Symbolism In How To Read Like A Professor
techniques in How to Read Like a Professor
‘How to Read Like a Professor’ is a book that discusses several broad yet detailed techniques of reading. While I am positive everyone who reads this book knows how to read, they may not know how to read to fully comprehend all of a volume, even that which is not on the page. One such technique that really helps to reveal much about a story is symbolism, or the use of something to represent something else usually not in the story. Symbolism is important to know how to recognize because it can easily change a significant amount of a story. Some things are so closely associated with forces of nature that descriptions of the environment often infer undertones and meaning. Rain for instance is special …show more content…
One mentioned important and religious symbolism is being immersed in water. Rather it be in a river, a bathtub, a pond, a sewage reservoir, or even a baptism chamber, being immersed in water usually has the purpose of symbolizing a change in a character. This is obviously based off the Christian belief of baptism, but beyond baptism in that sometimes that person becomes a new person. Another rather vulgar use of symbolism is sex. Usually sex is censored, so authors find other means to implement it into their novels. A common way of achieving this is through eating, in which when an author has a scene that the characters are eating, it usually means they are having sex. This of course is not always the case, also there is usually the mention of phallic objects or other symbols. But something to be noted is that when its actually sex, there usually is something else that is going on or representing. It should be understood that symbolism can have meaning outside the story. The author could be relating to him or herself, which means that symbolism could mean anything to the author. But, that means it can be hard understand, as you don’t have the same experience as the author but there will probably be something in the passage that hints to the authors meaning, queuing you to understand the
‘How to Read Like a Professor’ is a book that discusses several broad yet detailed techniques of reading. While I am positive everyone who reads this book knows how to read, they may not know how to read to fully comprehend all of a volume, even that which is not on the page. One such technique that really helps to reveal much about a story is symbolism, or the use of something to represent something else usually not in the story. Symbolism is important to know how to recognize because it can easily change a significant amount of a story. Some things are so closely associated with forces of nature that descriptions of the environment often infer undertones and meaning. Rain for instance is special …show more content…
One mentioned important and religious symbolism is being immersed in water. Rather it be in a river, a bathtub, a pond, a sewage reservoir, or even a baptism chamber, being immersed in water usually has the purpose of symbolizing a change in a character. This is obviously based off the Christian belief of baptism, but beyond baptism in that sometimes that person becomes a new person. Another rather vulgar use of symbolism is sex. Usually sex is censored, so authors find other means to implement it into their novels. A common way of achieving this is through eating, in which when an author has a scene that the characters are eating, it usually means they are having sex. This of course is not always the case, also there is usually the mention of phallic objects or other symbols. But something to be noted is that when its actually sex, there usually is something else that is going on or representing. It should be understood that symbolism can have meaning outside the story. The author could be relating to him or herself, which means that symbolism could mean anything to the author. But, that means it can be hard understand, as you don’t have the same experience as the author but there will probably be something in the passage that hints to the authors meaning, queuing you to understand the