notes

1. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
DUE: ________
Cornell Notes Focus Questions
“...And [It’s] Rarely Just Illness” Chapter
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
Instructions: Your Cornell notes should ultimately address the following questions and concepts articulated below.
That said, you are not just merely sticking to this information alone and your notes should NOT merely be a list of
these questions with answers. You are to use your notes on the entire chapter to address the main idea points
presented here.
1. What it meant by the title “[It’s] Rarely Just Illness”?
2. Explain the quote: “Our interest is...in what his condition is telling us about him….about the
story at large” (Foster 214). What does this suggest about the role of illness in a story?
3. According to the chapter, what was the major factor in making illness/disease“frightening” and
“mysterious” to audiences/readers?
4. In your own words, list & explain (in paraphrasing form) the 4 Principles of Disease in
Literature.
5. Foster explains the ways in which illness/disease offers “metaphorical possibilities” (218). Cite,
paraphrase, & explain one of his examples.
6. Foster notes, “Every age has its special disease” (222). What does this imply about reading
literature written during or taking place in different historical time periods?
7. Foster claims that “the most effective illness is the one the writer makes up” further asserting,
“A made-up illness...can say whatever its makes wants it to say” (224-25). Basedon this claim,
why is made-up illness the most effective?
KEY VOCABULARY: existentialism, or, “existentialist” (Foster 219)

2. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
FOCUS CORRECTIONAL AREAS
________/ 30 Total Points
MRS J YOU TOTAL
PTS
✔ 10 All main idea questions prompted (above) are fully addressed/answered.
✔ 5 Each key vocabulary word appears highlighted/underlined and accurately defined.
✔ 5 Key Concepts include a record ofat least 8-10 key ideas expressed directly in the
text (should appear as a balance between direct quoting and key phrases/points).
✔ 5 Recorded Notes include thorough and accurate responses to the Key Concepts
section by specifically referencing details from the text.
✔ 5 Summary fully and accurately sums up, in 6-8 sentences minimum, at least 5 main
ideas expressed in the chapter.
Requirements:
❏ MLA format; types (unless otherwise approved)
❏ Cornell notes format (must include Key Concepts, Recorded Notes, & Summary sections)
❏ Chapter title in quotation marks and book title in italics/underline
❏ Notes appear in “short-hand” techniques are used in that bullet points, indentation,
highlighting/bolding/underlining appear to organize the chapter in notation form
Mariah Whittaker
Mrs. Jenkins

3. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
English 12CP
1 January 2016
...And Rarely Just Illness.
KEY CONCEPTS RECORDED NOTES
What does the title of this chapter
represent?
In the chapter, the quote “Our
interest is...in what his condition is
telling us about him….about the
story at large”. What does this
suggest about what role illness takes
in a work?
What factor most makes
disease/illness frightening and
mysterious to readers?
An illness in literature is often simply a vessel for character
development.
An illness often has far more to do with the story than someone just
being ill.
Illness can tell many things about a character, more or less obvious,
depending on the reader.
In some works illness is a sign of guilt and shame or some other
wrongdoing . A sort of punishment.
Many characters illnesses are mostly very tailored to the specific
challenges and events that are happening and have happened in a
character’s life.
The factor that makes diseases most frightening, both in literature
and in real life is the unknowns any illness might present. Because
when you have little to no knowledge of what’s happening, you
cannot prepare yourself for the outcome of what’s happening.
● Not all diseases are considered good literary material.

4. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
List the 4 Principles of Disease in
Literature.
Explain an example of metaphorical
possibilities in a disease from the
text.
What affect does time period have
on illness in literature?
○ The diseases in which the struggle was violent or
particularly unsavory,were passed over.
● The disease should make the sufferer morbidly beautiful.
○ The disease had to be pleasant to describe, so
leprosy was out of the question.
● The disease needs to be a mystery.
○ The disease needs to have enough unknowns so as
to put intrigue into the work.
● It needs to represent something.
○ The disease should easily be reminiscent of a deeper
sort of meaning.
Malaria (Roman Fever)
○ Malaria translate to “Bad Air”
● Character suffers for being gossiped about maliciously and
is generally thought of and spoken of horribly, (the bad air)
Every time period comes with a disease that causes a huge
outpouring of fear and misguided caution. Plague and fever, polio
and most recently AIDS.
With each coming disease and time period, new writers latch onto
the symptoms that are well known, and use the emotions toward

5. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
Why are fictional diseases more
compelling?
What is the role of existentialism in
the terms of illness in literature?
the disease carry over into the reader’s mind.
A fictional disease has very little restraints on what it can do. If the
disease does not exist, it does not have to stay carefully around the
confines of the actual medical specifications of a real disease.
Furthermore, it is far more compelling to read about a
disease with many unknowns.
Existentialism=theory that emphasizes the existence of the
individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their
own development through acts of the will.
The role of existentialism in literature is the element that often adds
the finality of death to the work it features in.
An ill character often thinks of all that they must do before
they expire, so they can die with satisfaction or closure
depending entirely upon their actions.
SUMMARY: The occurrence of illness in literature is often a vessel for themes and character
development in a work. Like the plague representing isolation and social deterioration, often
illness/disease has meanings that are deeper than itself . Every time period, a new disease sparks a new
wave of fear and confusion in people. And then along with it a new wave of stories that feed off the
emotions and unknowns the disease offers up through the audience. Also with the power of confusion and
fear of the unknown, made-up diseases flourished because of their compelling nature. As it is said, a

6. Jenkins
Eng 12CP
fictional disease can say whatever it wants to say. All of these points within the text add up to one
conclusion, an illness in literature is hardly ever just a meaningless filler illness.