How to Read Literature Like a Professor Chapters 1-26 Already Passed

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Chapters 1-26 Already Passed Quests Chapter 1: "Every trip is a quest (except when it is not)" A quest consists of 5 things: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges on the way, & a real reason to be going there The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge, self-fulfillment, self-discovery Ex: Huckleberry Finn, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, Star Wars, Crying of Lot 49 Acts of Communion Chapter 2: "Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion" Whenever people eat or drink together, it's a communion Communion is "an act of sharing of peace" & doesn't have to be religious at all (usually isn't) Food is something everyone likes & therefore has in common, so we can watch characters getting along (or not getting along) Ex: Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, Raymond Carver's "Cathedral", Joyce's "The Dead" Vampires Chapter 3: "Nice to Eat You" Ghosts and Vampires are never only about Ghosts and Vampires Classic Traits: -Older figure representing corrupt, worn out values -A young, preferably virginal female -A stripping away of her youth, energy and innocence -A continuance of her life force for the older figure -Death or destruction of the young woman Victorian Age- vampire, topics like sex & sexuality couldn't be talked about directly, so this character used to bring the issues forefront Ex: Marley's Ghost in a Christmas Carol, James' Daisy Miller, Hardy's Tess of the D' Urbervilles The Sonnet Chapter 4: "If It's a Square, It's a Sonnet" Sonnets have been written in every era since the Renaissance There are always 14 lines long, usually with about 10 syllables per line. This format makes the poem itself, more or less, look like a square There are 2 types : -The Petrarchan (or Italian), which consists of two parts- one section of 8 lines & one section of 6 lines, with a unified rhyme scheme -Shakespearean consist of three 4 line stanzas (quatrains) & 1 two line stanza (couplet) Originality Chapter 5: "Now, where Have I Seen Her Before?" There's no such thing as a wholly original work of literature We are influences, no matter how much, by things we have seen before There's only one story To make connections to past characters, think of new characters in generic forms & you will often find ties in plot usage and/or characterization Stories come out of other stories & even history is a story, therefore