A thoroughly revised and updated edition of Thomas C. Foster's classic guide—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 codes—of the ultimate professional reader: the college professor. What does it mean when a literary hero travels 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 a new epilogue, and incorporates updated teaching points that Foster has developed over the past decade.

DIV A literary master’s entertaining guide to reading with deeper insight, better understanding, and greater pleasure /div

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids, New York Times bestselling author and professor Thomas C. Foster gives tweens the tools they need to become thoughtful readers. With funny insights and a conversational style, he explains the way writers use symbol, metaphor, characterization, setting, plot and other key techniques to make a story come to life. From that very first middle school book report to that first college course, kids need to be able to understand the layers of meaning in literature. Foster makes learning this important skill fun and exciting by using examples from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from short stories and poems to movie scripts. This go-to guide unlocks all the hidden secrets to reading, making it entertaining and satisfying.

Das Besondere dieser Darstellung der Entwicklungen des literaturtheoretischen Denkens ist erstens der historische Blick, der bis in die Antike zurückreicht, und zweitens das große Augenmerk auf den didaktischen Aspekt, das diese Einführung insbesondere für StudienanfängerInnen geeignet macht. Der historische Abriss bietet, als Geschichte \'erzählt\', einen ersten Überblick über die Zusammenhänge literaturtheoretischer Entwicklungen und kommt ohne Zitate und ohne Fußnoten aus. Daran schließen sechs Detailstudien zu den wichtigsten Theorien des 20. Jahrhunderts an.

Mitten in der schwersten Krise des Kapitalismus bricht der katholische Marxist Terry Eagleton eine Lanze für Karl Marx. Streitbar, originell und mit britischem Humor widerlegt er zentrale Argumente gegen den Marxismus, wie z.B. „Wir leben doch längst in einer klassenlosen Gesellschaft“, „Der Marxismus erfordert einen despotischen Staat“ oder „Der Marxismus ignoriert die selbstsüchtige Natur des Menschen“. Eagleton macht klar: Marx’ materialistische Philosophie hat ihren Ursprung im Streben nach Freiheit, Bürgerrechten und Wohlstand. Sie zielt auf eine demokratische Ordnung und nicht auf deren Abschaffung

A thoroughly revised and updated edition of Thomas C. Foster's classic guide—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 codes—of the ultimate professional reader: the college professor. What does it mean when a literary hero travels 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 a new epilogue, and incorporates updated teaching points that Foster has developed over the past decade.

HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines | SUMMARY & Key Points with BONUS Critics Review - NOT ORIGINAL BOOK Thomas Foster, in the introduction, gives the reader reasons why the book was written, and why it may be helpful to any literature reader. By pointing out cues that make a work of literature what it is this book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is an instructional guide that hopes to enrich the reading experience. The introduction summarizes these cues, and offers an account of the techniques of analysis and interpretation employed by professional students and professors of literature. Foster begins the chapter by recalling a classroom experience where his students couldn't comprehend how and why he had reached a certain conclusion about a character in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959). Foster's primary goal in referencing this play and its characters -- Walter Lee Young and Mr. Lindner -- is to show how many layers of meaning are often embedded in a text. While A Raisin in the Sun is set in 20th century Chicago, the plot and characters of this modernist American play contain traces of a German legend dating back to the 15th century. However, this connection is not apparent to Foster's students, which is why they are surprised by their professor's drawn parallels to bargains with the devil and the Faust legend. By explaining the connections, Foster argues that his theory is not unfounded, demonstrating the complexity contained in a single literary work. Inside this Slim Reader Review: Summary of Each Chapter Highlights (Key Points) BONUS: Free Report about The Tidiest and Messiest Places on Earth - http://sixfigureteen.com/messy

Debates rage over what kind of literature we should read, what is good and bad literature, and whether in the global, digital age, literature even has a future. But what exactly is literature? Why should we read literature? How do we read literature? These are some of the important questions J. Hillis Miller answers in this beautifully written and passionate book. He begins by asking what literature is, arguing that the answer lies in literature's ability to create an imaginary world simply with words. On Literature also asks the crucial question of why literature has such authority over us. Returning to Plato, Aristotle and the Bible, Miller argues we should continue to read literature because it is part of our basic human need to create imaginary worlds and to have stories. Above all, On Literature is a plea that we continue to read and care about literature.

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Why the Good Book Is a Great Read If you want to rightly understand the Bible, you must begin by recognizing what it is: a composite of literary styles. It is meant to be read, not just interpreted. The Bible’s truths are embedded like jewels in the rich strata of story and poetry, metaphor and proverb, parable and letter, satire and symbolism. Paying attention to the literary form of a passage will help you understand the meaning and truth of that passage. How to Read the Bible as Literature takes you through the various literary forms used by the biblical authors. This book will help you read the Bible with renewed appreciation and excitement and gain a more profound grasp of its truths. Designed for maximum clarity and usefulness, How to Read the Bible as Literature includes * sidebar captions to enhance organization * wide margins ideal for note taking * suggestions for further reading * appendix: "The Allegorical Nature of the Parables" * indexes of persons and subjects

The new edition of this highly popular guide, How to Read World Literature, addresses the unique challenges and joys faced when approaching the literature of other cultures and eras. Fully revised to address important developments in World Literature, and generously expanded with new material, this second edition covers a wide variety of genres – from lyric and epic poetry to drama and prose fiction – and discusses how each form has been used in different eras and cultures. An ideal introduction for those new to the study of World Literature, as well as beginners to ancient and foreign literature, this book offers a variety of "modes of entry" to reading these texts. The author, a leading authority in the field, draws on years of teaching experience to provide readers with ways of thinking creatively and systematically about key issues, such as reading across time and cultures, reading works in translation, emerging global perspectives, postcolonialism, orality and literacy, and more. Accessible and enlightening, offers readers the tools to navigate works as varied as Homer, Sophocles, Kalidasa, Du Fu, Dante, Murasaki, Moliere, Kafka, Wole Soyinka, and Derek Walcott Fully revised and expanded to reflect the changing face of the study of World Literature, especially in the English-speaking world Now includes more major authors featured in the undergraduate World Literature syllabus covered within a fuller critical context Features an entirely new chapter on the relationship between World Literature and postcolonial literature How to Read World Literature, Second Edition is an excellent text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in World Literature. It is also a fascinating and informative read for all readers with an interest in foreign and ancient literature and the history of civilization.

Understanding Literature is an innovative anthology and technology package representing the next generation of literary pedagogy for introduction to literature and literature for composition courses. Built on a balanced foundation of canonical and nontraditional reading selections, this text includes discussions of the formal literary elements--and then goes a step further to integrate relevant and accessible coverage of contemporary criticism within each genre. This unique, integrated coverage of contemporary critical approaches (such as feminist theory, psychoanalytic theory, and postcolonial theory) offers students a richer, more engaging introduction to reading critically and writing about literature. Other anthologies offer minimal theoretical coverage in a separate chapter or appendix, typically sidestepping the larger issues the theories raise.The integrated technology package, complete with CD-ROM and accompanying web site, takes advantage of multimedia resources to enhance the study of literature with visual aids, audio and video files, additional primary and secondary texts, and other materials that help place literature within the broader contexts of history and culture. Engaging, creative table of contents balances familiar authors and literary works with more adventurous and diverse selections, exposing students to a broad range of literature and providing instructors with great flexibility in designing their courses.Critical Perspectives offer concise, insightful discussions of how literary and cultural theories are used to explore meaning in literature. Throughout the anthology casebooks, excerpts from classic and contemporary critical essays, and in-textdiscussions offer students accessible yet critical perspectives into how literary theory can facilitate a deeper understanding of literary texts. The fiction and drama sections feature brief in-text discussions and excerpts from literary critics. Critical Perspectives can also be used as a springboard for class discussion and writing.In-depth treatment of Featured Writers in each section allows more focused study of a single writer. This feature includes multiple reading selections showing the range of the writer' s work, more extensive biographical information, and additional materials on the CD-ROM and web site. Writers highlighted include James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, Salman Rushdie, John Keats, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anne Sexton, and William Shakespeare.Two unique interdisciplinary chapters (The Beat Movement and Performative Poetics) focus on the spoken and performed aspects of literature. Coverage includes several works from key writers in both movements as well as discussions of how these movements use a mixture of media--language, film, jazz, photography, and art--to showcase their work and provide social and political commentary.Unique poetry casebooks allow students to explore certain themes or topics in depth, such as Poetry and Social Activism Between the Wars, Poetry, Trauma, and Testimony: Holocaust Verses, Postmodern Poetics, Chicano/a Poetry, and Native American Poetry.Emphasis on cultural perspectives reflects the increased desire to view the study of literature through the lens of culture. Reading selections, section introductions, questions for discussion, writing assignments, and other apparatus encourage students to view literature from differentcultural perspectives.Thorough coverage of reading and writing about literature shows students how to read each genre and craft effective essays. Annotated student papers serve as models of good student writing, and a separate section teaches students how to conduct research and incorporate other sources into their writing.An abundance of visual text--such as photos, art, and drawings--help students place literary works in broader contexts.

Explaining both why theory is important and how to use it, Lois Tyson introduces beginning students of literature to this often daunting area in a friendly and approachable style. The new edition of this textbook is clearly structured with chapters based on major theories that students are expected to cover in their studies. Key features include: coverage of major theories including psychoanalysis, Marxism, feminism, lesbian/gay/queer theories, postcolonial theory, African American theory, and a new chapter on New Criticism (formalism) practical demonstrations of how to use these theories on short literary works selected from canonical authors including William Faulkner and Alice Walker a new chapter on reader-response theory that shows students how to use their personal responses to literature while avoiding typical pitfalls new sections on cultural criticism for each chapter new ‘further practice’ and ‘further reading’ sections for each chapter a useful "next step" appendix that suggests additional literary titles for extra practice. Comprehensive, easy to use, and fully updated throughout, Using Critical Theory is the ideal first step for students beginning degrees in literature, composition and cultural studies.

At a time when faster and easier electronic media threaten to eclipse reading and literature, the author explores reasons for reading and demonstrates the aesthetic pleasure reading can bring.

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of How to Read Literature Like a Professor tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Thomas C. Foster’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This summary of How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Important quotes Fascinating trivia A glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster: Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor is a series of short essays that show readers how to “read between the lines” and make great books come alive. Based on Professor Foster’s years as a teacher of literature, Foster explains how authors use the English language to accomplish their goals and how we can recognize literary ideas in a wide range of works. The tools he offers can be applied to any book—from the classics to the latest blockbusters. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.