This week we spent a big portion of our time discussing our "What is Literature project?" I am in a group of 5 and we chose theme and symbolism as the elements of fiction we will be basing out project on. I am excited to begin the major work on this project because I believe it will help me to become a much more intuitive and successful reader of literary fiction. For the summer reading I read The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The Fall. I enjoyed the stories very much but I was still reading them through the eyes of a commercial fiction reader. I did not realize that the names "Changez and Erica" actually had much more meaning than just how the characters are addressed. I'm sure I missed additional important symbolism even though I enjoyed the story very much. I have never been trained to read like a detective. I also enjoyed The Fall, mostly because it was very strange but I'm still not sure I understand why the author wrote this book or why it became so famous. In How to Read Literature like a Professor the author discusses Christ figures and uses The Old Man and the Sea as a prime example. I read the book last year and Christ did not enter my mind the entire time but after it was explained to me I understand how that conclusion can be drawn. I expect working hard on the "What is Literature?" project will help me to start realizing such things for myself. I'm glad we are going to focus on theme and symbolism because both elements focus on the big question of the piece of literature. Theme is the general message the author is trying to convey and symbolism is often how the author decides to convey it. I'm anticipating being able recognize both elements more easily in future literature I consume. It is exhilarating to have little epiphanies on your own rather than relying on Spark Notes or a teacher to tell you what the work is about.