TOPIC/CONCEPT/FACT/SKILL
LITERARY CRITICISM DEFINITION ▪An informed, written analysis & evaluation of a work of literature ▪Based on a “literary theory”
[http://wordnet.princeton.edu/] [Critical Encounters, Deborah Appleman] ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS LITERARY THEORIES ▪A MEANS TO UNDERSTAND THE VARIOUS WAYS PEOPLE READ & CONNECT WITH TEXTS. ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS ▪Analysis ▪Interpretation ▪ELEMENTS ▪Thesis ▪Critique ▪DEVICES ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS
“lenses” through which we can see texts EXAMPLES [Most Common] ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM ▪Symbols, motifs, myths, characters, situations EXAMPLES [Most Common] FORMALISM- STRUCTURALISM ▪Elements of human culture = System of signs ▪linguistics EXAMPLES [Most Common] FORMALISM [NEW CRITICISM, STRUCTURALISM] ▪The work itself the focus ▪No need for context ▪Aesthetics ▪ Language, interactions of words, figures of speech, & symbols EXAMPLES [Most Common] FORMALISM ▪Genre, grammatical, rhetorical structures ▪Literary devices & patterns ▪Repetition of images, symbols EXAMPLES [Most Common] HISTORICAL CRITICISM ▪The work a reflection of the author’s (or characters’) life & times ▪Necessary to know about the author & the political, economical, & sociological context EXAMPLES [Most Common] HISTORICAL CRITICISM ▪ Author’s intention ▪ Can it be universal or contextual? EXAMPLES [Most Common] READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM ▪“live through” ▪Reader’s role in the development of interpretation ▪Reader creates meaning ▪Subjectivity? EXAMPLES [Most Common]
MIMETIC
▪Real world reality? ▪Morality, norms, values EXAMPLES [Most Common] INTERTEXTUAL ▪Comparing the work with other literature ▪Breadth POLITICAL EXAMPLES [Most Common]
FEMINIST CRITICISM ▪Impact of gender on writing & reading ▪Critique of patriarchal society: cultural & economic “disabilities” POLITICAL EXAMPLES [Most Common] FEMINIST CRITICISM
▪Portrayal of women
▪How women writers write ▪Race, religion, class, sexual orientation POLITICAL EXAMPLES [Most Common]
MARXIST CRITICISM ▪Relationships between the socio- economic classes ▪Economic & cultural theories of Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels ▪Focus: power & money in lit EXAMPLES [Most Common, Abstract]
DECONSTRUCTION ▪Text is focus, but no inherent meaning
▪Parts---whole ▪Not unified, logical whole EXAMPLES [Most Common, Abstract] DECONSTRUCTION ▪Not a dismantling of the structure but…a demo of how it has already dismantled itself ▪Erase binary oppositions = paradox ▪“undecidability” EXAMPLES [Most Common] PSYCHOLOGICAL & PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM ▪Psychological motivations of the characters [or of the author] ▪Freud, Jung OVERVIEW AUTHOR’S WORLD LITERARY CRITICISM Historical, Biographical AUTHOR’S Psychological LIFE Mimetic
BEYOND REAL OTHER THE WORLD LITERARY LITERATURE WORLD WORK Formalist Intertextual Archetypal [Structuralism], Deconstruction AUDIENCE Feminist, Reader- Marxist, etc. Response VARIATIONS 1930-1960 HISTORICAL; Alabama TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD TLA… •Historian MAD DOG Harper Lee •Sociologist •Geographer Connector
BEYOND 2010 OTHER THE TKAM LITERATURE WORLD AESTHETIC; TKAM FILM A Separate Peace; Hero; Scapegoat TLA Linguist Of Mice and Men Feminine Voice; PIB/H Power Structure CONNECTIONS EXAMPLES ▪THEME & STRUCTURE ▪ ATTICUS FINCH & THE MAD DOG ▪ HOLLYWOOD & RACE ▪ LEE’S TRAGIC VISION ▪ SECRET COURTS OF MEN’S HEARTS ▪ FEMALE VOICE…NARRATIVE STRATS REVIEW ▪informed, written analysis & evaluation of a work of literature ▪literary theory as a lens APPLICATION/SUMMARY TAKE HOME ESSAY ▪ 5-7 pages, word- processed ▪ MLA style ▪Due: APPLICATION/SUMMARY TOPIC [open] ▪ Approach… APPLICATION Article: ▪TOPICS: ▪SYMBOLISM ▪ARCHETYPES ▪PSYCHOLOGICAL APPLICATION Article: ▪TOPICS ▪COMPARE/CONTRAST ▪INTERTEXTUAL ▪A SEPARATE PEACE ▪SOUTHERN AUTHORS SHORT STORIES ▪MIMETIC APPLICATION Article: ▪TOPICS ▪HISTORICAL ▪PSYCHOLOGICAL ▪AESTHETICAL APPLICATION Article: ▪TOPICS ▪POWER STRUCTURE [MARXIST] ▪MORES [MORALS], VALUES ▪SOCIAL CODES APPLICATION Article: ▪TOPICS ▪AESTHETICAL APPROACH ▪INTERTEXTUAL: COMPARE/ CONTRAST FILM TO TEXT ▪FEMINIST WORKS CITED Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern Critical Interpretations. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publisher. WORKS CITED
Appleman, Deborah. Critical Encounters in High School English. New York: Teachers College Press, 2000. WordNet: A Lexical Database for the English Language. 2006. Cognitive Science Laboratory at Princeton University. 01 Nov 2007. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/. Burris, Skylar. Literary Criticism: An Overview of Approaches. 2005. University of Texas at Brownsville. 01 Nov 2007. http://www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/liccrit.html .