Analyzing Chapter 11 of Thomas C Foster's 'How to Read Literature Like a Professor'

There are two kinds of violence found in literature: violence caused by other characters, and violence that the characters have no control over. Foster claimed “Violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implication (Foster 88).” The effects of violence caused by other characters and violence that the characters have no control over are different. Violence caused by other characters tend to be more personal, the character inflicting the violence would have more motivation because they feel they were insulted in a way. For example in The Things They Carried when O'Brien was shot for the second time and Jorgenson was unable to treat him O'Brien decides to

In the Novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the subject of violence occurs as an important topic for the main character Melinda Sordino. In the book many examples of violence are exemplified, for instance when Melinda is at the party with Andy Evans, the looks she gets from the boy her caused her the most violence and when she defends herself using violence because of what is being done to her. In life sometimes its hard to chose doing the right thing because of what you can lose.

      Often, simple physical conflicts are used to develop characters and to increase the suspense and action between them. In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield the 16-year-old narrator and protagonist claims to be a pacifist. Holden views the world as an evil and corrupt place where there is no peace. As a sincere person living amongst phonies, he views others as completely immoral and unscrupulous. In the novel violence is used to further develop Holden's character. This is shown through his physical conflict with Stradlater, his conflict with Maurice, and the suicide of James Castle.

There are two categories of violence in literature: the specific injury and the narrative violence. Specific injury causes characters to visit on one another or on themselves. Narrative violence cause the characters to cause harm in general.

In the twelfth chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster provides various information on how to identify symbols throughout literature. The chapter stressed the individuality of identifying symbols, Foster mentions multiple times that “every reader’s experience of every work is unique, largely because each person will emphasize various elements to different degrees” (110). After learning this and also having read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, one thing that stood out was that the main character, Oskar, only has and only wears white clothes. Not only does Oskar often reference his various white clothes, including the white scarf that Grandma knitted

In every great piece on literature there always ends up being a scene with some sort of violence. In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini there are a couple of points that include violence that help carry the plot and contribute to the overall meaning of t there are a couple of points that include violence that help carry the plot and contribute to the overall meaning of the work. There are two scenes in particular that really show this concept such as Hassan’s rape and the fight between Armir, Assef and Sohrab. Both scenes are not just there for show, they carry the story along and show what the characters personalities and how they contribute to the plot.

Every character that travels down a path, that encounters obstacles on their journey, that makes sacrificial decisions faces each of these components as they undertake a life-altering quest. Often times the hero ventures out to save someone or solve a problem, but in fact, their true journey is a search for self-knowledge. Through every obstacle and road-block along the way, the character discovers more about themselves and their true identity. Though they may have journeyed across great lands to accomplish their mission, the thing they were searching for was inside of them all along; the journey and challenges only helped to reveal their real character. As explained in Thomas C. Foster’s literary criticism, How to Read Literature Like a Professor,

In Raiders of The Lost Ark, the violence is abundant from beginning to end, - a death tally of 63 (allouttabubblegum) -- but we accept it because it is always the “bad guy” getting hurt -- a greedy guide is skewered by a bed of nails, a relentless thug is chopped by a plane propeller, and numerous Nazis meet their comeuppance by having their faces melt off (Raiders). The violence is often gory and realistic. According to the study,

In the skillful novel, "How To Read Literature Like A Professor" by Thomas C. Foster, there is neither a protagonist nor antagonist. As a whole, the novel gives insights on how to pick up signs of symbolism, irony, and many other hidden details that are buried within the words of literature. Foster refers to many classis novels by classic authors to demonstrate the use of logic in writing. The novel is extremely educational, leaving many insightful questions and interpretations to the reader's opinion.

In modern society, violence is unquestionably looked down upon. With any type of inhumane abuse, there is a strict set of laws in place to protect victims. However, this was not always the case. In Octavia Butler’s book Kindred, she does not hesitate in intensely describing the unjust and violent exploitation of power by white people against blacks within the 1800’s. Even more so, she uses violence as a dominant theme throughout the entire novel. As always, a sensitive topic like full out physical abuse is hard to handle for some readers, and that makes people question whether the prevalent violent theme in Kindred was truly necessary. Without violence,

As much as society does not want to admit, violence serves as a form of entertainment. In media today, violence typically has no meaning. Literature, movies, and music, saturated with violence, enter the homes of millions everyday. On the other hand, in Beloved, a novel by Toni Morrison, violence contributes greatly to the overall work. The story takes place during the age of the enslavement of African-Americans for rural labor in plantations. Sethe, the proud and noble protagonist, has suffered a great deal at the hand of schoolteacher. The unfortunate and seemingly inevitable events that occur in her life, fraught with violence and heartache, tug at the reader’s heart-strings. The wrongdoings Sethe endures are significant to the meaning

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor it notifies that violence is not just an act to beat one another but it can be interpreted as an intimate act between humans or a cultural/societal act. When there is violence that is brought up into the text it was put there for a reason, for a much deeper meaning that is written. There are two types of violence: a specific injury that causes the characters to visit one another, and when the narrative violence is general harm to the character. Reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor helped with understanding that Faulkner has a lot of tragedy and symbolic deaths that could maybe tie along with some biblical allusions that a reader can draw from.

Violence in the short story is very interesting because its so apparent and yet so deep. Towards the end of the story, the Misfit says to Grandmother “She would of been a good woman . . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.” Flannery O’Connor doesn’t say that being exposed to violence makes them better people, but the message is clear: violence changes us as a people (both in the story and in the real world). Up until the very end, each member of the family, mostly Grandmother, acted egotistically and only focused in herself. None of the characters take a minute to evaluate whats right and wrong for themselves or anyone else. They all react based on their instincts without thinking things through so much. But when Grandmother is put in a life or death situation where she’s forced to carefully pick her words and actions, she is suddenly capable of a being more selfless and spiritually sound. The Grandmother’s everyday considerations probably have nothing to do with her son or the kids, really anyone in her family, but when she is faced with her own mortality she has this moment of “grace”—she calls the Misfit her own son, and reach makes an effort, emotionally and physically, hoping to save herself or comfort him. In the end, however, the Grandmother’s moment of “grace” ends up getting her killed. O’Connor

The two kinds of violence that are presented in literature are those that are caused by the characters themselves, and those that are out of the character’s hands and are caused by the author. An example of a character death by another character is in The Naturals by Jennifer Lynne Barnes. In The Naturals, Cassie, a teenager gifted with the ability to profile killers, joins an elite team of other kids who have the same abilities as her. Throughout her course of working with them, she discovers the secret to her mother’s murder and also who is behind it. Upon being lured out into an abandoned warehouse at the end of the novel, Cassie is brought face to face with her mother’s killer, Special Agent Lacey Locke. As Agent Locke is about to kill

     Another example of violence transpiring for more than a sole purpose, is through the character of Jonathan Harker. Jonathan is struggling with an inner conflict, and one of the supernatural; man versus himself and man versus the supernatural. His inner conflict is due to the fact that in his mind, he is a prisoner in Castle Dracula, and there are no means of escape. Therefore, the struggle within himself is one of keeping his sanity and rational way of thinking, since he is such a rational, business-minded man. However, the most obvious conflict derives from the physical and mental struggle with Count Dracula. The novel sets a tone of good versus evil or the supernatural, which is directly related to the conflict. Accordingly, on June 29, the Count tells Jonathan that this is his last day when he stated, "To-morrow, my friend, we must part"(pg.51). After the Count led him to the door where the wolves were howling, he