Thursday, May 7, 2009
Introduction: How'd He Do That?
How do memory, symbol, and pattern affect the reading of literature? How does the recognition of patterns make it easier to read complicated literature? Discuss a time when your appreciation of a literary work was enhanced by understanding symbol or pattern.
Chapter 1 - Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5.
Chapter 2 - Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary description.
Chapter 3 - Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
What are the essentials of the Vampire story? Apply this to a literary work you have read
(or viewed).
(or viewed).
Chapter 4 - If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
Select a sonnet (you may choose one from your textbook or another you find) and show which form it is. Discuss how the content reflects the form. List the sonnet used at top of page before your entry.
Chapter 5 - Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
Define intertextuality. Discuss two examples that have helped you in reading specific works.
Chapter 6 - When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare ...
Discuss a work that you are familiar with that alludes to or reflects Shakespeare. Show how the author uses this connection thematically. Read pages 44-46 carefully. In these pages, Foster shows how Fugard reflects Shakespeare through both plot and theme. In your discussion, focus on theme.
Chapter 7 - ... Or the Bible
Read "Araby" (in your textbook, pg. 283). Discuss Biblical allusions taht Foster does not mention. Look at the example of the "two great jars." Be creative and imaginative in these connections.
Chapter 8 - Hanseldee and Greteldum
Think of a work of literature that reflects a fairy tale. Discuss teh parallels. Does it create irony or deepen appreciation?
Chapter 9 - It's Greek to Me
Explain two commercials/advertisements derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology.
Chapter 10 - It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
Discuss the importance of weather in a specific literary work, not in terms of plot.
Chapter 11 - ... More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.
Chapter 12 - Is That a Symbol?
Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism of the fence in "Araby." (Mangan's sister stands behind it.)
Chapter 13 - It's All Political
Assume that Foster is right and "it is all political." Use his criteria to show that one of the major works you have read during high school is political.
Chapter 14 - Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film - for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiator, and Ben Hur.
Chapter 15 - Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.
Chapter 16 - It's All About Sex; Chapter 17 - ... Except the Sex
OK ... the sex chapters. The key idea from this chapter is that "scenes in which sex is coded rather than explicit can work at multiple levels and sometimes be more intense than literal depictions" (141). In other words, sex is often suggested with much more art and effort than it is described, and, if the author is doing his job, it reflects and creates theme or character.
Chapter 18 - If She Comes Up, It's Baptism
Think of a "baptism scene" from a significant literary work. How was the character different after the experience? Discuss.
Chapter 19 - Geography Matters...
Discuss at least two different aspects of a specific literary work that Foster would classify under "geography."
Chapter 20 - ... So Does Season
Find a poem in your text book which mentions a specific season. Then discuss how the poet uses the season in a meaningful, traditional, or unusual way. (Include the title, author, and page number with your analysis.)
Interlude - One Story
Write your own definition for archetype. Then identify an archetypal story and apply it to a literary work with which you are familiar.
Chapter 21 - Marked for Greatness
Figure out Harry Potter's scar or select another character with a physical imperfection and analyze its implications for characterization.
Chapter 22 - He's Blind for a Reason, You Know; Chapter 23 - It's Never Just Heart Disease...; Chapter 24 - ... And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the "principles governing the use of disease in literature" (215 - 217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.
Chapter 25 - Don't Read with Your Eyes
After reading this chapter, choose a scene or episode from a novel, play or epic written before the twentieth century. Contrast how it could be viewed by a reader from the twenty-first century with how it might be viewed by a contemporary reader. Focus on specific assumptions that the author makes, assumptions that would not make it in this century.
Chapter 26 - Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
Select an ironic work and explain the multivocal nature of the irony in the work.
Chapter 27 - A Test Case
Read "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield, the short story starting on page 245. Complete the exercise on pages 265-266, following the directions exactly. How did you do? What does the essay that follows comparing Laura with Persephone add to your appreciation of Mansfield's story?
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