How to Read Literature Like a Professor Every Trip Is a Quest Geography Matters

Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not) Five elements: 1)quester 2)place to go 3)reason to go there 4)challenges/trials 5) real reason to go

Every Trip—cont. “The real reason for a quest is always self- knowledge” (3). A quest might fail or might not be taken up “’Always’ and ‘Never’ are not words that have much meaning in literary study” (6).

Every Trip—cont. Having said that... Always consider the artist’s argument that might be made through: 1.the quest 2.the act of self-knowledge 3.the specific self-knowledge achieved or attempted 4.the failure or rejection of the quest/self- knowledge

Geography Matters Geography/setting is not just physical place Ask why a writer chose a specific setting, because they do choose setting “Literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces that inhabit humans” (166-67).

Geography—cont. Setting (geography) can involve psychology, attitude, finance, industry, religion, politics, crime, leisure, etc. Setting can: 1) affect character development, 2) be symbolic The symbolism of characters going south

Every Trip practice Beauty and the Beast Kung Fu Panda Star Wars I-III Star Wars IV-VI The Lion King Elf Monsters Inc. Up Despicable Me Shrek Finding Nemo

Geo Matters Title Paraphrase Diction, imagery, rhyme, rhythm, etc. Read again Title again Argument