Jessica Hillis

Thomas
A.P. English 11
17 August 2006 ‘How to Read Literature Like a Professor’ Reading Log

                            Chapter 1; Page 3                                              I chose this quote because I remembered being told
                                                                                                that  when you  used the words ‘always’ and ‘never’ you 
“’Always’ and ‘never’ are not words that have                      were assuming. It was nice to see it finally written down 
much meaning in literary study.”                                            on paper that it they aren’t supposed to be used.

                           Chapter 2; Page 14                                             For this quote, I liked it because it says to me that no
                                                                                                 body is truly different from anyone else. A few lines 
“Next to our mortality, which comes to great                         earlier, Foster says that we’re all in this together. “This”
and small equally, all the differences in our lives                   being life. Really, we all have a lot in common, no 
are mere surface details.”                                                        matter who you are. 
                          Chapter 3; Page 19                                             
                                                                                                 
“The essentials of the vampire story, as we                                  This quote describes the basics of a vampire story; 
discussed earlier: an older figure representing                       from the vampire to the young woman. I liked this quote
corrupt, outworn values; a young, preferable virginal           because it gives a simple definition for a detailed    
female; a stripping away of her youth, energy, virtue; a        concept. It describes what each character must represent
continuance of the life force of the old male; the death         to be considered an ‘Act of Vampires’.
or destruction of the young woman.”
                         Chapter 4; Page 27                                               
                                                                                                       This quote I liked because it gives water a very 
“The water, the “dividing sea,” which had united                  symbolic nature. It brings the two characters together, 
them in image, now affects their separation.”                        but at the same time, it also drives them apart.
                     Chapter 5; Page 29                                                I believe this quote to be 100%, entirely true. Since    
                                                                                             writing and storytelling has been around for centuries,
“…There’s no such thing as a wholly original                    it’s no surprise that people will take ideas from other 
piece of literature.”                                                              places and alter them in little, subtle or big ways.

                    Chapter 6; Page 46                                                Fugard draws from Shakespeare, a playwright very
                                                                                             well known by many. From this quote, since Fugard
“As the Fugard example suggests, when we                        draws form Shakespeare, and since he is well known,
recognize the interplay between theses dramas, we            it doesn’t take as much thought to recognize and 
become partners with the new dramatists in creating          connect the similarities, making it easier to understand
meaning.”                                                                            what is going on.
                    Chapter 7; Page 50                                                With this quote, I liked it because it was so true. I 
                                                                                            mean, you have this innocent little person, who is
“The thing about loss­of­innocence stories, the                 good and kind, but then something happens and they’re
reason they hit so hard, is that they’re so final.”                No longer sweet and innocent. It’s a surprise because
                                                                                            you’ve become attached to the innocence, and now