Thomas C. Foster in, “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” explains the significance of a story’s settings and the impact it has on the story. Foster explains that, “literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans,” because, “geography is setting, but it’s also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry-anything that place can forge in the people who live there” (Foster 173, 174). Geography in literature affects the characters in certain ways because different geographical areas also have different economies, weather, and etcetera. Those differences shape and mold the characters because things found in one place could be completely different from those in another place so people born and raised in one town would be different if they had been raised in a different town. Writers can also use geography to create mood and tone such as Edgar Allen Poe did in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” where he describes the house as being on, “a singularly dreary tract of country,” with “a few rank sedges,” and, “white trunks of decayed trees,” and the house itself has, “bleak walls,” and, ‘vacant eyelike windows” (Foster 174). So much is said about the house and the land that it sits on that the feel of the story is already set before any characters are introduced. By doing this the mood is already set before the story has any time to really begin and so anything that happens next just adds to the mood and theme of the story. Setting, “can also, and frequently does, play quite a specific plot role in literary work,” such as in, “E. M. Forster’s” novel “A Room with a view,” where a character goes on vacation and , “discovers freedom, and a big part of that freedom stems from the passionate, fiery nature of the Italian city” (Foster 177). Geography can also be used as a plot device because different geographical areas provide different settings and moods. In the example Foster provided the character would not have been able to find freedom and loosen up if she had stayed in her home town and not gone to that city for vacation. Geography can be used to create mood, affect characters, change plot, and in a plethora of other ways if it is used correctly in literature.
In “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” Thomas Foster discusses the settings in stories and exactly why authors pick the locations that they do. Geography is important, Foster explains, because along with being “typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans,” it can also “be revelatory of virtually any element in the work. Theme? Sure. Symbol? No problem. Plot? Without a doubt” (Foster 174). Geography as an integral part in any story, for you can’t have a story if there is nowhere for it to take place. Authors use their settings in a variety of ways, whether it be to set the tone or perhaps to pose environmental challenges for the protagonist. Foster focuses on specific geographical themes, such as sending characters south: “when writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok. The effects can be tragic or comic, but they generally follow the same pattern” (Foster 179). Authors tend to follow certain patterns when dealing with geography and character, one of them being “down south.” This phrase can be thought of in a literal sense, where they literally travel southward, or in a figurative sense, where the characters; regardless, many characters throughout literature are seen “headed south” in more ways than one. Readers and writers associate different areas with different aspects too, such as low and high, where low contains “swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death,” and high contains “snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death” (Foster 180.) Simple concepts even as high or low can represent certain events or themes in literature. Readers relate different aspects to different archetypes they have witnessed before in previous works. Setting is an important aspect in literature as it defines where events will be taking place, while also possibly representing character or other concepts within a story.
Thomas C. Foster in "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" explains how setting has a big influence in stories. Foster states that the main question is always "where" when people are told about a vacation (Foster 171). He implies that a location has an impact on person's feelings toward a trip. It can only be assumed that it would be the same as a reader would have different feelings about a story based on its location. Foster said that "we feel that those novels and stories couldn't be set anywhere but where they are, that those characters couldn't say the things they say if they were uprooted and planted in, say, Minnesota or Scotland " (Foster 172). He is explaining how once we read a story, it would not be the same if it were placed in a different location. So authors have to keep in consideration that the setting plays a big part in how readers feel about the work. Foster describes how geography can be more. He says "it can be revelatory of virtually any element in the work" (Foster 174). Foster said that it can represent theme, can have symbols, and have a plot. Writers realize this and that is why they have to carefully create a setting because it has a big impact on the story and reader.
First concrete detail with no context is awkward and unclear. Sometimes you need to provide context for the reader. Don't repost; just consider for future posts.
Thomas C. Foster in, “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” explains the significance of a story’s settings and the impact it has on the story. Foster explains that, “literary geography is typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans,” because, “geography is setting, but it’s also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry-anything that place can forge in the people who live there” (Foster 173, 174). Geography in literature affects the characters in certain ways because different geographical areas also have different economies, weather, and etcetera. Those differences shape and mold the characters because things found in one place could be completely different from those in another place so people born and raised in one town would be different if they had been raised in a different town. Writers can also use geography to create mood and tone such as Edgar Allen Poe did in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” where he describes the house as being on, “a singularly dreary tract of country,” with “a few rank sedges,” and, “white trunks of decayed trees,” and the house itself has, “bleak walls,” and, ‘vacant eyelike windows” (Foster 174). So much is said about the house and the land that it sits on that the feel of the story is already set before any characters are introduced. By doing this the mood is already set before the story has any time to really begin and so anything that happens next just adds to the mood and theme of the story. Setting, “can also, and frequently does, play quite a specific plot role in literary work,” such as in, “E. M. Forster’s” novel “A Room with a view,” where a character goes on vacation and , “discovers freedom, and a big part of that freedom stems from the passionate, fiery nature of the Italian city” (Foster 177). Geography can also be used as a plot device because different geographical areas provide different settings and moods. In the example Foster provided the character would not have been able to find freedom and loosen up if she had stayed in her home town and not gone to that city for vacation. Geography can be used to create mood, affect characters, change plot, and in a plethora of other ways if it is used correctly in literature.
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ReplyDeleteIn “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” Thomas Foster discusses the settings in stories and exactly why authors pick the locations that they do. Geography is important, Foster explains, because along with being “typically about humans inhabiting spaces, and at the same time the spaces inhabiting humans,” it can also “be revelatory of virtually any element in the work. Theme? Sure. Symbol? No problem. Plot? Without a doubt” (Foster 174). Geography as an integral part in any story, for you can’t have a story if there is nowhere for it to take place. Authors use their settings in a variety of ways, whether it be to set the tone or perhaps to pose environmental challenges for the protagonist. Foster focuses on specific geographical themes, such as sending characters south: “when writers send characters south, it’s so they can run amok. The effects can be tragic or comic, but they generally follow the same pattern” (Foster 179). Authors tend to follow certain patterns when dealing with geography and character, one of them being “down south.” This phrase can be thought of in a literal sense, where they literally travel southward, or in a figurative sense, where the characters; regardless, many characters throughout literature are seen “headed south” in more ways than one. Readers and writers associate different areas with different aspects too, such as low and high, where low contains “swamps, crowds, fog, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, people, life, death,” and high contains “snow, ice, purity, thin air, clear views, isolation, life, death” (Foster 180.) Simple concepts even as high or low can represent certain events or themes in literature. Readers relate different aspects to different archetypes they have witnessed before in previous works. Setting is an important aspect in literature as it defines where events will be taking place, while also possibly representing character or other concepts within a story.
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DeleteThomas C. Foster in "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" explains how setting has a big influence in stories. Foster states that the main question is always "where" when people are told about a vacation (Foster 171). He implies that a location has an impact on person's feelings toward a trip. It can only be assumed that it would be the same as a reader would have different feelings about a story based on its location. Foster said that "we feel that those novels and stories couldn't be set anywhere but where they are, that those characters couldn't say the things they say if they were uprooted and planted in, say, Minnesota or Scotland " (Foster 172). He is explaining how once we read a story, it would not be the same if it were placed in a different location. So authors have to keep in consideration that the setting plays a big part in how readers feel about the work. Foster describes how geography can be more. He says "it can be revelatory of virtually any element in the work" (Foster 174). Foster said that it can represent theme, can have symbols, and have a plot. Writers realize this and that is why they have to carefully create a setting because it has a big impact on the story and reader.
ReplyDeleteFirst concrete detail with no context is awkward and unclear. Sometimes you need to provide context for the reader. Don't repost; just consider for future posts.
ReplyDelete