How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines

This term originates with psychoanalyst Carl Jung, and later, the term was used by literary critic Northrup Frye in discussing literature. An archetype is a pattern or prototype of some element that acts as a model for others. This could be a character (such as a “quester” or an “innocent”) or a theme (like “rags to riches”). Archetypes appear over and over in literature, with origins so far in the past, rooted in myth, that no one knows where they were first used.

The word “communion” used in this sense means a coming together. Although some texts refer to communion in the religious sense, Foster explains that the broader use indicates a sense of human fellowship. Foster discusses this in Chapter 2 when referring to food in literature and other experiences that foster community. For example, Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” is about a man with a chip on his shoulder who thinks he dislikes another character. Only after the two men share an experience do they come to some kind of understanding. 

Foster defines a conceit as an “extended metaphor” that works as an “organizing device” in a plot or a poem.