Prompt 4

While it is true that there is nothing new under the sun, as King Solomon once said, it is also true that intertexuality arises out of repetition and plays a healthy role in our understanding of any text; because similarities and repetitions are inevitable conceptually, every connotation we bring to the text helps us better understand it. The world of literature is essentially a massive, intricate web of concept, weaved by authors ranging from century to century. For example, O Brother Where Art Thou is merely a watered down, comical version The Odyssey set in 17th century America. The two works are ages apart and culturally distant, but they still have the same themes and the same plot. Communally, they correlate two cultures perhaps uncorrelated for the audience. Intertextuality helps us become universal creatures, and enhances our comprehension of the world. it helps us relate to ancient cultures, as well as humanity as a whole. 

In addition, because we all bring different perspectives to texts we read, what may be repeated for one reader may not be repeated for another. Therefore, everyone who reads the same novel or watches the same movie will have a different perspective, depending on previous knowledge and outside connotations. 

A repeated idea, a theme, or a concept is not nessacarily negative. In fact, it brings us together, culture to culture, age to age. Through literature, humanity comes to a consensus. It is our way of communicating to each other idealistically in spite of differences such as time and circumstance.  

Prompt 2 Response

     I am normally not a “rereader”; however, if I do not comprehend a text, I will read it again until I understand it or obtain the message it is attempting to convey. Rereading is not only for those who do not understand on the first reading of a text. Although rereading can be used for this purpose, rereading is also used for those who desire a deeper meaning from a text or wish to gain an enlightened perspective from a piece of literature. In my experiences, rereading usually helps me to understand the text after a second reading or find a new meaning of the words used. Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, explains most literature contains hidden meanings deeper into the text such as symbolism, patterns, and other such items. On the primary reading of certain literature, one may not realize the underlying message the author is truly trying to convey; nonetheless, after rereading, one may discover the message he or she, at first, did not notice. Because of these deeper meanings within a text, rereading is an important task in literature. A grand example of rereading’s importance is the novel The Giver. This novel, often read in the 7th grade, is usually reread in college due to the many different perspectives one may receive while reading the book. To summarize, rereading can be used to delve deeper into literature and allows one to uncover additional meanings within a text.

Prompt 1 Response

     What is literacy? Literacy, most bluntly, is a person’s ability to read and write. To be a literate person one must have the skills to read and write literature. Despite this simple meaning of the word, literacy contains different levels. There are those who have low literacy levels and those who have higher literacy levels. The higher one’s literacy level, the more they will be able to understand and comprehend from a piece of work. A more literate person has the potential to discover hidden messages or themes in literature. In How to Read Literate Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster explains literature is often not as simple or straightforward as it appears. Foster stresses the importance of looking beyond the surface of the piece in order to obtain a deeper meaning of the work. Less literate people will have more difficult times attempting to delve deeper into literature and understand hidden messages, symbolism, along with other items a more literate person will notice more easily. One becomes literate by reading and writing. These two, reading and writing, forgive this cliché, “go hand in hand.” Reading literature will not only increase one’s vocabulary and structure for the language, but also assist the reader in finding more underlying messages within the text. Writing allows one to partake in their own creation of literature, thus making them more literate. Reading and writing are how people practice to become more literate. In short, literacy is the ability to read and write, more literate people understand texts more deeply, and one becomes literate by reading as well as writing.

Prompt #5 The Weather

In Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he introduces many different elements of writing and affirms our knowledge about them right before he asks a very important question throughout the book: Why?  One of the more crucial instances in the book when Foster follows this MO is when he discusses the weather as a factor in a work of fiction.  Weather is an element that transcends the setting of a work.  It can become a strong symbol or archetype in a work rather than just create a scene or backdrop.  Various stories make use of the weather to symbolize a new beginning.  A sunrise after a dark storm is one of the most common ways to represent this new foundation.  The book of Genesis includes this element which also has turned into an archetype easily seen through other works and other stories about floods.  In the book of Genesis God floods the Earth and he does so with rain.  God makes it rain for 40 days and 40 nights in a successful attempt to cleans the Earth and give his creation, mankind, a chance for a rebirth through his choice to give Noah and his family salvation from the rain.  That is the archetype that follows rain and floods.  Water has the ability to purify or destroy based off of its use and desired function.  It can bring damnation or salvation either by washing away the negative or destroying everything within its path.  After the waters recede from the Earth, God makes the sun come out along with an eventual rainbow to symbolize his covenant with Noah not to flood the Earth again as well as to symbolize a rebirth.  That is one of the greatest examples of the weather’s large scale implications in a story. It is more important than a tool used to create an image in the readers head or set a mood.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Prompt #1

        Literacy is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary simply as, “The ability to read or write.” However, to be truly literate, one must be able to do more than just read and write. To be completely literate someone should be able to read, write, comprehend, and build upon what they have written or read. If everyone were to just read and write things without thinking, many of the beautiful pieces of literature that are considered to be classics would not be the fantastic pieces of art we have come to recognize them as. Great and complex writing would be basically nonexistent. Being a literate person entails being capable of performing the four tasks previously listed. To become literate, one must immerse themselves in various pieces of literature from all different time periods and genres. A literate person considers meanings beyond those of surface value. For example, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in The Great Gatsby represents many different things to different literate people. People who are truly literate can recognize motifs, symbols, metaphors, and allusions without having to process the writing for a long period of time. Literate people know how to uncover the true purpose of a passage or novel without understanding the authors intent beforehand. A literate person thinks far differently from an illiterate person or a person who can only read. They are constantly and consistently analyzing any text that they come into contact with. The abilities of those that are truly literate are precious and extremely important. 

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Prompt #2

       Rereading is something that can greatly influence and style as a reader and writer. Often times, new details and symbols are revealed when rereading a piece of literature. Rereading a book at different times throughout your life can mean something different based on your current situation. However, rereading is not just for those who don't understand the imagery, symbols, or those who simply missed it the first time through. It is an important technique that needs to be honed and practiced so that one really doesn’t miss anything. Picking up on details that are between the lines often times are only picked up after a basic understanding of the plot has already been achieved. In rereading, I have found that symbols I interpreted to mean one thing mean or relate to something completely different. Rereading can also cement the storyline in your memory so that it can be recalled perfectly without having to refer to the text. However, based on my own experiences, if the reader plans on discussing the text in any way, after any amount of time the text should be reread. Rereading shouldn’t be considered as backtracking, but rather a restoration of the information held within the text in ones mind. Although, it is not completely necessary to reread everything, rereading can be a very useful tool. Any person who reads classic literature or aspires to write should definitely have this tool in their metaphorical toolbox. Overall, rereading can be used to better analyze or understand the text and serve as a refresher of basic storyline. 

Prompt #2

I sometimes find myself rereading novels and passages but not necessarily for the same reasons.  Typically it depends on why I am reading the material. For one, I may have been thinking of something else the entire time I was reading a passage and not have comprehended what I just read. More commonly, I might not have understood what it was that I just read due to the passages diction or the complicated and complex flow.  I generically only do this for assignments given in class or for grading since they are intended to escalate my reading skills and further my education. By rereading them there is a chance that I will understand them better and will have a better chance of following their flow.  Thomas Foster discusses this in his book How to Read Literature Like a Professor.  Rereading gives the reader a chance to take something else away that they might not have picked up on the first time through and helps to strengthen understanding.  As I have previously said, I reread for these purposes and reasons but not necessarily for them exclusively.  Similar to watching a movie or show again, I sometimes reread a novel or short story just because I enjoyed it or want to trace elements like symbols and foreshadowing throughout the entire work.  By doing this I will hopefully find something new that blows my mind that I did not pick up on during my first time reading.  Obviously I don’t reread just to do it.  It always has a function in some way or another.