Name:
How to Read Literature Like a Professor Chapter Review Notes
Directions: After you read each chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, make
sure to fill out the table below.
Chapter Name
Ideas to keep in mind while reading
Chapter 11: ….More Than It’s Gonna Hurt
You: Concerning Violence
What are the two kinds of violence found
in literature?
1) Physical specific character
violence(caused by each other
2) Narrative violence, brought by the
narrative, ie: illness
Apply the concepts discussed in the chapter to at least
two previously read texts (novels, short stories, poems,
TV shows, movies, video games, songs, etc) that ARE
NOT mentioned in the chapter and explain how what
Foster discusses in that chapter is present in those texts:
1) The Hunger Games, it has specific character violence
in the form of the tributes killing each other, and it
narrative violence in the form of the world they live in
where kids are sacrificed and everyone in districts live
terrible lives
2) Animal farm, the specific character violence is things
like the battle of the windmill, and narrative violence is
the tyranny and conditions of the farm, before and
after revolution.
Chapter 12: Is That a Symbol?
What is symbolic imagination and how
should we use it?
1) Lord of the rings has a very strong symbol of
temptation and corruption in the form of the ring
To interpret and identify symbols, we
should use it by utilizing many techniques
to find surface level and deeper symbols
in literature
2) The Hunger games, the mocking bird becomes a
symbol for rebellion among the districts and Katniss. It
represents hope for the people and resistance
Chapter 13: It’s All Political
According to Foster, what is the criteria
one should use to identify whether a text
is political?
1) The hunger games, it addresses inequality,
authoritarianism, and rebellion. Although hunger
games doesn’t address a specific political topic, it has
many political themes as listed above
Political themes, addressing contemporary
issues in the real world, allegories,
symbolism, rhetoric, and authors intent
2) Animal Farm is a specific piece of political lit, because
it is directly meant to represent the Russian revolution.
It contains many allegories and symbolism.