the Socs attack Johnny, when Dally slaps Ponyboy, and when Johnny kills Bob. This violence builds characterization. In this case, Johnny killing Bob symbolizes Johnny taking control of his life and growing up. Death and suffering in The Outsiders would be Ponyboy's parents death in a car crash or when Johnny dies from the fire. This violence develops the plot and/or themes. The death of Ponyboy's parents sets up the story and shows that it will be a coming of age story.
Chapter 12:
To me, fences are used as protection or as a barrier. This leads to believe that in "Araby" the fence is a symbol of the emotional distance between the narrator and the girl. Even when they stand and talk face to face, the fence is still a barrier between them. This is because the girl feels no love in return; there is no emotional connection. It shows that there is an obstacle between the boy and his love for Mangan's sister. The fence may also be symbolically protecting the girl from losing her innocence.
Chapter 14:
According to Foster, many literary characters are symbols of a Christ figure. I believe that based off of Foster's criteria, Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby could be compared to Christ. Many quotes, especially from Nick, lead readers to picture Gatsby as a God-like figure. "He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Father's Business" (Fitzgerald 104). In another scene, wile looking into his eyes, Daisy points out that his eyes are similar to the "God-like eyes" of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg's. In addition to these and other quotes, other support includes Gatsby's age (about 30), his agony yet hopefulness, and his mysteriousness. Everyone is intrigued and amazed with him. Lastly, Gatsby's death could be compared to the crucifixion. As Gatsby is shot, he is carrying an air mattress over his shoulder just as Christ carried the cross to his death. Also, symbolically, Gatsby died for Daisy, his one true love, as Christ did for us.
Chapter 15:
In The Notebook, Allie has spent her childhood doing what her parents tell her, obeying all the rules, and not doing much for fun. When she falls in love with Noah, she quickly learns that she isn't who her parents want her to be. She begins to let go and makes her own decisions. In the scene at the beach, Allie runs around chasing after seagulls. She tells Noah that if she were to be reincarnated, she would want to be a bird. He replies to her saying "If you're a bird, I'm a bird." The use of birds and flight in this scene symbolizes Allie's new found freedom from her parents. She wants to be her own person and to live her own life.
Chapter 18:
In literature, rain or water can often symbolize a "baptism" or a change in character. In The Great Gatsby it pours the day Gatsby and Daisy are reunited, and Gatsby gets drenched. Once they see each other again, instantly everything changes because they immediately fall back in love. Another example of a "baptism" can be found in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Lena, a main character, has always been shy, introverted, nervous, and extremely conservative. On the first day of wearing the jeans, she is at the edge of a dock, and she falls in. Her pants get stuck on something at the bottom of the ocean, and she almost drowns. Nearby, a man sees her and quickly jumps in and saves her. They eventually fall in love. Their relationship is a time of change for Lena, because she learns how to speak up for herself, be brave, and let go.
Chapter 19:
The use of geography is very important in The Hunger Games. Katniss is from District 12 which is very poor. This environment shaped her character and gave her many important qualities that helped her win the Games. She grew up in the forest and learned hunting and survival skills at an early age. Katniss was forced to mature early because she had to support herself and her family. This gave made her very brave and independent. The arena for the Games was a forest, which instantly gave Katniss an advantage and eventually helped her win. The Capital is also important because it showed what type of society created the Games and it disgusted Katniss to see people act this way.
Chapter 20:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
In this sonnet, Shakespeare uses summer in a very passionate, meaningful, and traditional way. Summer is often used to describe passion, happiness, and romance, and this poem is no exception. Shakespeare adds that unlike summer, his love will be eternal. Like summer, his love is very intense and powerful, yet beautiful and lovely.
Chapter 26:
Romeo and Juliet is a very good literary example of irony and it includes multiple different types. The most effective form Shakespeare used was dramatic irony. This is when the audience knows something the other characters do not. The audience knows that Juliet is not dead, but Romeo does not, thus causing him to commit suicide. The use of dramatic irony makes Romeo's death much more powerful and passionate, which is the main tone of the play. Situational irony is also used, which is when the opposite of expected happens. The readers want Romeo and Juliet to end up together happily ever after. They do spend eternity together, but they are dead, not alive. This further adds passion and emotion. As stated by Foster, irony is "deflection from expectation."
Chapter 27:
After reading "The Garden Party" and completing the exercise, I would say that I did decently well, but there were definitely things that I missed or didn't connect. I knew that social class was a theme, and I figured that Laura was beginning to question her family's values, wanting to create her own. I knew that the hat symbolized the mother's pressure to act like the rest of the upper class. I see Laura's trip to the lower class as a quest. I am not overly familiar with Greek Mythology, so I didn't make the connection between Laura and Persephone. Once I read up on Persephone, I made many more connections, and it helped me understand the theme at a deeper level. There are many similarities. After reading this and the rest of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, I think I will be able to make many more connections and be able to pick out different aspects of writing that I wouldn't have before.