Let's Play " Answer 4 Question From The Book 'How To Read Literature Like a Professor' by Thomas C. Foster and earn points" game show. ( wow that's a long title)

Here’s your first question

How was your experience reading the book?

At first I hated the book so much, because of all the examples he was giving. It was kind of confusing when he talks about different kinds of books. I give props to him for knowing all those books. Although I haven’t even heard of one of the book he talked about. Perhaps that’s the reason why I wasn’t interested. I didn’t know what he was talking about because I’m not familiar with them.

You got .5 points!

Here’s your second question

Do you think this guide is helpful?

I think it’s very helpful. I don’t really like literature but this book helped get better t reading a literature book.

You got yourself another .5 points!

Here’s your third question

What was your favourite passage or quote?

I really like the quote, “When they’re writing about sex, they really mean something else, and when they write about something else, they really mean sex.” I know what you’re thinking right now but don’t worry, I’m not like that at all! When I heard this quote, it made me think like, “Oh that’s sex! Oh a key and a lock, sex!” Get what I’m saying?

You earned yourself 1 point!

Here’s your last question

What did you learn from reading this book?

I pretty much learned how to read literature! I learned that basic things are actually broader. I also learned that something isn’t just something. So you gotta look carefully.

You earned yourself another 1 point

Ok, if you have a chance to rate this book, how you rate it?

Since I got three points, I would rate it as  a 3 out of 5.

To Protect The Innocent Ones...

           I just read Chapter 16 and "wow" that was awkward. I can't really describe my feeling reading that chapter, so I'm just going to say it was awkward. Chapter 16 is about sex in literature. I have no idea that there's sex in literature. I mean everyone has their own "fantasies" but I didn't expect literature writers would really talk about it because they just don't look like they would talk about sex. I learned a lot of things in this chapter like reading sex in a "clean way." The quote, "Every American should know enough signify, and to blush when stand exactly what keys and locks signify, and to blush when they're referred to," made me realize sex. I mean, I get what they're saying when the "sex" topic is brought in but if they didn’t literally say it's about sex, I wouldn't get it at all. Get what I'm saying? That's part of the reason why sex is coded in literature. So that way they could protect the innocent ones.

Some Chapter Summaries...

Chapter 11 taught me that there is another thing that is deeper in literature besides communion, and that thing is violence. I also learned that accidents aren’t just accidents. “They’re accidents only on the side of the novel—on the outside they’re planned, plotted, and executed by somebody, with malice aforethought.”

Chapter 12 is about symbolism and how we interpret them. I was a bit surprised when he said, “So some symbols do have a relatively limited range of meanings, but in general a symbol can’t be reduced to standing for only one thing,” because when someone ask me, “what does this thing symbolize” it sounds like there’s only one answer. But in this case, there’s more than one answer and that depends on how you interpret the meaning. Chapter 12 taught me the tools on how to figure out the meaning of the symbol and those tools are: questions, experience, and pre-existing knowledge. I’m guessing the moral for this chapter is to always go with your guts.

Chapter 13 kind of reeled me in because it talks about how a Chris figure represent sacrifice, hope and redemption. If you’re a religious person, you have to try not to think about your beliefs in order to figure out what the writer is talking about. It’s like saying “Don’t bring your work with you.” Since I am a catholic, every time I hear someone saying they don’t believe in god, I always get angry. I have no idea why I do that.

Check The Weather While You're Reading...

     I just read 9 chapters and the book still bores me. I know that comment is too extreme but I have to be honest, his examples are way too many for me to understand and I don't even know what he's talking about on some of them. I'm more of a "tell it to me directly" guy than hearing all these examples that I don't even know because I never heard of them. Luckily Chapter 10 grabbed my attention. It talks about how rain isn't just rain. Rain isn't just part of a setting; it can also be as a plot device. It can bring characters together. Rain is also a misery factor. "Hardy will always go for making his characters more miserable, and rain has a higher wretchedness quotient than almost any other element of our environment." Rain can make us sick and can also result to death.  Rain can also mean restoration by bring something back to life. Other types of weather can also mean something. For example, rainbow “symbolizes divine promise, peace between heaven and earth.” Rainbows are hard to miss because we don’t see them everyday. Fog symbolizes confusion. You won’t see anything clearly when there’s a fog on your way. Snow have the same meaning as rain, on the other hand it also means different things.  Snow is clean, severe, playful, inviting, dirty, and inhospitable. Hopefully there will be other chapters that will reel me in so I can talk about them. Overall, this chapter taught me to always check the weather while I’m reading.