How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster was an enjoyable (and lengthy) read that does a wonderful job in explaining the proper methods to analyze a novel, with information that I feel will greatly help me in English class. Each chapter covers a different aspect of literature such as irony, symbolism or the hero’s journey, and applies each concept to novels that I myself was not familiar with, but I felt helped enhance the points he attempted to illustrate. Most of the books he references I had never heard of, but he did an excellent job explaining them with short summaries that were easy to follow. I felt that certain chapters were stronger than others, but I feel it definitely improved my reading and writing skills. Throughout the novel, the author writes in an entertaining manner that makes it enjoyable and a faster read than an ordinary English text book. The language used expresses each concept in such a way that does not require constant note-taking, but rather enables the reader to read at his or her own pace as if reading any other novel. Certain concepts were also stressed throughout, which I found helpful because it tested the reader to see how well they had been paying attention earlier in the book. I also found the book to be arranged in a very logical structure that organized the various topics in a way that created a smooth transition between chapters. While I found the book to be well-written, I felt at times the author provided too many examples for each subject, instead of going into greater depth about one book in particular. The majority of the book I felt I was trying to understand complicated plot structures surrounding each story referenced, which could at times become tedious when every page has a different novel being analyzed. I would definitely recommend this novel to all high school and college students who are willing to take the concepts seriously and who have a desire to get a better understanding of literature.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster was an enjoyable (and lengthy) read that does a wonderful job in explaining the proper methods to analyze a novel, with information that I feel will greatly help me in English class. Each chapter covers a different aspect of literature such as irony, symbolism or the hero’s journey, and applies each concept to novels that I myself was not familiar with, but I felt helped enhance the points he attempted to illustrate. Most of the books he references I had never heard of, but he did an excellent job explaining them with short summaries that were easy to follow. I felt that certain chapters were stronger than others, but I feel it definitely improved my reading and writing skills. Throughout the novel, the author writes in an entertaining manner that makes it enjoyable and a faster read than an ordinary English text book. The language used expresses each concept in such a way that does not require constant note-taking, but rather enables the reader to read at his or her own pace as if reading any other novel. Certain concepts were also stressed throughout, which I found helpful because it tested the reader to see how well they had been paying attention earlier in the book. I also found the book to be arranged in a very logical structure that organized the various topics in a way that created a smooth transition between chapters. While I found the book to be well-written, I felt at times the author provided too many examples for each subject, instead of going into greater depth about one book in particular. The majority of the book I felt I was trying to understand complicated plot structures surrounding each story referenced, which could at times become tedious when every page has a different novel being analyzed. I would definitely recommend this novel to all high school and college students who are willing to take the concepts seriously and who have a desire to get a better understanding of literature.
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