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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:
An archetype is a model situation, person, or idea that has been copied or emulated many times and is widely recognizable. The most evident archetype I could think of is the story of the underdog. This story consists of a righteous protagonist who triumphs when faced with unbeatable odds and insurmountable obstacles. This story has been around since David slayed Goliath and possibly earlier. This has been copied innumerable times in fiction and in stories based on real life events. There are countless movies and books based on real life sports teams who make an unexpected victory or have an surprisingly outstanding season. Stories where the winners always win and the losers always lose would become boring and distasteful to us, preaching invariance. Somewhere along the lines history has revealed to us that we find it amusing to watch the weak triumph over the strong, for any number of reasons. Usually though, the underdog is victorious for her moral soundness, representing the good side. What is the tale of Cinderella but that of David and Goliath with glass slippers. She is a righteous girl surrounded by devilish stepsisters and a stepmother who turns her into a slave. Now we have a righteous servant girl battling two cruel duchesses (among a host of other bachelorettes at the ball) to win over the lovely prince charming. It sounds like the odds are not in Cinderella's favor. She does end up winning the prince though, because she represents the good side. And everyone knows that the good side is always the side to get the fairy godmother, or the little green jedi master, or the amazing coach that comes out of retirement, or God, or sheer luck.
Archetype is one idea that keeps reappearing in different pieces of literature. Each idea plays an effect on the readers whether it means enhancing our imagination, inspiring, or alarming us. The repetitiveness of one idea actually makes it more powerful. People recognize certain aspects about stories. If the reader picks up on an archetype that they like they might think the story is more interesting, their imagination heightens, etc. An example of an archetypal story is Fahrenheit 451. In the novel, the wife of Guy is not happy and so she tries to do something about it. This something is not necessarily the right thing. She tries to kill herself which causes her husband distress and also would have killed her if it wasn’t for the technology. This archetype is carried into another novel that many people are familiar with, The Secret Life of Bees. In this piece of literature the mom of Lily wasn’t happy with her life and instead of settling it in a civilized manner she tried to run away. Thanks to her appalling behavior things didn’t conclude very nicely. The mother ended up getting shot and dying, leaving Lily to grow up motherless. This uncivilized behavior by mothers in different literature excites readers, adds drama, and makes the story go from dull to interesting.
Archetype is a theme, event, or an idea that keeps repeating in literature. It ties in with the term intertextuality, in that all story's come from the same story. Archetype is the same idea or happening that keeps showing up in numerous story's. An example of a type of archetype is the quest. The classic epic journey is very noticeable archetype. Most journey's have the same idea in mind; there's a main character who goes on a quest for something and along the way, things get in the way of completing the quest. Whether it be monsters, aliens, or helping out a nagging neighbor, just anything that slows the process down. The end goal is to make it home safely having completed the quest. The tale of brave Ulysses is a familiar archetype. He undergoes the most classic type of a quest. Most people are aware of the story of Ulysses and are interested in it. Journey's are creative and unpredictable. Author's can throw anything at the characters in a journey, and they may not even let the character's make it to the end of their journey. The unpredictability makes this archetype so interesting.
An archetype is an aspect of a story, whether it is something as small as a symbol or something as large as the overall theme of the story, which has been repeated or borrowed many times throughout the history of literature. This reappearance actually strengthens the impact it has on the reader. One idea behind a story that comes to mind when I think of an archetype is the idea of the superhero. This idea goes all the way to the myths of heroes like Achilles who was favored by the gods and given some special ability. These heroes were greater than the average man. Some had extreme strength like Hercules and some where invincible except in one little spot like Achilles. The superheroes of today don’t all have special powers, but some do. The idea behind the superhero is that they do something greater than that of an average man, and it is usually to save a city or defeat evil. Many stories of superheroes come to mind when think if this archetype. Most people are familiar with Batman. Batman is the hero of Gothem City which is where he lives. He saves the city from many villains, whether it is the Joker, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, or Two-Face. He always defeats the villain and saves the city. Spider-man is another great example of a superhero. Spider-man saves the people from the evil of many villains. A few of these villains he defeats are the Green Goblin, Dr, Octopus, Sandman, and Vulture. Spider-Man and Batman, along with all of the other superheroes always defeat the villain. The most interesting thing about the superhero archetype is the fact that every villain each superhero faces is different. When you read a book or see a movie with a superhero, you know the superhero will come out on top. You just don’t know over who or how, which is what makes it so interesting.
An archetype is a reoccurring situation, theme, symbol, character, or idea in literature in which the author expects the reader will recognize. I think one of the most prominent themes that reoccur in most literature is that of good vs. evil and over time has taken many forms: good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, love vs. hate, etc. Although obviously most stories are not quite that simple, the general idea still applies.
Every fairy tale I can think of comes down to this idea. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, etc. And without fail in these fairy tales, good overcomes evil, love conquers everything, and so on. Aladdin, for example, is in love with princess Jazmine but since he is not a prince cannot marry her. As he discovers the Genie, he turns himself into a prince, and he and Jazmine can then marry. Jafar however refuses to let this happen, and tries everything in his power to marry Jazmine and kill Aladdin. But in the end, Jafar’s need to be all-powerful costs him his freedom, and he becomes a slave to a lamp himself. Many modern day literature apply the same idea(s), including movies and novels of today especially.
An archetype is an idea, person, or situation which is repeated in literature. An example of an archetype would be the mad scientist type of character which appears in many stories. A mad scientist doesn't have to be evil or crazy; he just has to be so dedicated to his work that nothing else seems to matter. One example of this would be Dexter from the show Dexter's Laboratory. He is constantly building crazy inventions which seem to always be destroyed by his sister. He has virtually no friends because he spends all of his time in his lab. Doc from Back to the Future would be another example of a mad scientist. He designs a time machine and uses wild and impractical methods to acquire materials and build the machine. When the device works it sends his friend Marty to the past and causes a whole mess.
Archetype is a typical or classic example of something, in other words it is often repeated. A common outcome of all sorts of stories is when the good guy or the underdog gets the girl. In the two stories I decided to use the underdog that happens to be the protagonist best friends brother. The first example is the movie Princess Diaries when she dates cutest guy in school but for only that reason. Her best friend Lily has an older brother that liked Mia along, even before she got her makeover. In the end Mia realizes she likes him too and takes him to the last ball. The other movie that this reminds me of this is Bride Wars. In this movie Liv and Emma are best friends that are engaged. In the end at their wedding Emma ends up leaving her fiancé and later marries Liv’s older brother. He too had liked Emma for a long time and accepted her for who she was. These two movies have very similar outcomes and are good examples of archetype.
An archetype is something that reappears in many different forms of literature. This can be a character, a theme, an idea, or many other things. One recurring theme is the "damsel in distress". This is usually a woman that gets kidnapped, or capture, or placed under some sort of curse and needs to be rescued by someone. This happens in the movie Shrek. Fiona is a princess that is locked away in a castle. She needs to be rescued and Shrek is the one that has to do it. There is lava surrounding the bridge and even a dragon inside to make sure Fiona does not get out. Shrek saves her though and gets her out, but then it is later revealed that she even has a curse that can be only broken by true loves first kiss. Fiona is the epitome of a damsel in distress.
An archetype is a recurring or well recognized idea, story line, person, or component in stories. Archetype figures that I see a lot in literature are superheroes. In Spiderman, he is always fighting the villains and rescuing the world from evil. The typical superhero we think of usually is gifted with special powers and more courageous compared to anyone else. Another superhero figure is Moses the man who rescues the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Superheroes at one point for some reason get insulted or ridiculed by the people who count on them. For example in Spiderman, people twisted a rescue he made to make him look bad. In the story about Moses, Moses is blamed by the Israelites for leading them out in a desert where they are starving. The special power Moses was gifted with was the power of God. In all superhero stories the hero has to face and fight a villain in a dangerous situation that could cost someone’s life. In Moses’ case the slaves’ life was at stake. Moses had to approach the pharaoh and battle their serpents. Superheros are seen everywhere. As long a person risks their life and saves other people, they are a superhero.
An archetype, or pattern, is a well recognized idea, story line, or component of a story that through time develops resonance, strength, and is deep within the human consciousness so much so that it is something we don’t mind hearing again and again. Also, like intertextuality, it is those patterns we recognize that gives us, as Foster describes, the “aha” moment. The archetype I have chosen to explore is the conquest. Essentially it the quest but in the case of the conquest the quester is specifically after something, someone, or whatever can be possessed and, like the quest, is not always achieved. For instance, this archetype deals with but is not limited to such story types as the boy going gets the girl (and vise versa) or revenge and pay back and can be found in Shakespeare to modern day movies like Superbad. In my examples I’ll use the concept of the boy getting the girl. Think of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The prince escapes from the evil sorceress and battles his way past the fire-breathing dragon and various other obstacles until he reaches the highest tower, kisses Princess Aurora, and she and everyone in the castle wake up and the two live happily ever after. This same concept is found in James Joyce’s “Araby,” though due to a number of other factors this is one of the many cases in which this chosen concept isn’t fulfilled though the opportunity was presented. A story in which, like Sleeping Beauty, the conquest is successful is in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew between Bianca and Lucentio and in modern times stories by authors such as Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, or in the ever-popular Twilight series. Basically, any in which there is romance has this common archetype. Still, as surely one of the oldest and most used, this archetype proves that authors and readers alike still are attracted to this timeless component.
Garret, I like the hero archetype. Nice job of comparing a Greek hero, Achilles to modern superheroes like Batman and Spiderman.
An archetype is essentially a pattern of events, ideas, and whatnot that seems to be constantly repeated in stories. For example, the unconquerable lover is a great archetype. In a great many stories, some sort of romance is going on that involves the main character. Throughout the story, various challenges and obstacles to the hero and the relationship arise. However, being the protagonist (and often the indomitable prince charming), the main character manages to make it through all trials and is united with the loved one in the end. To showcase this archetype, I’ve chosen to look at the movie (it’s also a book, but I haven’t read it yet) Princess Bride. Westley is the archetypal hero. From his humble beginning, he and Buttercup were in love. Unfortunately, Westley disappears and is captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Later, when three unsavory characters (or at least one unsavory characters, and two poorly-paid henchmen) kidnap Buttercup and try to take her to the neighboring country to be killed (part of an evil plan set up by the villainous Prince Humperdink), Westley seems to sense it from wherever he was. He comes, as a mysterious man clad in black, to rescue Buttercup from the three thugs. He duals an expert swordsman (and wins), wrestles a giant (and wins again, in case you were wondering), and then manages to poison a self-proclaimed genius in an alleged battle of wits (that was really base off of Westley’s resistance to a deadly poison). He rescues his love and eventually reveals himself. Much more happens after that point, but you get the general idea: no matter what might possibly throw itself in the way, Westley will emerge victorious! And why? He wins because he’s the unconquerable lover. His incredible talents combined with his love for Buttercup (as well as a little help from a couple of sidekicks when he pretty much gets killed, but I guess that’s the fortune of his archetype at work) allow him to rise above insurmountable odds.
Archetypes go along with intertextuality. An archetype reflects the idea that there is only one story. It is a reoccurring idea or thing in literature. Unlike intertextuality, archetypes are more general and not so specific. As I was reading about archetypes, my mind flooded with several examples. The one I chose to dig into is forbidden love. I, alone, have used forbidden love stories many times in this blog. From reading other classmates’ posts and discovering that many of them have written about forbidden love as well, I knew it was the perfect archetype to write about. So many stories are based on forbidden love; Romeo and Juliet, The Notebook, Twilight, Titanic, Sleeping Beauty. In the classic movie, Sleeping Beauty, the love isn’t necessarily forbidden but nearly impossible. How can a human and a beast with anger problems be happy together? Belle and the beast can’t be together because of the beast’s anger issues, not to mention the difference in species. Similar to Belle and the beast, Edward and Bella (Is it coincidental that Belle and Bella have nearly the same name?) shouldn’t be together due to the straightforward fact that Edward is a blood-sucking vampire Noah and Allie can’t be together because of social class, just like Jack and Rose.
An archetype is a story that is almost the same as other stories and is easily recognized as such. Moulin Rouge is almost identical to Romeo of Juliet. Christian, the main character of Moulin Rouge, falls in love with Satine at a ballroom party, just like Romeo and Juliet. In both stories, almost everyone is against the relationships, but the couples hold firm. Unfortunately, both of these stories end in tragedies when the couples attempt to be together forever.
An archetype is an idea, character, situation, or pattern that is easily recognized and copied many times. An archetype that comes to mind is the classic love story. More often than not the latest movie or novel has some sort of love story in it. No matter if it was destined to happen or by chance a man and a woman find love in one another. Cinderella is a well known love story and only fate could have brought the prince and this lovely servant together. Also in the movie, The Proposal, after hearing the news that an Editor-in-Chief must be deported back to Canada because of an expired visa Margaret Tate forces her young assistant Andrew into marrying her so she can stay in the country. Before the wedding can take place Margaret tells Andrew’s family the scheme and runs off the altar to start packing to leave the country in the next twenty four hours. Andrew quickly realizes he has fallen in love with Margaret and rushes to get to their office building. As he gets down on one knee he says, “Will you marry me so I can date you?”
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