it’s more fun than it sounds. there are 11 main methods of literary criticism
TRANSCRIPT
AP Literary CriticismIt’s more fun than it sounds
There are 11 main methods of literary criticism.
An Overview
Focuses on when the text was created and the situation in which it is being read.
In addition to the text’s language, critics try to discover outside influences (political, social, and economic) that may affect the meaning of the text.
1. New Historicism
Focuses on a close reading of a text, examining elements such as structure, setting, symbols, and irony.
(THIS IS WHAT WE MOST OFTEN DO)
2. New Criticism
Focuses on the struggle for power and its effect on social class.
Uses characters, plotlines, and themes to illustrate struggles for power.
3. Marxism
Focuses on the role of women.
4. Feminism
Refers to the motivations an author had in a test.
There is much debate over whether or not this should matter to interpreting a text.
5. Authorial Intention
Maintains the existence preceded essence, and everyone is responsible for his or her own actions.
6. Existentialism
Form of criticism focusing on patterns that exist across cultures and time periods.
7. Archetypal Criticism
Analyzes literature in terms of mental processes.
8. Psychological Criticism
Focuses on the transaction that takes place between the reader and the text; meaning is negotiated, thus texts are open to multiple interpretations
(ALSO DONE FREQUENTLY IN THIS CLASS)
9.Reader-response criticsm
Analyzes texts from the perspective that all texts are the result of an elaborate system of signs.
10. Structuralism
Basing interpretations on either the expressed or implied intentions of a writer. Many critics find this method inappropriate.
(Some say the text is a living, breathing entity)
11. Intentional fallacy
Ambition in a range of characters from Georgiana Reed to Blanche Ingram
Class, especially in the way that Blanche and her friends treat Jane
The education and individual opportunities offered to women relevant to all the women characters in the book
The social role of money in offering liberty to women such as Jane and the Rivers sisters from taking uncongenial jobs.
New Historicist Criticism of Jane Eyre
You try this one!
New Criticism: Jane Eyre
Emphasizing the corruption, even despotism of the upper classes, Jane's narrative makes her audience aware that the middle classes were becoming the repositories of both moral and intellectual superiority.
Marxism: Jane Eyre
You Try this one!!
Feminism
Why did Bronte write the book?
Comment on the Church structure. Comment on Victorian marriage. ________________________________
Authorial Intention: Jane Eyre
Isolation in a hostile world Jane is the existential heroine as she grows
up isolated from her cousins and aunt, who are all hostile toward her, belittling her constantly.
Freedom of choice and responsibility for one's actions
After learning that Mr. Rochester is not free to marry her, Jane chooses to leave Thornfield despite being penniless.
Existentialism: Jane Eyre
The byronic hero The mysterious element of the supernatural _________________________
Archetypal Criticism
What was Jane Eyre thinking/feeling and how does effect the outcome/meaning of the text?
Psychological: Jane Eyre
You give this one a try! (Everyone will have a different answer!)
Reader-Response: Jane Eyre
Foreshadowing
Structuralism: Jane Eyre
What did Emily Bronte mean with this metaphor of the tree that was struck by lightening?
Intentional fallacy: Jane Eyre