how to read literature like a professor

its more than just rain or snow

weather always signals something

“weather is never just weather. it’s never just rain. and that goes for snow, sun, warmth, cold, and probably sleet.”

water in literature

-has been trying to reclaim us

example: floods try to drag us back into the water or noah’s ark

noah’s ark had

• lots of rain

• major flood

• rainbow

-floods erase but allow for a brand new start

functions of rain

-plot device

• forces people to come together

• isolates characters

• way to make characters seem miserable

-atmosphere

• mysterious

• murky

• isolating

-cleansing

• to symbolically cleanse a character, let him walk through the rain to reach his destination

• he may end up with a cold or be transformed

  • he may be less angry

  • less confused

  • express more remorse

  • or the figurative stain on the character may be removed

• if the character falls he may be covered in mud (more stained than before)

• “problem with cleansing, is the problem with wishes”

  • be careful what you wish for (what you want cleansed)

  • it may backfire

-restorative

• April showers bring may flowers

-paradox for rain

• it is clean as it comes down but can make lots of mud when it lands

symbolism of rain

-new life

-restoration

-illness and death

replenishment

-connects with spring/principal element of spring

symbolism of spring

-renewal

-hope

-new awakenings

symbolism of rainbows

-divine promise

-peace between heaven and earth

symbolism of fog

-misery factor

-confusion

-mental, ethical, and physical

-suggests that people cannot see clearly

symbolism of snow

-clean

-stark

-severe

-warm (insulating, paradoxically)

-inviting

-playful

-suffocating

-filthy (after time)

-any symbolism can be displayed with snow

is that a symbol?

“people expect symbols to mean something. not just any something, but on something in particular.”

symbols cannot be reduced to meaning only one thing

allegory

-when symbols are reduced to one thing

-not symbolism

-a story, poem, or picture that can reveal a hidden meaning

-typically a moral

allegories mission

-convey a certain message

-blurred message = failed allegory

symbols don’t work so neatly

--people expect them to be objects and images rather than events or actions

-have a range of possible meanings/interpretations

-our interpretations can be impacted by

• education

• class

• philosophy

• gender

• race

• faith

• social involvement

-to bring out what a symbol might mean use

• questions

• experiences

• preexisting knowledge

• allusions

• meaning

• ironic elements

-“things stand for other things on a one-for-one basis.”

symbolism of white flags

-i give up

-don’t shoot

-we come in peace

symbolism of caves

-keeps secrets

-secure

-sheltered

-forcing contact with deepest fears

symbolism of rivers

-escape

-danger

-safety

-division

-connection

-river and bridge show total connection

symbolism of mowing

-cleansing

-labor

-existing in nature/life

understanding the authors work should be applauded because we are figuring out what the writer put together using our imagination

flights of fancy

when a person is suspended in the air they are usually

-crazy

-fictional

-a superhero

-a ski jumper

-a circus act

-suspended on wires

-an angel

-heavily symbolic

archetypes

-typical example of something

comic book superheros defy gravity in many ways

ex: -superman can fly

-spider-man has his webs

-batman uses gadgets

symbolism of flight

-flight is freedom

-escape

-returning home

-interrupted flight signals something negative

-we are thrilled to fly but fear to fall

-“falling from a high height and surviving is symbolically meaningful and miraculous.”

-irony over everything

-irony depends on an established pattern where it works inversions

geography matters

geography

-study of physical features of the earth/atmosphere & how human activity affects it

literary geography is about humans inhabiting spaces and the spaces inhabiting them

geography can be

-setting

-psychology

-attitude

-finance

-industry

-etc.

geography can reveal any element such as

-theme

-symbols

-mood

-plot

-foreshadowing

-geography can define/develop characters

-“when writers send their characters south, it’s so they can run amok.”

(run amok - to behave uncontrollably and disruptively)

-effects of this can be funny or tragic

examples of low

-swamps

-crowds

-fog

-darkness

-fields

-heat

-unpleasantness

-people

-life

-death

examples of high

-snow

-ice

-purity

-thin air

-clear views

-isolation

-life

-death

…so does season

-seasons are not always mentioned specifically

seasonal implication can be

-time of day

-mood

-tone

-point of view

-we all know the pattern of seasons

-spring

• childhood

• youth

-summer

• adulthood

• romance

-autumn

• decline

• middle age

• tiredness

• harvests

  • agriculture

  • personal harvests

  • results of our endeavors

-winter

• old age

• resentment

• death

-seasons in literature are always same yet different

yearly occurrences

-death and rebirth

-growth and harvest

-death

-greeks held dramatic festivals at beginning of spring

-it was to get rid of the bad winter feeling

-so no negativity would follow into the growing season

-jesus’s birth did not take place anywhere near december 25

-“seasons can work magic on us, and writers can work magic with seasons.”

marked for greatness

-literature understands physical imperfections in symbolic terms

-physical qualities/shapes always tell us something about characters

-the hero is always different from everyone else

-usually physically visible

-“physical deformity indicated moral deformity.”

(deformity - different)

-deformity is often metaphorical

-when a handicap or deficiency is brought up it usually will have an affect in the future

-ex: “giving a limp in chapter 2 so the character can’t sprint after the train in chapter 24.”

if she comes up, it’s baptism

tossing characters into the water is

-wish fulfillment

-exorcism of primal fear

-exploration of the possible

-handy solution to messy plots

symbolism of water rescues

-good fortune

-luck

-serendipity

(serendipity - development of events in a happy/beneficial way)

-rebirth

baptism

-death and rebirth through a medium of water

when writers baptize they mean

-death (not really)

-rebirth

-new identity

literal rebirth - surviving a deadly situation

symbolic rebirth - taking a character underwater and causing it to die out it’s old self to be reborn as a follower of christ

“all happy families are the same but every unhappy one has its own story”

-rebirth/baptism has lots of common threads

-drowning is its own purpose