Chapter 20: ...So Does Season

Now winter nights enlarge

This number of their hours;

And clouds their storms discharge

Upon the airy towers.

Let now the chimneys blaze

And cups o’erflow with wine,

Let well-tuned words amaze

With harmony divine...

The writer of the poem uses the typical idea of winter, or so Foster states.  Foster states that winter is meant to be youthful, as this poem obviously is.  The poem also touches on adulthood, as Foster also claimed to be part of winter.  The poem touches on adulthood through the mention of wine.  The mention of wine brings a more mature aspect to the poem itself, rather than the light airy-ness that was all throughout the poem, even having the line 'airy towers'.  The poem itself dances across Foster's spectrum of what he believes writing about winter is through the trends of other literary works.

Chapter 18: If She Comes Up It's Baptism

In the Deathly Hallows, written by J.K Rowling, Harry is required to retrieve the sword of Gryffindor, which finds itself in the bottom of a frozen over pond.  Harry at this point found himself at odds with his best friend and feeling entirely alone and entirely hopeless as well.  When he cracks the pond and retrieves the sword, he reemerges from the water anew.  His best friend has come back and he's retrieved a new weapon in his war against his arch-nemesis, Voldemort.  From that point on, the mood of the book changes from the bitter cold undertone, to a hopeful exuberent tone.  Rather than the dreary one the reader had gotten so used to reading.  Harry finds himself more hopeful and more at peace within himself.  His diction improves vastly, using gentler words rather than harsh bitter words.  Harry becomes softer within essence.

Chapter 15: Flights of Fancy

In The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, Hazel Grace faces deep internal struggles when she had been diagonsed with lung cancer.  Though at one point in the book, she's offered a choice, the choice to go to Amsterdam.  This may not seem important but it most entirely is.  She enters a plane, her arms outstretched.  Having forgotten for one minute that she had had cancer when she sees Amsterdam out her airplane window.  The airplane represents her freedom from cancer.  Though she had been told previously that going to Amsterdam was heavily unhealthy for her.  It represents her being able to feel free and not as if her life were to end at the drop of a dime. 

Chapter 14: Yes, She's a Christ Figure Too

While Antigone does not file under all of the criteria that makes Christ who he is, she does indeed stumble a bit close.  Throughout Antigone, she struggles with the los of her brother, she watches her other brothers go to war over the land and she remains incredibly humbled.  Antigone heavily self sacrifices through the entire play.  She insists on burying her brother although the King has entirely ruled against it.  For even if her brother was a traitor, she loved him.  She sacrifices herself in the end for her message, although she had been offered her freedom.  Foster writes, "12) believed to have had a confrontation with the devil, possibly tempted."  This could represent Antigone's bargain which she adeptly refused and instead took a more wild arm to the deal.

Chapter 12: Is That a Symbol?

In Araby, the symbolism in which Mangan's sister is standing behind the fence could mean a plethora of things.  That's right, plethora.  Mangan's sister standing behind the fence could represent the idea about how she's unreachable.   Or perhaps about how she is just an obstacle course.  The fence could represent the obstacle the boy would have to face in order to obtain her, to obtain the idea of her.  The fence could also mean the complexity of the idea of her, it could represent how he is not able to handle the idea itself, henceforth why there is a fench seperating him and her.  Perhaps it could be fate, fate that shakes it's finger and decides not today.  It could be the color of the fence, the grey, it could be the sound, the soft clang that whispers into the night like a goodbye.  It could be anything. 

Chapter 11: .. More Than It's Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence

Foster states that there are two kinds of violence within literature, character caused and accidents that are not actually accidents.  The effects of each are different.  They are different in the way that the characters respond to them.  Character caused violence has a buildup, whether it be through bullying or some kind of broken home system.  Throughout the book, the reader waits for the other shoe to drop.  Whereas accidents are unexpected, they are sudden, they are tragic.  There is no time for goodbyes and there is only a sudden flood of unexpected grief.  They both have one thing in common though, the author introduces death to further the plot.  The author introduces death in order to advance the mental capabilities of their characters, to give a new effective twist to the characters they have already created.  Some would call authors cruel, perhaps throw books at walls, when instead the author is trying to introduce grief to the characters.  Violence is heavily symbolic and heavily personal.  Everyone in their life has seen violence to some degree, others have seen it more up close than others.  Violence is used to make the reader feel in the moment.  Let the reader know it is incredibly possible that this could happen to them.  Violence is meant to make the reader become closer to the book. 

Chapter 9: It's Greek to Me

The Face That Launch'd A Thousand Ships by Christopher Marlowe
Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships
, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
 Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies!
 Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sack'd;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
 And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
O, thou art fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear'd to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky In wanton Arethusa's azur'd arms;
 And none but thou shalt be my paramour!


Helen is represented as a temptress throughout this entire poem.  The effect of the myth is prominent in painting the figure of an alluring temptress.  There is an edge of darkness to the allure all throughout the poem.  Seeing as men were willing to shed blood over Helen, which makes her seem even more tempting.  An unreachable woman is the most tempting of all women.  There is an air of lust throughout the poem, as it discusses about Helen's unrealistic yet imaginiative characteristics.  To make Helen sound as if she was woven from stars rather than skin and bones.  The poem is meant to let the reader know just how beautiful and special Helen had been to her husband and Paris. 

Chapter 7: ...Or the Bible

The boy in Araby deeply lusted after a girl that seemed entirely out of reach.  Rather a concept, a beautiful dream rather than a breathing being.  Araby dances across her every feature down to the curve of her hips to the curve of her lips.  Showing just how intensely he lusted after her.  Like David in the bible.  David heavily lusted after Bathsheba, all of his attention being drawn to her.  Every whim was his command, even though she was tied up with her husband.  The boy in Araby is similar to David in the respect that lust clouded his judgement and everything around him.  His life became trying to follow this concept, this girl, into a blissful oblivion, until he realized it could not be so.  He did not let his obsession become as bad as David's had.  Bethesheba had also become a concept for David just as the girl had for the boy. 

Chapter 5: Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before?

Intertextuality is the relationship between texts, primarily literary ones.  Poems grow out of poems, books grow out of books.  Authors are inspired by other authors.  There tends to be quite a bit of philosophy references within literature.  An example would be the reference to Zeno's paradox in The Fault in Our Stars.  The reader would have had to read over the philosophical reference numerous times to fully grasp it's meaning, while having studied it before, the reference was within reach rather than a mess of words.  Now, let's open the field to an entirely different yet basic concept.  The concept of magic.  As a child, there is never a moment in which a clear definition is given.  It is just common knowledge that the fairy godmother has magic and it is not to be questioned or speculated.  There are numerous books that touch on the idea of magic, though it has never been given a clear cut defintion.  In the Harry Potter series, magic drips off the pages.  Broomsticks that fly are the norm rather than unreachable.  It is taught at a young age that magic is endless rather than impossible, henceforth making it easier to read literary works that contain magic, because the idea has already been ironed into our brains.  Another example is the fact that most stories are written based off of history.  Some books are written about war and are still called fiction although they seem anything but.  Through knowing about the effects of PTSD, one can carefully watch the character progression and analyze for themselves if it is indeed fact or fiction.

Chapter 2: Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion

Acts of communion, no matter what setting, are intensely personal.  The simple act of taking food into your body is personal.  Foster touches on the fact that eating is so personal, we ensure that we're typically around people we are most comfortable with.  When we are uncomfortable with someone, the exchange is awkward and timid.  A great example would be in the contrast of eating styles in the Harry Potter series.  The exchange at the Dursley home, Harry's first home, while eating dinner, is awkward and everyone seems to be on edge.  There is a lingering air of unease and discomfort as one can feel the distaste in the air the characters have for each other.   Foster writes, "Generally, eating with another is a way of saying "I'm with you, I like you, we form a community together.""  Quiet cold families tend to have quieter more uncomfortable meals.  While at Hogwarts, the mood in the Great Hall was exuberent and uplifted.  The complete opposite of what it was like at the Dursley house.  Harry was surrounded by people he felt accepted and wanted by.  Rather than the Dursleys, who Harry felt dejected and like a burden.

Chapter 1: Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It's Not)

There are five aspects of a quest, or so states Foster.  The five essential things to constitute a quest according to Foster are: a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges and trials en route, and a real reason to go there.  Each of these things are essential in formulating a quest.  Though a child does not run away from home with these aspects in mind, but said child does indeed fill each of these requirements.  The child at the end of this journey has acquired one thing, self knowledge, which are the purpose of all quests, whether it be subconscious or not.  Let's start from the top of Foster's five aspects and use the child as the example.  The child, is the quester, let's say this child decides a playground would be their best bet.  Perhaps they had wanted to go and their designated guardian had wafted away the idea, henceforth giving the child a reason to go there.  As the child travels to this location, the child will slowly realize that they will eventually run out of food, henceforth acquiring the self knowledge that the child will not in fact be living the rest of it's childhood at said playground.  Foster's aspects support the self knowledge claim, even in the form of children.