Up Next: The Book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines...

I first read this book about three years ago, before I had any real sense that critical theory was even a thing. Now that I know just enough to realize how much I still have to learn, I’m curious to see how a more practiced critical reader approaches a text—and, with luck, sharpen a few of my own literary skills along the way.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, by Thomas C. Foster, introduces readers to the “grammar of literature”—the symbols, patterns, and archetypes that experienced critics use to uncover deeper meaning in stories. Foster suggests that while casual readers, myself included, may focus mainly on plot and character, practiced readers also draw on three essential tools: memory, symbol, and pattern. Foster brings ideas such as “Every Trip Is a Quest,” “Acts of Communion,” “Vampirism and Monsters,” and “Intertextuality” into clear focus. I’m hoping the book will help me notice more of what is happening beneath the surface—though I suspect I’ll still miss plenty on the first pass.

As usual, I’ll share my thoughts once I’ve finished—and, ideally, once I’ve learned a thing or two.