How to Read Literature Like a Pro
Top 20 Main Points
#1
The real reason for a character to go on a quest is to gain self knowledge.
#2
Whenever people eat or drink together, it is communion.
#3
There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature.
#4
There is only one story. Ever. It has always been going on, and it is everywhere around us.
#5
It is never JUST rain.
#6
Myth is a body of story that matters.
#7
Flight is freedom.
#8
Irony trumps everything.
#9
Pay attention when water is involved.
#10
When writers send characters south, it is so they can run amok. The effects of this can be either tragic or comic.
#11
Seasons are key.
#13
Next to our mortality, which comes to great and small equally, all the differences in our lives are mere surface details.
#14
Geography is key.
#15
It is never JUST an illness.
#16.
By adding a person with disabilities into the story, the writer automatically changes the story for every single other character in the book.
#17
If you want your audience to know something important about your character (or the work at large), introduce it early, before you need it.
#18
Do not read with YOUR eyes.
#19
Irony does not work for everyone.
#20
Always think - What does the story signify?