How To Read Literature Like A Professor

So, what's a difference between how a professor reads a literature and you and I read it? Well, one is that typically we read for enjoyment and the professor is reading to analyze the book to see how the author wrote it, what the effects were that the author creates and one of the things that they look for, most of all, is that theme. Is there a bigger meaning to the story? For example, here in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the theme might be about the dangers of man tempering with powers usually reserved for God. So, as you know, if you read the book, it doesn't work out very well.

So, there is usually some kind of bigger meaning that the author is telling. And then a professor would also look at the style of a method by which the person tells the story, the author for example, maybe you have read Animal Farm by George Orwell, it's all said on a farm as the title suggests it, populated by animals as the title also suggest, that, of course, is a metaphor for society and political systems. So, he is telling one story as a plot but there is a deeper meaning again and the method it uses is a metaphor.

So, that is another thing that the professor would look for. It also looks for the style on a more micro level, for instance, the length of sentence and the way that an author phrases things or just telling what is known for these very short sentences and very clear anecdote kind of prose. Joseph Corn writes, on the other hand, very long sentences, very long descriptive passages.

One of my favourite contemporary crime authors, Elmore Leonard is known for telling stories largely with dialogues, very colourful interesting dialogues, so those are just a few of the things that a professor looks for. To recap, what's the theme of a book? How does the author actually tell the story, also the stylistic nuances like the length of sentences, the kind of wording? So, those are some of the things you look for if you want to read literature like a professor.
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