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

by Thomas C. Foster (Author)

The classic guide, now available in a hardcover edition--a lively and entertaining introduction to literature and literary basics, including symbols, themes and contexts, that shows you how to make your everyday reading experience more rewarding and enjoyable.

While many books can be enjoyed for their basic stories, there are often deeper literary 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 codesof the ultimate professional reader, the college professor.

What does it mean when a literary hero is traveling along a dusty road? When he hands a drink to his companion? When he's 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 may signify a communion, and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just a shower--and shows us how to make our reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.

This revised edition includes new chapters, a new preface and epilogue, and incorporates updated teaching points that Foster has developed over the past decade.

Back Jacket

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.