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Thomas C. Foster
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Thomas C. Foster
How to Use This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to assist you in the analysis of your summer reading assignment for AP English. As you are reading and annotating How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, you will be required to post your study guide responses for each chapter for a minimum of 25 posts. Additionally, you should try to avoid repeating your classmate's examples; therefore, those who wait to complete the blog assignment will have a more difficult time trying to find creative and original examples. If you do utilize the same example, you must expand and look at the work in a different perspective. Finally, you will need to respond to at least five other individuals' posts. Aim for 100-200 words per response for each post, depending on the type of question you are asked to answer. Focus on facts and specific details in the novel/movie rather than making judgments or summarizing. Pay attention to the movies/TV shows you are watching and think about novels you have read. These ideas will hopefully help everyone think outside the box and dig deeper. I'm looking for the WOW factor!
Blog Archive
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2009
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May
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- Introduction: How'd He Do That?
- Chapter 1 - Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It'...
- Chapter 2 - Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion
- Chapter 3 - Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires
- Chapter 4 - If It's Square, It's a Sonnet
- Chapter 5 - Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?
- Chapter 6 - When in Doubt, It's from Shakespeare ...
- Chapter 7 - ... Or the Bible
- Chapter 8 - Hanseldee and Greteldum
- Chapter 9 - It's Greek to Me
- Chapter 10 - It's More Than Just Rain or Snow
- Interlude - Does He Mean That
- Chapter 11 - ... More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: C...
- Chapter 12 - Is That a Symbol?
- Chapter 13 - It's All Political
- Chapter 14 - Yes, She's a Christ Figure, Too
- Chapter 15 - Flights of Fancy
- Chapter 16 - It's All About Sex; Chapter 17 - ......
- Chapter 18 - If She Comes Up, It's Baptism
- Chapter 19 - Geography Matters...
- Chapter 20 - ... So Does Season
- Interlude - One Story
- Chapter 21 - Marked for Greatness
- Chapter 22 - He's Blind for a Reason, You Know; C...
- Chapter 25 - Don't Read with Your Eyes
- Chapter 26 - Is He Serious? And Other Ironies
- Chapter 27 - A Test Case
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May
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16 comments:
Intertextuality is the idea that each literary work can not be independent, but instead grows off of other literary works. This is extremely popular in today's culture, especially in television. Shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons are heavily dependent on it for humor. Usually most of these instances are extremely obvious throughout the shows, but i picked one that may not be as noticeable as the others. In Family Guy's "Road to Germany" episode, Steward and Brian use a time machine to go back to Nazi Germany. Stewart's words before they enter the time machine followed exactly as they were written in Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder". This obviously then carried the came meaning that it had back in Ray's writing. My second example is this situation similarity between when Wesley met Fox in the movie Wanted and when the anonymous protagonist met Tyler Durden from Fight Club. After reading Fight Club, when i watched the Wanted i immediately recognized the pattern. A young male individual who is stuck in a dead end monotonous cubicle job meets this mysterious and charismatic figure and then immediately the story begins to unfold.
Intertextuality- the idea that there is only one story and ideas are just borrowed to make more stories. Thomas C. Foster has said numerous times that ideas are copied from one piece of literature to another. He believes that there is only one big story and every other story is related to that one. In a way, all of the literature in the world is connected. I too believe that this is somewhat true. Sure, authors use other author’s ideas but I don't think it's necessarily on purpose. They have an idea for a piece of work and they go with it. It just happens that this idea may have been used in previous work. Either way, it can help a person better understand what they are seeing and reading if they can relate. I have noticed intertextuality in two pieces of work. Romeo and Juliet and the Titanic are two stories where one can find many similarities. Both Romeo and Juliet and Rose and Jack are from different classes. They are not supposed to be together but love and luck bring them together. Romeo, Juliet, Jack, and Rose all find sneaky, deceiving ways to see each other so that nobody else finds out. Unfortunately, at the end of both pieces of work, death occurs. In Titanic, Jack dies from hypothermia and in Romeo and Juliet they both commit suicide. Both the Titanic and Romeo and Juliet are tragic love stories. Also, after watching O Brother, Where Art Thou and reading The Odyssey, I realized that they had a lot of the same ideas. Later I found out, O Brother, Where Art Thou was meant to be a version of The Odyssey. The theme of intertextuality still works though because one story is borrowing ideas (or sometimes, the plot, characters, and theme) of another story. All literature, T.V. shows, movies, etc. are indeed, related somehow.
Intertextuality is the idea that there is only one story, and authors use the ideas and events of other stories to create their own story. Many literary works are based off the story of Romeo and Juliet. The one that I thought of was the West Side Story. In both situations the couples have to hide their relationship from their families because the families fought against each other. As soon as the false message of the death of Maria got out, I recognized the pattern from Romeo and Juliet. After the false message got to Tony, I knew that Tony was going to kill himself just like Romeo did when he thought Juliet had killed herself. The other two stories that share connections are the death of Jesus and The Chronicles of Narnia. When the lion was brutally killed to save the good or the people I thought of the story when Jesus died on the cross. Especially when the lion came back from the dead in the second book, there was no doubt the author created the lion to resemble Christ because Christ also rose from the dead. All these stories share patterns and similar meanings. Stories do branch off from other stories, so in all reality there is only one story that is told.
The term intertextuality refers to when authors and movie directors borrow materials from older texts and past occurrences to enhance their own story or movie. One example of intertextuality that I have witnessed is between the movies Grease and High School Musical. They both involve high school students who sing and dance and where the different cliques learn to become friends. Another example of where I have viewed intertextuality was in the movie, The Knowing. I found this movie to be extremely similar to the predictions of the Aztec calendar because in both situations the end of the world is foreseen. In the Knowing, a young girl in the 1950’s predicts the apocalypse, along with other disasters, just as the Aztecs predict the end of the world will be in the year 2012.
Intertextuality is the term that states all literary works come from the same story, and dialogue between old and new texts share a common bond. There is no such thing as a completely original work. This is showed between the movie 21 and the Ocean movies. The Ocean movies are about a group of guys that rob casino's and they show how they did it. The movie 21 has the basic similar plot. This smart guy from MIT joins a group of people that count cards. They work together, like the Ocean group, to cheat the casino out of money. The purpose of both groups is for personal greed. Another example of intertextuality are the books Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. They are both futuristic books with the government reigning supreme. The government hides information and tries to create a utopia. Then one man realizes whats going on and tries to take the government down. They are both very similar entertaining books.
Intertextuality is the continued relations between poems or stories. I believe that all literary works come from somewhere else, but it’s not necessarily on purpose. There are lots of different stories and ideas out there, but none of them are one of a kind. The example of intertextuality that I came up with is the similarities between the movies She’s the Man and Mulan. In the movie She’s the Man the main girl loves to play soccer. When soccer is threatened to be taken away from her she decides to dress up like a man and take the place of her brother on a boys soccer team. This reminds me of Mulan because she also dresses like a man in order to save her family. She goes to war as her father because he is too old to do so. Both the girl from the movie She’s the Man and Mulan dress up secretly, and in the end is also caught. They are forced to revel there true identity but rather then being punished they are both praised.
Intertextuality is the idea that there is no literary work is completely original. Also that all literary works are connected and have some kind of pattern to them. There are a lot of movies out there that follow a very recognizable path, such as in Never Back Down. It starts off with the main character(usually a young man, cocky attitude) getting into some kind of fight, and they suffer an embarrassing loss. At this point the main character decides to train hard for a while, in order to get vengeance on the person that beat them. Along the way they become close with whoever it is that trains him. There is often a family member or friend that is usually hurt along the way by whoever it is he is trying to get back. Then comes the final fight, which usually follows a path of its own. The protagonist starts of fighting the antagonist, both of them get in good hits, and it seems like an even match. Then the antagonist begins to win, and gets in a few harder hits on the hero. Then as the hero is about to lose he/she has a flashback which involves there training and there family/friends. Then he/she comes out of no where and wins the fight. Another example I have seen is in a lot of Disney movies/movies for kids. It always comes out okay for the main character, and the "villain" of the story always loses. There is never any surprise endings in these stories, and this is often the situation in most movies. Which goes to show that all literary works, movies, and even TV shows are somehow related.
Intertextuality is the idea that all stories are based off of the ideas of other stories. There is only one truly original story. There are many examples of intertextuality in literature. One example is the movie, The Notebook, and the play, Romeo and Juliet. In The Notebook, Allie and Noah fall madly in love. Allie’s mother doesn’t approve of Noah because he is in a much lower social class, just as Romeo and Juliet can’t be together because of their families. When Allie’s family moves, Noah’s heart is crushed. Fate steps in and Noah sees Allie with her new boyfriend later on. Noah and Allie’s story differs in the end. Noah didn’t go to the extreme of killing himself like Romeo did. Allie’s new boyfriend could be associated with a fake death. Numerous people believe that Noah has gone mad, which can be associated with Romeo’s death. Allie and Noah end up happy and alive together instead of dead together. Another example of intertextuality is between the movies Amityville Horror and A Haunting in Connecticut. I saw Amityville Horror a few years ago, but just the other week, when I saw A Haunting in Connecticut, I was instantly reminded of Amityville Horror. Both main characters become possessed by the spirits that share the house they just moved into. This started a guessing game in my mind and forced me to pay strict attention to every detail. Because I made these connections, I further enjoyed reading/viewing, trying to guess what would be the same and what would be different.
Intertexualitity is the idea that there is only one story and that ideas are taken from other stories. This idea immediately made me think of the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? which is based on the Odyssey by Homer. The major difference is that O Brother Where Art Thou? is set in the southern part of America in the 1930's as opposed to ancient Greece. The main character in the movie is Ulysses which is the Latin version of Odysseus. Ulysses must also face more modern versions of Odysseus' perils such as a Cyclops and the sirens. Intertextuality seems to also frequently appear in modern horror movies. For example the movie Hatchet (one of those cheesy movies you see on the Sci-Fi channel that Travis made me watch) has basically the same story and setting as the newest Friday the 13th movie. Both of the "monsters" had mental problems and were deformed before they died. They then died in tragic ways and came back from the dead to wreak havoc. Both movies involve younger, college aged protagonists who were looking to have a good time and then something went terribly wrong. Each movie also has a similar setting in the wilderness away from civilization.
Intertextuality is the figurative conversation all literature has with other literature. It’s basically the idea that literature has an effect on people in such a way as to cause them to repeat what they’ve read or viewed in their own creations. For instance, we can easily compare The Lord of the Rings series, by J.R.R. Tolkein, and the Shannara series, by Terry Brooks. In each of these series, we find various mythical races, such as elves and dwarves, in addition to the basic human race. There’s also the mysterious, seemingly omnipotent magician (Gandalf in Tolkein’s and Allanon in Brooks’) who guides the adventuring party (which in itself is a similarity once analyzed). Many events throughout the books also share a great deal of components, and oft times you wonder if Brooks got the idea for elfstones from the rings in Tolkein’s series. Overall, the recognition of situations from Middle Earth allowed for further understanding of events and people in the land of Shannara. Another example of intertextuality is between Serpent Tide, by K.L. Fogg, and Artemis Fowl, by Eion Colfer. The main detail that these books share is the main character: a wealthy, young, and rather astute boy whose father is missing and whose mother hasn’t been filling her role terribly well. Though their personalities are extremely different, they come from similar backgrounds. Having previously read Artemis Fowl, it was easier to imagine Wesley and the feats he was capable of.
Intertextuality is the relation between literary works through the basic ideas of one central story.
Many fairy tales seem to run along the same story line, especially the princess fairy tales. Specifically, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty seem to show the most similarities. Both princesses have to escape the plot of an evil witch, and both fail putting them into a sleep that only a true love’s kiss can awake them from. The witch in each story is killed, and both prince’s from the tales wake up the princesses with a kiss so they live happily ever after.
My second connection brings the world of lyrics into play. Tupac Shakur wrote and recorded a song called “Me and My Girlfriend” which, obviously, was about a couple who was there for each other no matter what and would be “till the end”. Later, Eminem wrote and recorded his version of this song called “98 Bonnie and Clyde”, using the same refrain as Tupac had in his version. And later still, “03 Bonnie and Clyde” was written and recorded by Beyonce and Jay-Z. They also used Tupac’s original refrain in their version, and explained a story of couple who was very much there for each other no matter what, and always would be till death do they part. The same idea of love is conveyed, but yet each song remains different. Most songs people hear are about love, whether it be the failure, the general feeling, or it coming true. Though love can be written about in many different lights, from different perspectives, and in endless situations, the central idea of love is in each work.
Intertextuality is the idea that there is always dialogue between newer texts and older ones. Newer texts are always referencing older ones. The newer stories are always growing out of other stories. There is only one story. There isn’t a completely original work of literature. There are many works of literature that follow this, but I immediately thought of the movies Bend it like Beckham and Goal. Both movies are about a minority family in the United States that has a child that is exceptionally talented at soccer. The family doesn’t approve of the child trying to play professionally. In the end the child makes it professionally. In Bend it like Beckham there is a family of middle-eastern decent that has a daughter that is very good at soccer. They don’t believe that it is right for her to play soccer at a professional level, so they disprove of it. Finally, the daughter decides she is going to play. She eventually makes it onto a national team and plays at the highest level she can. In Goal there is a family that crosses the border illegally and starts a new life in America. They have a son who is very good at soccer, and is approached by an ex-player from Newcastle United who notices his talent and wants him to try out for the team. His father won’t let him go because he doesn’t believe he will make it, and he believes his place is helping the family in the United States. One night, he sneaks out of the house and flies over to Newcastle with money he has saved. He eventually makes the top team for Newcastle and is their star player. He is playing in one of the top leagues in the world for soccer.
Have you seen the commercials for the Bing search engine? One second someone will ask another a question and that person begins relating the original question to what they’ve read/heard/viewed, and before you know it they’re belting out “Oklahoma!”. Well, intertextuality works in a similar way. Intertextuality is defined as the dialogue or ongoing interaction between new and old texts that helps, deepens, and enriches the reading experience, bringing multiple layers of meaning to the text, some of which is not even consciously known. When intertextuality is consciously used by an experienced reader, they will notice more similarities and links between their current texts and those they have crossed over before, letting the text become more alive and meaningful. One example of intertextuality that I realized last school year was between the plays My Fair Lady (which I believe is a better story of the original by George Bernard Shaw) and The Taming of the Shrew between their characters Henry Higgins and Petruchio. As everyone knows Petruchio is the flamboyant man who sets his mind to marrying Katherine, the story’s shrew, for her money. Throughout Shakespeare’s play it becomes obvious to the reader that Petruchio is stubborn enough to act and do just about everything possible to make this happen from twisting every word that Katherine says to arriving at his wedding in ridiculous clothes. Professor Henry Higgins is just as stubborn and even flamboyant and egotistical when compared to the other characters in the play that to are of higher class and makes his pupil, Eliza Doolittle, do such crazy things as talk with marbles in her mouth (many of which are swallowed in the process) and pounds his teaching of phonetics down her throat day in and day out to (originally) win a bet with Colonel Pickett, a linguist who has studied Indian dialects and come all the way to London to meet Higgins. When I first become familiar with My Fair Lady in drama club I thought that Henry Higgins was quite original and now, even though they have their differences, I can’t help but place the face of Petruchio on Rex Harrison and vise versa. For my second example, I will once again use My Fair Lady along with The King and I. In both of these plays the relationship between the two main characters is essentially the same. Higgins is deeply passionate and stubborn with his teaching and his personality and his pupil Eliza is equally stubborn though Higgins manages to have the edge over Eliza because he is the educator until near the end when Eliza finally starts to gain her own ground. The king in The King and I, King Kralahome is stubborn about imposing the ideas of the Siam culture on the teacher of his multitude of children, Anna Leonowens, while she tries to teach the children about the real world and tries to remind King Kralahome that if she doesn’t have a proper house like she was promised then she will return to Britain. Until Anna really see’s that it is imperative to present her own views, the king always edges her out because he has the royal standing and an entire culture and society behind him. At the conclusion of each piece all have gone through countless trials, arguments, and discussions with one another that it is unfeasible for the viewer/reader to come away not recognizing the bond that has molded as a result. I’ve never fully gotten into The King and I but I’m hoping that by identifying this common factor I will finally be able to appreciate it in its entirety.
Espin, good job on using hatchet, it is and immaculate movie. Probably the best ever.
Every story can be linked to another story, which can be linked to other stories, and so on. This is intertextuality, defined by Foster as "dialogue between old texts and new." Allusions are similar, referring to another work for a specific purpose, but intertextuality is the relationship between texts, not a specific part. One example of intertextuality is between 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, where both cities are placed into the future from their time period. The cities in these books are dystopias ruled or controlled by a specific group of people. In these stories, the main characters are fine with the way things are going until something or someone changes the way they think. They begin to see how horrible the world really is and try to change as much as they can. These books are very similar, but never say anything about the other. Another example of intertextuality is between The Lord of the Rings series and the World of WarCraft series. Even though they never point it out, they have several similarities. Take the types of characters for instance. In, Lord of the Rings the main types of characters are elves, dwarfs, humans, undead, orcs, and hobbits. Compare this to World of WarCraft character types. Amazingly, the are the same minus the hobbits and dwarfs. Both series have the different races fighting one another and eventually allying with each other against one common threat.
Intertextuality is described as each piece of literature thrives of off another. Authors constantly burrow thoughts and ideas from other writers. This creates that the idea that there is only one story. My first example is between the movie Mulan and the movie She’s the Man. In Mulan, the daughter of a crippled father dresses up and takes his place in the imperial army. She helps to defeat the Huns in a mountain pass by creating an avalanche. When her true identity is revealed she luckily survives with her life, but is told to return home. When Mulan sees a few Huns emerge from the snow she goes to the Imperial city and helps to save the day. She’s the Man follows a similar plot line by Viola dressing up as her twin brother and taking his place at his high school, Illyria. Her main goal is to defeat Illyria’s rival school Cornwell (Viola’s actual high school) in a soccer game. Like Mulan, Viola’s true identity is revealed and she’s continues on to help defeat the team that would not allow her to play with them. Another example of Intertextuality is between the Titanic and the Notebook, both two great love novels, but both have the plot structure. Both novels are stories about a forbidden love. In the Titanic Rose and Jack fall in love, but their different social classes poses a great problem between them. They choose to over look their social differences and vow to spend their lives together. This happy tale ends in tragedy when the boat hits an ice berg and begins to sink. They hold on to each other and try to stay alive, tragically Jack dies of hypothermia. Much is the same for Allie and Noah; they both are from different social classes. Allie and Rose are both from a higher social class than their lovers. Nevertheless, Allie and Noah fall deeply in love only to find out that Allie is moving away. The two split up and Allie agrees to marry another man. It all works out in the end for this hopelessly romantic couple because they end up getting married and living happily ever after instead of one of them dying. I had not realized how much intertextuality is in form of writing.
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