Thomas C. Foster: How To Read Literature Like A Professor

An English professor of many years at the University of Michigan-Flint, Thomas C. Foster has delivered an impressive book: How to Read Literature like a Professor. This book is an invaluable tool for readers at any level that can be used to more easily identify and interpret the many symbols woven into books, short stories, poems, and other writings. In the book, Foster not only explains what common occurrences, such as rain or illness, can mean symbolically, but also gives numerous examples from the works of popular authors. While a quick glance at the title may not give the impression that the reading will be particularly enjoyable, a book cannot be judged by its cover.
As a book that is written to help readers delve into the incredible

world of literature, it does its job wonderfully. Each chapter of the book is devoted either to a source from which many authors take inspiration – the Bible, Greek myths, Shakespearean plays, etc. – or to symbols and archetypes that reappear time and time again throughout literature. Of the former category, my favorite chapter is about the Bible and how many authors use it in their own writing. It amazes me how adding a quote from the Bible can add an entirely new layer to a scene or character. For example, Beloved, by Toni Morrison, has a scene where four men riding on horses go to the house of an escaped slave, Sethe, who is hiding there with her small children (Foster 43). In an attempt to protect her children from becoming slaves, she tries to kill them. While this may seem like insanity, it becomes somewhat more understandable when seen through the lens of the Bible. The Four Horsemen are riding up to her house, and they are bringing with them the Apocalypse. This extra dimension is something that I would not have thought about before reading the book, but now, I cannot stop looking for it.
As previously stated, reading the title does not inspire confidence in a casual reader (such as me) that the book will be very comical. However, after reading a few pages into the book, I am happily surprised to find that the author is inserting humor into his explanations quite consistently. The first few words of his introduction are, “Mr. Lindner? That milquetoast?” (Foster xxiii). Simply reading such an uncommon and silly word as “milquetoast” made me smile a little. Also, his conversations with an imaginary student – likely modeled after conversations he has with his students at the university – make his explanations much more interesting and much more amusing. Another factor that makes the reading more enjoyable is that his vocabulary is not particularly over-the-top and does not require a dictionary to understand (with the exception of the occasional “milquetoast”). Furthermore, Foster is always bringing up irony. One of Foster’s final chapters is all about it, in fact. The essence of irony is taking something that is expected, and turning it on its head. Foster takes this and illustrates it with a story of a seat belt billboard falling on top of someone who just survived a car crash (255). Foster’s humor shows throughout the book in numerous ways, and the book is exponentially more enjoyable because of it.
How to Read Literature like a Professor is an absolutely remarkable book that should be read by any reader that would like to gain a better understanding of the countless symbols in literature that are hidden just beneath the surface. Foster is able to find a perfect balance between informing and entertaining that very few authors can. This book is a clear example of the old saying about books and their covers.