The first line author Thomas C. Foster writes in his book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, expresses, "the amazing thing about books is how they have lives of their own” (Foster xi), and Foster helps readers learn to decipher these lives as he describes various characteristics of books and what they do to make the books unique. He addresses details to pay attention to in order to fully understand and appreciate various works of literature. Foster has created a guide for readers to recognize the significance of otherwise mundane activities, such as eating, and normal natural occurrences, like rain or the changing of seasons. He expresses the need to analyze specifics, such as names, titles, and basic story structures, and identify
…show more content…
Many works of literature are written as criticisms of politics in the world around the authors, and Foster addresses this when he writes, “most works must engage with their own specific period in ways that can be called political...writers tend to be men and women who are interested in the world around them” (Foster 122). Topics of political issues authors write about, listed by Foster, include: power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice and rights, interactions between the sexes and among various racial and ethnic constituencies (Foster 122). In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Austen reveals political issues of the British Regency period. There are various social requirements and regulations portrayed in Pride and Prejudice, both between classes and genders. The first political issue Austen writes about, and possibly the most prominent and abundant, is the strict rules of each gender, with females portrayed as being less important and more restricted. Marriage was very important during the British Regency period as shown when Austen writes, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). The men have to make the first move; they have to make the introductions and an example is given when Mrs. Bennet tries to convince Mr. Bennet to visit the new neighbor Mr. Bingley, and she states, “indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not” (Austen 2). There are many rules when at a ball and again there are more restrictions against the women. Ladies have to dress a certain way, and they may only dance when asked by a gentlemen meaning they cannot dance alone as shown when Elizabeth “had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances” (Austen 6). Tension between the social classes seem to be a bit abundant as well. One of
Many works of literature are written as criticisms of politics in the world around the authors, and Foster addresses this when he writes, “most works must engage with their own specific period in ways that can be called political...writers tend to be men and women who are interested in the world around them” (Foster 122). Topics of political issues authors write about, listed by Foster, include: power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice and rights, interactions between the sexes and among various racial and ethnic constituencies (Foster 122). In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Austen reveals political issues of the British Regency period. There are various social requirements and regulations portrayed in Pride and Prejudice, both between classes and genders. The first political issue Austen writes about, and possibly the most prominent and abundant, is the strict rules of each gender, with females portrayed as being less important and more restricted. Marriage was very important during the British Regency period as shown when Austen writes, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). The men have to make the first move; they have to make the introductions and an example is given when Mrs. Bennet tries to convince Mr. Bennet to visit the new neighbor Mr. Bingley, and she states, “indeed you must go, for it will be impossible for us to visit him, if you do not” (Austen 2). There are many rules when at a ball and again there are more restrictions against the women. Ladies have to dress a certain way, and they may only dance when asked by a gentlemen meaning they cannot dance alone as shown when Elizabeth “had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances” (Austen 6). Tension between the social classes seem to be a bit abundant as well. One of