Every Trip is a Journey (Unless it's an Errand)

This summer I have been assigned to read a book for my AP English Literature class, which includes taking three out of thirteen reflective journal entries and turning them into a blog post. This will help me “read like a professor,” as Thomas C. Foster puts it, and guide me through my advanced English class.

This month I have been assigned to make one blog post featuring a reflection upon a chapter from Thomas C. Faster’s “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” a nice little guideline book that any high school student should have handy. I have chosen to start off with the first chapter for analysis, since it might be a good idea to ruminate over the first chapter of any novel. 

My "Quest"

So, in “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When it’s Not),” Foster gives us a hypothetical plot line and beginning which he uses as an example for finding the main characters, including the protagonist and their nemesis, a possible love interest, setting, plot, etc., although the reader should be able to identify the basic story set-up for themselves (I believe that would be what Foster was hoping for). In other words, each novel consists of a protagonist, a setting, a motivation, and the obstacles provided in the characters’ journey of development, or quest of getting from Point A to Point B.

For example, in one of my favorite mangas, Fruits Basket, the main character, an orphan named Tohru Honda, is taken in by the Sohma family, who are cursed to turn into the animals of the Chinese zodiac whenever stressed or hugged by the opposite sex. Originally planning to graduate high school as her late mother wished, Tohru takes on the extra responsibility to free the Sohma family from the curse, and saves them with the power of love and kindness. Having read this wonderful series, I now can see that this was the quest that challenged the protagonist (Tohru) in that series of novels.

The Sohma Family Cursed

Sohma Family Freed from the Curse

 According to Foster, the purpose for each quest is to provide character development, or for the character(s) in the quest to acquire self-knowledge. Foster mentions several novels referencing this process: Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon, 1965), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (N/A late century), and Faerie Queen (Edmund Spenser, 1596). But his main point is that no matter how odd the book may be, if it meets the professor’s requirements of a well-structured novel, they would recommend the novel to the student, in most cases, to challenge the student to recognize the structure as well.

Foster also warns that sometimes a trip is not a quest, and new writers are always coming up with ways to change, update, or twist around the quest, so that it’s different from anything anyone may have imagined, or read before. No matter how big or small, typical or strange, familiar or unfamiliar, the quest seems, Foster wants the reader to discover the development of the character through their quest, and analyze how the quest provided self-knowledge and growth for the character in one way or another. After reflecting on all these aspects of the novel, it will become more readable, understandable and applicable, to the reader themselves.