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How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines - Softcover

 
9780060009427: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
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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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From the Back Cover:

The New York Times bestseller is now available for the first time in hardcover. Thomas C. Foster’s classic, a lively and entertaining introduction to literary basics, including symbols, themes, and contexts, is an indispensable guide for instilling a love of reading and unlocking the hidden treasures of literature.

While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper meanings interwoven in these texts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor helps us to discover those hidden truths by looking at literature with the eyes—and the literary codes—of the ultimate professional reader: the college professor.

What does it mean when a hero is traveling along a dusty road? When he hands a drink to his companion? When he is drenched in a sudden rain shower?

Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, Thomas C. Foster provides us with a broad overview of literature—a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal signifies a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just a shower—and shows us how to make our reading experiences more enriching, satisfying, and fun.

With wit and charm, Foster makes the modes and meanings of authors from Shakespeare and Woolf to Steinbeck and Faulkner accessible. Whether it’s Hamlet delivering a soliloquy or the glorious Twelfth Night feast in Joyce’s “The Dead,” in Foster’s capable hands the joys of reading are opened. 

Foster spent his career teaching literature and now puts the tools into your hands.

About the Author:

Thomas C. Foster is a professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint, where he teaches contemporary fiction, drama, and poetry as well as creative writing and composition. He is the author of Twenty-five Books That Shaped America and several books on twentieth-century British and Irish fiction and poetry. He lives in East Lansing, Michigan.

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  • PublisherHarper Perennial
  • Publication date2003
  • ISBN 10 006000942X
  • ISBN 13 9780060009427
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages314
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780062301673: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, Revised Edition

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ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780062301673
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  • 9780062696854: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines

    Harper, 2017
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  • 9780062326522: How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines

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Book Description Condition: Neu. Neu Importqualität, auf Lager, , Sofortversand - What does it mean when a literary hero is traveling along a dusty road When he hands a drink to his companion When hes drenched in a sudden rain shower Most lay readers tend to stay on the surface of a book, and though theres much to enjoy there, the sneaking suspicion that we keep missing something -- a deeper meaning, a hidden truth, a twist on the ordinary -- prevails. A road, in a novel, poem or play, almost always symbolizes a quest of some kind, sharing a meal may signify a communion-like bond between two people, and rain is seldom just rain, but usually means a cleansing experience or a symbolic re-birth. This amusing and instructive guide to literature teaches us how to get more out of reading, simply by looking at literature with the eyes -- and the literary codes -- of the ultimate professional reader, the college professor. Ranging from the major themes (such as seasons, sex, vampires, violence, quests and geography), to literary models (the Bible, Shakespeare, Greek mythology and fairy tales), and narrative devices (irony, plot and symbol), HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR gives us a broad overview of literature and shows us how to make reading it more rewarding and fun. Seller Inventory # INF1000104118

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