To read like a professor, one needs to go beyond the emotional response to a story and develop three key skills: memory, symbol recognition, and pattern recognition. Instead of just focusing on characters and plot, a professorial reader connects the text with other literature, recognizes symbolic meanings, and notices recurring patterns. This approach allows readers to see a deeper meaning in literature and makes reading more rewarding and analytical. Key techniques include asking questions about the text’s sources, characters’ resemblance to archetypes, and recurring themes and patterns that connect texts across time and genres. Professors also engage in a dialogue between the immediate story and broader literary traditions to interpret what the text truly means beyond its surface.

Here are more detailed steps and tips:

Focus Beyond Plot and Characters

Lay readers often respond emotionally to what happens in the story, but professors look at why and how the story creates meaning. They ask about the origins of effects, symbolic significances, and literary references.

Use Memory as a Mental Rolodex

Professors draw on their extensive knowledge of literature to connect new texts to old ones—spotting motifs, allusions, and patterns that recur across works.

Recognize Symbols

Almost anything in a text might stand as a symbol with deeper meaning, connecting to themes or universal ideas that go beyond the literal story.

Identify Patterns

Experienced readers see recurring patterns or archetypes in stories, understanding plot types, character roles, and thematic cycles that literature tends to follow.

Ask Questions While Reading

Questions like “Where have I seen this before?” or “What might this symbolize?” help in deeper interpretation.

Practice Regularly

This kind of reading skill is developed over time with practice and study; it is described as similar to practicing an instrument until proficient. These methods are from Thomas C. Foster's book How to Read Literature Like a Professor , which offers a lively guide to reading "between the lines" and interpreting literature more like an expert.