Chapter 10 Foster Journal

In the book “Forrest Gump”, by Winston Groom, Gump and lt. Dan face down the hurricane Carmen on their shrimping boat. Dan, as his fathers and grandfathers before him had, planned to die as he fought for the United States. Instead, Forrest Gump saved Dan from death, although Dan lost both legs. When they returned home, Dan acted immensely depressed and devastated, losing his will to continue on. Gump then takes Dan on his shrimping boat, chatting about their belief in god, when a hurricane arrived. Intense wind and rain came close to sinking the boat. Dan, who had wanted to perish originally, acted mad. He yelled at at God and dared him to take him, and experienced the full thrill of coming close to death. This event seems to change Dan. He thanked Gump for saving his life, fell into the water, and stares into the heavens. He, according to Gump, makes his peace with God.

The storm reflects the harsh process of rebirth and renewal. Dan had his expectations of his mortality, but they were taken from him. He became incredibly out of tune with the nature of his existence. The storm gave him the opportunity once again to test existence, discovers a new purpose in life, and makes peace with God. The harsh storm reflects the just as major change in him.

Chapter 8 Foster Journal

The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo, takes the themes of fairy tales and spins them in a unique way. It tells the fantastical story of a protagonist chasing after a princess, and facing dungeons, talking animals, and evil plotters along the way. It just so happens this protagonist is a mouse. A feeble and odd one at that; Despereaux is none for his small size (even for a mouse), large ears, and affinity for reading.  But despite his unassuming character, he takes on the harrowing mission of saving the princess’s life, and earning her affection . . . and succeeds. He is a character completely out of place for his mission, yet pulls it off. Perhaps DiCamillo wants to show anyone can do anything, or just make commentary on popular presentation of fairy tale heroes.

Chapter 7 Foster Journal

Foster insists on the heavy presence of biblical themes in English literature. It can be seen in the short story “Araby”, about a boy’s loss of innocence when he begins to feel the allure of girls. His feelings go beyond moving away from innocence and becomes Idolatry. In the bible, God becomes angry when his chosen people begin to worship Idols, and warns of the danger of putting earthly desires before him: possessions, other gods, relationships. The main character in “Araby” experiences putting his thoughts of a girl above his responsibility: “I had hardly any patience with the serious work of life which, now that it stood between me and my desire, seemed to me child's play, ugly monotonous child's play.” His desire is blatantly above his work for a better future. Later on, he literally puts his desire above religious practices: “My aunt said: 'I'm afraid you may put off your bazaar for this night of Our Lord.'” This obsession, in the end, gets the best of him. He finally makes it to the bazaar to find a gift for the girl, just as the place is closing. He finds nothing to give. He then feels the full weight of confusing his goals: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.”

Chapter 6 Foster Journal

A shakespearean connection I’m familiar with is The Lion King’s connection to Hamlet. There is a lot of plot similarities, but it also connects thematically. Both Prince Hamlet and Simba are cast away from their positions of power. Each goes through the moral struggle of wether or not to take action to reinstate their position. Simba must decide between the responsibility of the position, Hamlet must consider if it is worth dying for. Thematically, the both face the challenge of weighing the risks of responsibility. Simba becomes king, while Hamlet . . . not so much.

Chapter 5 Foster Journal

Intertextuality is the concept that all stories do not occur in a vacuum. It wagers that all stories include some sort of detail, be it characters or plot, that are sourced from past stories, be them the classics or historical fact.

Here are a few examples where I’ve experienced this being used:

In the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series, by Rick Riordan, he uses Greek gods and monsters to build characters and cause tension. These are obviously taken from Greek Mythology. In history classes in the past, we have studied greek mythology and the famous gods and monsters. This helped me better understand the dynamic of Riordan’s series.

In the Inheritance cycle, by Christopher Paolini, a book about dragon riders uses plot elements from Star Wars. A humble boy is suddenly thrown into being the chosen one of rare abilities, he must join rebel forces to defeat an evil empire, in a final battle, the hero must defeat the most powerful of these ability users. Being able to draw the similarities between the book and the known popular movies affected my predictions of what would happen next, and see the character dynamics.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, draws similarities to the Bible. Throughout the book, there is a balance between good and evil similar to biblical prospects. Edmund is tempted by the white which to join her side. Lator, he is forgiven by Aslan, who calls him “son of Adam”. At one point Aslan is killed and resurrected, which also is similar to the biblical aspects of Jesus Christ. I am familiar with the christian faith, so it was interesting to see the connection to a fantasy story.

Chapter 4 Foster Journal

Three Examples of A Sonnet

One can immediately see they are all square - they are therefore sonnets.

This sonnet has a rhyme scheme that makes it a Petrarchan Sonnet. Eight and then six rhyming sections: abba-abba-cdc-dcd.

Being one day at my window all alone,

So manie strange things happened me to see,

As much as it grieveth me to thinke thereon.

At my right hand a hynde appear’d to mee,

So faire as mote the greatest god delite;

Two eager dogs did her pursue in chace.

Of which the one was blacke, the other white:

With deadly force so in their cruell race

They pincht the haunches of that gentle beast,

That at the last, and in short time, I spide,

Under a rocke, where she alas, opprest,

Fell to the ground, and there untimely dide.

Cruell death vanquishing so noble beautie

Oft makes me wayle so hard a desire.

(Visions by Francesco Petrarch)

This is a Shakespearean sonnet that is written in iambic pentameter and has the rhyme scheme abab-cdcd-efef-gg .

From fairest creatures we desire increase,

That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.

But as the riper should by time decease,

His tender heir might bear his memory:

But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,

Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,

Making a famine where abundance lies,

Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.

Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament

And only herald to the gaudy spring,

Within thine own bud buriest thy content

And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.

Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee

(William Shakespeare)

This is a spenserian sonnet with the rhyme scheme abab-bcbc-cdcd-ee.

What guile is this, that those her golden tresses

She doth attire under a net of gold;

And with sly skill so cunningly them dresses,

That which is gold or hair, may scarce be told?

Is it that men’s frail eyes, which gaze too bold,

She may entangle in that golden snare;

And being caught may craftily enfold

Their weaker hearts, which are not yet well aware?

Take heed therefore, mine eyes, how ye do stare

Henceforth too rashly on that guileful net,

In which if ever ye entrapped are,

Out of her bands ye by no means shall get.

Folly it were for any being free,

To covet fetters, though they golden be.

(From Amoretti by Edmund Spenser)

Chapter 3 Foster Journal

A vampire story does not require literal monsters. A vampire story is a vampire story as long as one character (or sometimes many) seeks to lure in their victim character, use their abilities, and then leave the victim to waste away. This method leaves a lasting sense of fear in the readers, as the symbolism of the situation often alludes to real life troubles or taboos such as lust, selfishness, or exploitation.

An example of this is the movie “Rain Man”. Raymond Babbitt plays the victim, and his brother Charlie Babbitt the vampire. Charlies initial motives are to manipulate the disabled to Raymond for the money left in their father’s will. He learns Raymond has superb counting capabilities, so he continues to use him by taking him to Las Vegas to gamble. Once everything is settled and Charlie has his money, Raymond is put back into a mental institution. This falls into the vampire category: Raymond’s greed leads him to exploit his relationship to Charlie as well as his abilities, and then leaves Charlie out of the success.

Chapter 2 Foster Journal

The novel “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines uses the concept of sharing a meal as a motif; communion is seen multiple times. Three of the stories characters, Miss Emma, Grant, and Tante Lou, spend their time to console Jefferson, who has been sentenced to death. Throughout the story, they bring food to Jefferson as a way to connect with him. First Grant offers Jefferson food and he rejects it. This elicits an angry response by Grant, and he implores Jefferson to take the food as to show love for his family (Miss Emma being his godmother). Both grant and Jefferson recognize the importance of accepting or rejecting a meal and use it as leverage to make an emotional point. Jefferson shows he is not at peace, and Grant is angry at the negative relationship it could imply. Later on in the story, Jefferson offers Food to Grant. This is a complete turnaround in emotional states, as Jefferson wants to show his appreciation to Grant for helping him through tough times.

Response To Chapter One of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster

The five aspects of a quest novel are:

1) A protagonist that goes on the quest

2) The place the protagonist is going

3) A stated reason to go to that place

4) Challenges and trials that occur on the way to that place

5) The real reason to go to that place, which always self knowledge

The book “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan easily falls into the quest category. Percy Jackson, the demigod quester, travels west to Los Angeles with the end goal of retrieving the stolen lightning bolt of Zeus from Hades. Along the way, he fights of mythical monsters. Although he succeeds, he finds it wasn’t hades who stole the bolt in the first place, but another demi god. In the story, he learns more about the dynamic of the gods and their power, and how he stands among them, other demigods, and evil forces at work.

Response to the introduction of "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" by Thomas C. Foster

When someone reads the text, their experience is affected by their memory of previously read texts, identification of symbolism, and recognition of established literary patterns. By being an avid reader, they may be able to recognize plot or character similarities that they have seen before in previous text. This helps them realize the clichés and trends commonly used in literature being used in their current text, and use it to better understand symbolism. By reading more often, they can better recognize when symbolism is used and give better insight to how that symbolism intends to affect the reader and further advance the plot or purpose of the text. By repeatedly identifying similarities to past text, and the presence and purpose of symbolism, a reader begins to see patterns in their reading. They can begin to see a pattern of similar plot structures or character development and be able to recognize what may be coming next. This makes it easier to break down a complicated text to see the most important details. A reader can then recognize and analyze these details much more easily, as they have seen them before. How memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature all has to do with how much experience the reader has with reading.

In all of the books I’ve read, there is one repeating detail that has made these stories my favorites. It is a major cliché found in many pieces: some sort of trait that makes the protagonist unique and suddenly puts them at the center of the stories global conflict. I have seen it in the Inheritance Series, by Christopher Paolini. A farmer boy, against his choice, suddenly becomes a dragon rider and is expected to face down an all-powerful tyrant. I’ve recognized it in the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, by Zac Brewer. A demi-vampire lives among humans, away tries to hide is strange diet. As it turns out, being half human and half vampire gives him incredible abilities and fulfills a prophecy. It’s seen in Riordan’s series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, in the Berinfell Prophecies by Batson and Hopper, and in Witch and Wizard by Patterson. The list goes on, and I can not get enough. This type of plot play into the allure of epic responsibility and ability, and always ensures an exciting and epic plot.