So, first off let me just state that I am one of those despicable procrastinators, one who did not start the summer project till the week of school...  So here I am, barely analyzing the works of Thomas C.Foster 's How To Read Literature Like A Professor, in which his points are very valid, but not at all fresh. A good read, being late, I must start with the first chapter. Thomas C. Foster defines a quest as a required journey, a trip. Surely by this age we all have archetypes and the classic structure of stories buried in our subconscious somewhere,(the "We" representing seniors class of 2015), but seldom do we acknowledge the fact that 21st century humans quest daily.

The concept to me was so appealing; I didn't ever think of buying milk and pan dulce as a quest but now I can sleep peacefully with the awareness that self-knowledge is always a reward. Foster nails it though, in every story you will have the quester, a place to go, a reason to go, challenges and trials and often times the quester does NOT want to do it. This applies to me personally, as I do not ever sign up for these "quests" that I am forced to partake in.  The classic structure of a quest can be seen in plays, books, and of course, hollywood. 

My last name is Kumar, so I'm going to demonstrate how the "quest" template is evident in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004). If that doesn't make sense I don't know what does. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the film, allow me to inform you of the plot. Harold is a stock analyst while Kumar is a medical student. Harold is neat and clean and Kumar is the opposite. Harold is in love with his neighbor Maria, (the required princess of the story) but this part is irrelevant. One day the two plan to get high but Harold's white co-workers end up saddling him with their work because he's a stereotypical asian nerd in their eyes. Kumar convinces Harold to do the work later, and the two are found back at Kumar's apartment smoking a bowl or two. After watching Tv for a bit the two see a White Castle Commercial, and immediately crave the fast food restaurant’s, mini burgers. "Dude let's go" Call to action, perhaps? From the moment the two decided to go purchase the burgers the quest began. The place and reason to go are palpable but of course this quest cannot be easy in order to be a comedy. 

They set out but discover that White Castle has re-located. On their way there Harold gets bitten by an animal and ends up in hospital; after being released their car breaks down and a complete stranger in the country fixes it for them and also invites them to get intimate with his wife.

Escaping the unwanted orgy; they pick up a hitch-hiker, Neil Patrick Harris, and they stop at a gas station, and are then harassed by Caucasian/skinhead males, who also assault and damage the store; they get out to find that the car is missing with Neil Patrick Harris gone; Harold is then arrested by a white man for crossing the street. (race is used a comical device throughout this movie) Kumar helps Harold escape and both run to hide in the bush - and come face to face with a cheetah. I don’t want to give away the whole movie so I’ll just spoil the ending. They use a Hang glider across the city to finally get to white castle. They feel so fulfilled when they finally get their order of 30 mini burgers, but that’s not the point. Throughout the movie despite all the ridiculous undertakings, there was something deeper going on. As in most stories. The theme of the movie ends up being about the American dream, and in the end Harold sees the white coworkers walk into the restaurant and he stands up to them for always making him do their work. This awakening makes the man out of him and with his newly gained self-knowledge his life betters.

 Self-knowledge can be controversially said to be the main goal of every quest.  So what if life is one big quest and gaining self-knowledge is really the goal?