false 39933 006000942X 9780060009427 877 203 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169340277m/39933.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39933.How_to_Read_Literature_Like_a_Professor_A_Lively_and_Entertaining_Guide_to_Reading_Between_the_Lines 11550 Thomas C. Foster 1012 247 3 1 false Sat Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Dec 13 16:34:35 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 16:35:16 -0800 2008
And I feel like, since this was required reading for my advanced/gifted and talented English IV class, this book would have served as a better introduction to literature and been more helpful, as it has many tips and tricks for recognizing common symbolism and other literary techniques, the connotations of which can be easily missed, if this “non textbook” would have been required for Language Arts in eighth grade or, at least, Freshman English. Since “reading between the lines” has always come somewhat naturally to me, and for my “gifted and talented” classmates, How to Read Literature Like a Professor was some what lost on me. And it is my belief that even people seeking help wouldn’t appreciate the italicized text that supposedly voices the reader’s confused and helpless thought

That said, How to Read Literature Like a Professor served as a nice refresher on critical reading. As an added bonus, Foster’s writing style makes him easy to understand, not patronizing or intimidating. In fact, some of what he writes received a chuckle from me here and there.

“When they’re writing about other things, they really mean sex, and when they write about sex, they really mean something else. If they write about sex and mean strictly sex, we have a word for that. Pornography.” {pg. 144}]]>