How To Read Literature Like A Professor (Chapters 1-5)
Chapter 1
The five aspects of the quest consist of:
1. A quester (the protagonist)
2. A place to go.
3. A stated reason to go there.
4. Challenges and trials that it took to reach the destination.
5. The REAL reason for the quest (always self knowledge).
This can be witnessed in the novel I am J. I Am J tells the story of a transsexual youth who is on search for testosterone. In the end Jay, the protagonist, realizes that he must first accept himself before society can accept him.
The quester - Jay
A place to go - the clinic
Reason to go there - to attain testosterone
Challenges and trials - Jay faces many challenges such as, his parents, Blue, the girl he falls in love with, his age and many other things that keep him from getting "T."
The REAL reason - Jay just wanted to be accepted, after receiving "T" he begins to feel more comfortable with himself and speaks his mind and refused to lose his life just because he wants to be a guy. In the end he becomes accepted and all works for the better.
Chapter 2
A meal can foreshadow the events to come in any work of literature, that is why these scenes are added. In the movie, August Osage County there is a meal scene. Let me set the scene, Violet, played by Meryl Streep, gathers all of her family at her house after her husbands passes away to sulk together and spread love. Violet is a drunkard, with an addiction to prescription medicines who has terminal cancer. The dinner scene plays out terribly. They all cuss, throw dishes, and become disgusted with each other. This foreshadowed the inevitable ending of all of the supporting characters leaving Violet with her house keeper to die alone and weep in her misery.
Chapter 3
Vampire stories do not have to always include literal vampires. They just have to include the the dark, eerie sense that one gets from the vampire itself. The essentials of "vampire" stories are an older figure representing corruption, out worn values, a young, innocent figure (usually a virginal female), and the continuance of the life force of the old figure and the death or destruction of the young innocent figure.
This can be seen in Grimm Brother's version of Little Red Riding-hood. Little red was just an innocent little girl bringing goodies to her grandmother and was spotted by the wolf who also wanted her "goodies" but not in the same sense. Little red was raped by the wolf and her grandmother eaten. This destroyed Little Red's innocence and named the wolf as a metaphorical vampire.
Chapter 5
Intertextuality is defined as the ongoing interaction between poems and stories and is used to help the reader relate the story to other stories he or she may have read in the past. One example would be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and it's references to the Bible. The author C.S. Lewis used the New Testaments' account of the crucifixion of Christ through the betrayal by Edmund to Aslan and the sacrifice and resurrection of Aslan. Another example would be Lord of the Flies which drew from Robert Stevenson's Treasure Island. Both are about the adventures boy can have isolated on an island, but Golding focuses on the realism and caution of he isolation. Yet another example that we all should know would be from Toy Story. Rex, the name of the toy dinosaur, was used in the remaking of the scene from Jurassic Park where the dinosaur can be seen in the wing mirror chasing the tour guide vehicle.