Sunday, May 10, 2015

Summarize the principles governing the use of disease in works of literature. (Chapter 23) (25 words)

7 comments:

  1. Thomas C. Foster in “How to Read Literature like a Professor” provides a set of principles that govern the way diseases work in literature. The first principle is, “not all diseases are created equal,” and uses the fact that, “cholera doesn’t come close to TB in its frequency of literary occurrence,” even though, “cholera was nearly as common as, much more aggressive than, and more devastating than tuberculosis,” to back it up (Foster 222). This first principle is referring to how some diseases were used a lot more in literature than others because of their qualities. Different diseases have different effects on those infected and some symptoms allow better symbolism than others in literature so they are used more. The second and third principles are that the disease, “should be picturesque,” and that, “it should mysterious in origin,” which tuberculosis fits both because it left the sufferer with, “a sort of bizarre beauty,” and it’s, “mode of transmission … remained murky for most people” (Foster 223). No disease necessarily leaves the ill person looking beautiful, but tuberculosis provided a better looking person other diseases. Also people in those times had not figured out what caused tuberculosis or how it was transmitted, while other diseases such as cholera they had determined the cause of. The fourth principle was that the disease, “should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities,” and tuberculosis caused people to grow, “thinner and thinner,” so they were, “wasting away” (Foster 224). The main reason to use disease in literature was to convey a deeper meaning by using the disease as a metaphor that represents something else ailing them in their life. If the disease has no symbolic properties then it is pointless to have it in the story or it is not important to the story at all. Foster explains a set of rules that convey how an author can choose a disease that best enhances their story by creating symbolic meaning.

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  2. In “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” Thomas Foster discusses illness in literature, and explains how and why authors include it in their works. Foster’s first principle is that “not all diseases are created equal,” that different diseases, such as cholera and TB, both have different physical effects and literary effects, as cholera was a deadlier disease but was less frequent in literature (Foster 222). Diseases both in literary and physical sense have different effects in different ways. What may be a more devastating disease may not be the most well-used in literature as said disease may be more difficult to draw meaning from, other than the fact that it’s horrid and deadly. The second principle he states is that the disease “must be picturesque,” appealing to the literary eye and one that can be represented quite efficiently in words (Foster 223). While it may be an effective disease, authors must make sure that the illness makes for good literature, nothing over-the-top graphically but nothing too plain either. It’s almost as if the disease is glorified in a way, being so drastic or emotional that it makes for good reading. The third and fourth principles state that the disease “must be mysterious in origin” and that it “should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities” (Foster 223, 224). Part of the effectiveness and wonder of illnesses in literature are the fact that readers don’t always know there they came from, there’s an element of mystery and sometimes confusion to them. Authors also can’t just write in diseases because they feel like it (they can, but that defeats the purpose of using them); there has to be a reason, a motive, authors need underlying meanings or reasons for causing a character to be stuck with a plague. Diseases in literature are tricky to deal with, but powerful nonetheless, as they often represent a much more symbolic concept than just merely the physical illness.

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    1. I think when doing back to back pages, you use a dash. (Foster 223-224). I think you use the comma when they are not consecutive. (Foster 223, 226).
      We can double-check on OWL Purdue.

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  3. Thomas C. Foster in "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" provides a set of principles that should be used when writers incorporate disease into their work. Foster said that "not all diseases are created equal" (Foster 222). He explains that not all diseases can be used proficiently in literature. He uses cholera as an example saying that it has a bad reputation, and that TB will most likely be seen before cholera because of its image. Foster says that "it should be picturesque" (Foster 223). He says that, through suffering, a character can acquire a "bizarre beauty" because his or her appearance becomes much like "a martyr in medieval paintings" (Foster 223). Foster states that the disease should "be mysterious in origin" (Foster 223). He explains how when earlier writers' characters would take care of one another, they often got the disease and did not know why because they were not familiar with modes of transmission. Unlike a disease such as syphilis because everyone knows how that disease was given to a character. Foster states that a disease "should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities" (Foster 224). He exemplifies tuberculosis because that disease is known to be a "wasting disease, both in terms of the individual wasting away" unlike smallpox was "hideous" and "the disfigurement" did not really leave "any constructive symbolic possibilities" (Foster 224). Foster explains that disease is meant to have a meaning and diseases that do not provide that have no significance in a story.

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