How to Read Literature Like a Professor (2003)

How to Read Literature Like a Professor (2003) is a very good book by Thomas C. Foster. I had never understood how English professors identified meanings in literature. The best I could do was memorize everything they said and repeat it for tests and papers. It was as if a secret master made up all the meanings and the purpose of the English profession was to disseminate them to the masses through memorization. Well this book, written so anybody can understand it, even me, an engineer, changed all that and explains how you, too, can actually analyze literature for yourself.

Since I took English for non-majors, my professors must have skimmed over analysis and focused instead on conclusions needed for papers and exams. That's very much like math for non-majors actually. Math professors skim over theory and teach the procedures needed for homework and exams. In contrast, math for majors teaches students to figure out the procedures for themselves. Had I taken English for majors, I suppose I'd have learned how to do my own analysis and reach my own conclusions.

The book ends with the perfect test case. It's an excellent short story by Katherine Mansfield that demonstrates many elements of literature and gives the reader a chance to try out his/her new analysis skills. I gave myself a B+, but I'm planning to improve that.

Reference: Thomas C. Foster. How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Harper. 2003.