z mini-lesson - literary criticism
TRANSCRIPT
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 ▪Thesis ▪Critique
▪ELEMENTS
▪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
LITERARY WORK
REAL WORLD
LITERARY CRITICISM
OTHER LITERATURE
BEYOND THE
WORLD
AUTHOR’S WORLD
AUTHOR’S LIFE
AUDIENCEReader-Response
Historical, Biographical
Formalist [Structuralism], Deconstruction
Mimetic
Feminist, Marxist, etc.
Intertextual
Archetypal
Psychological
VARIATIONS
TKAM2010
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
OTHER LITERATURE
BEYOND THE
WORLD
1930-1960 Alabama
Harper Lee
PIB/H
CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL;
TLA…
•Historian •Sociologist •Geographer
AESTHETIC; TLA Linguist
Connector
MAD DOG
Feminine Voice; Power Structure
TKAM FILM A Separate Peace;
Of Mice and MenHero; Scapegoat
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 CITEDAppleman, 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 .