67 pages • 2 hours read
Thomas C. FosterHow to Read Poetry Like a Professor: A Quippy and Sonorous Guide to Verse
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Further Reading & Resources
Further Reading: Literature
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1400)
Foster mentions Chaucer’s work in several chapters but specifically mentions The Canterbury Tales in Chapters 11 and 13. This classic work comprises a collection of stories, primarily written in verse, told by a group of pilgrims as they travel to a shrine at Canterbury Cathedral.
- The Canterbury Tales on SuperSummary
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll (1871)
“Jabberwocky,” a nonsense poem discussed in Chapter 1 of Foster’s book, is found in Carroll’s 1871 novel Through the Looking Glass, the follow-up to his classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
- “Jabberwocky” on SuperSummary
“Mending Wall” by Robert Frost (1914)
Discussed in Chapter 8, this poem explores the contradictions and boundaries inherent in human existence.
- “Mending Wall” on SuperSummary
“The Fish” by Marianne Moore (1921)
One of Moore’s most famous poems, Foster looks closely at this poem in Chapter 5 but also mentions it again in Chapter 11 and in the Interlude. The poem provides a miniscule description of a seaside scene and offers commentary on the abuse humans inflict on nature.
