FromHow to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster 1.Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): a.A quester - person who goes on the quest, whether he knows it’s a quest or not; often young, inexperienced, immature, sheltered b.A place to go c.A stated reason to go there d.Challenges and trials e.The real reason to go isneverfor the stated reason. The quester usually fails at the stated task. The real reason is educational -always self-knowledge. 2.Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion a.Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion b.Not usually religious c.An act of sharing and peace d.A failed meal carries negative connotations (a bad sign) 3.Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires a.Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence (ability to marry) b.Sexual implications—a trait of 19thcentury literature to address sex indirectly – biblical allusion – Eve and the serpent c.Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another. d.Ghosts and vampires areneveronly about ghosts and vampires. i.Don’t have to appear in visible forms ii.Can be entirely human e.Essentials of the vampire story i.Older figure representing corrupt, outworn values ii.A young, preferably virginal female iii.A stripping away of her youth, energy, virtue iv.A continuance of the life force of the old male v.The death or destruction of the young woman 4.If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet a.Versatile, ubiquitous(ever present), varied, and agreeably short b.Fourteen lines long and written in iambic pentameter (5 iambs – 10 syllables) - Ten syllables long x fourteen lines high – SQUARE c.Usually has two units of meaning that are closely related and broken into a basic pattern of 8/6 i.Petrarchan sonnet – rhyme scheme that ties the first 8 lines (octave) and unifies the last six lines (sestet) ii.Shakespearean sonnet – divided up in four units 1.first four lines (quatrain), next four, and third four 2.last two (couplet) – usually a statement of its own that ties in with the third quatrain d.Takes far more time to write because of the structure 5.Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? 1
