1. How To Read Literature Like a Professor By Thomas C. Foster
©AP Lit & More, 2018

2. Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)
Chapter 1

3. Elements of a Quest
A quester
A place to go
A stated reason to go there
Challenges & trials en route
A real reason to go there, WHICH IS ALWAYS SELF KNOWLEDGE.
Example - Lord of the Rings
Frodo Baggins
Mount Doom
Frodo must destroy the ring of Sauron
Orcs, the ring’s possessive powers, Gollum, corrupted men and other creatures trying to steal the ring, etc.
Frodo gains his independence and finds a purpose in life (finishes Bilbo’s book, moves with the elves); strengthens friendships with hobbits and other creatures

4. Quest Tales vs.. Plot Structure
Setting and Mood:
 Almost every story happens in a particular time and place—for example, “long ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” in a modern city, or during the Great Depression. The time and place of the story is its setting. Writers create setting through the following: 
details that suggest the time of day, year, season, or historical period 
• descriptions of characters, clothing, buildings, weather, and landscapes .

5. MOOD
Another element that contributes to the world of a story is the mood, the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for readers. Whether it is mysterious or uplifting, a mood is developed through a writer’s use of imagery and choice of words and details. Setting details, in particular, help to establish a mood.

6. PLOT ANAYSIS
A story is much more than the world in which the action unfolds. The real power of a story comes from what happens in that world. Most stories follow a plot, a series of scenes that traces a conflict, or struggle between opposing forces. The conflict can be internal, taking place within the mind of a character, or it can be an external conflict between a character and an outside force, such as another character, society, or nature. 

7. WHY DO WE EVEN READ LITERATUR? PLOT ANALYSIS
No matter where and when they unfold, good stories allow you to experience times, places, and conflicts that are outside your everyday life. To understand why a story affects you as it does, you have to analyze the elements—plot, setting, and mood—that make up its world.
So, the objective of plot analysis AND quest analysis is the following:  if I go on a journey with these characters, if I experience the same conflict that they can, then I, too, can learn the same lesson, experience the same kind of success, etc.. As the characters I am reading about without having to live the actual conflct. 

8. What quest examples can you think of
What quest examples can you think of? Remember, ”The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge.” (p. 3)

9. Don’t Read With Your Eyes
Chapter 24

10. The purpose behind this chapter is reminding you that most stories reflect the time periods and cultures they are written in. As time goes by, certain elements can become out of date, becoming a distraction for modern readers.
For example, in Kurt Vonnegut’s ”Harrison Bergeron” the parents’ stop watching their son on television because the bulb in their tube TV burns out. As this was written in 1961, all TVs required some element of a lightbulb to operate. Nowadays with the flat screen and so many non-television viewing options, this plot event can be distracting. Foster reminds us we need to look past this and read it with the eyes of someone in 1961.
“We have to try to take the works as they were intended to be taken.” (234)

11. In the case of stories that haven’t necessarily ”aged well,” Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew often comes to mind.
In this story, a wealthy man is looking for an opportunity to marry off his elder, unpleasant daughter so he can collect a large dowry on his younger, sought-after daughter. Katerina is married off to Petruchio, a drunken bachelor who has recently inherited money from a relative and seeking a wife purely for the sake of getting a dowry.
Katerina struggles with Petruchio, screaming at him and refusing to change her stubborn ways. So Petruchio sets out to “tame” her. He withholds food, claiming it is not good enough for her. He buys her fine clothes, then rips them up and calling them rags. He refuses to take her to her sister’s wedding until she admits that he is right about everything, even when he is obviously wrong.

12. At the end of the play, the story’s three main couples spend time at a wedding banquet. Petruchio is still being teased for having a shrewish wife, but Katerina remains well- behaved.
The women retire to the next room, and the men make a wager among themselves. Whoever’s wife returns the fastest when bidden will win the wager.
When summoned to their husbands, the first two wives send the messenger back, refusing to come when called. But Katerina returns to Petruchio immediately, and drags the other two wives along with her.
Examine her speech, given at the end of the play, and discuss if you think it contains any relevance for today’s audience. Many readers, especially women, bristle at this play, and particular dislike Katerina’s speech where she praises her misogynistic husband.
What happens if you try to read like a citizen in Shakespeare’s age? Does the text improve at all?

13. It’s My Symbol and I’ll Cry If I Want To
Chapter 25

14. While much of this book has been dedicated to understanding common symbols, patterns, and devices in literature, this chapter is meant to remind you that not every writer follows these strategies.
While there may be only one story, writers are still producing new material and finding new ways to do so.
Foster says, “In a situation where we encounter purely private symbols, there are some things we can fall back on.” (245)

15. Tips for solving a difficult symbol (248-249)
Use what you know – tap into your prior reading experience to think of any similar strategies you may have seen like this.
Every work teaches us how to read it as we go along – good writers need to drop some hints at deciphering difficult symbols, otherwise no one would get it. Study the context and go back to the beginning chapters if stumped.
You know more than you think you do – You will always know someone who has read more than you. Trust in what you do know, and work hard to solve the problem rather than comparing yourself or giving up.