What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface -- a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character -- and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you.

In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun.

Thomas C. Foster studied English at Dartmouth College and then Michigan State University. He has been a professor of literature and writing since 1975, the last twenty-one years at the University of Michigan–Flint. In that time, he's learned more about literature from his students than in all the classes he's taken over the years. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling How to Read Novels Like a Professor and How to Read Literature Like a Professor.