Get documents about "Literary Criticisms and Their Application
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ENG3UI/W – 2011-2012
Overview of Literary Criticism and Its Application Name: ______________________________
Literary Criticism: Introduction
Upon Seeing an Orange
A DEFINITION:
Literary Criticism is the study and interpretation of a literary
Gender Theory Asks: What possibilities are available to a woman
work. Its purpose is to explain literature’s meaning, method, who eats this orange? To a man?
value and goals. The process of analysis is to examine
Formalism Asks: What shape and diameter is the orange?
literature through varied lenses to comment and judge the
content’s qualities and techniques while understanding how it Social Class Theory Asks: Who owns the orange? Who gets to eat it?
comments on the value of society. Biographical Theory Asks: Who grew the orange? What experiences
shaped the orange’s growth?
Postcolonialism Asks: Who doesn’t own the orange? Who took
the orange away?
Reader Response Theory Asks: What does the orange taste like? What
A METAPHOR: does the orange remind us of?
Literary critics wear lenses when they read Structuralism Asks: How are the orange peel and the flesh
texts; these lenses colour or “filter” the way differentiated into composite parts of the
they experience, perceive and analyze a text. orange?
Deconstruction Asks: If the orange peel and the flesh are both
part of an “orange,” are they not in fact one
All Types of Literary Criticism Consider, to a Certain Extent, and the same thing?
Each of these Four Elements:
1.
2.
3. (Adapted from Appleman 151)
4.
ENG3UI/W – Literary Criticism Page 1
ENG3UI/W – 2011-2012
Overview of Literary Criticism and Its Application Name: ______________________________
Gender/Feminist Criticism
"Feminism is, at its core, very simple: the belief that men and women should have equal opportunity for self-expression" (Foss 151).
The Theory: Questions for the Gender/Feminist Lens:
Examines how female characters are portrayed in literature 1. How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?
2. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the author’s gender?
Exposes the patriarchal ideology embedded in “classic” literature
3. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these
Sees the exclusion of women from the literary canon as a political as
relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?
well as an aesthetic act
4. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
Demonstrates that attitudes and traditions reinforcing systematic 5. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces
masculine dominance are inscribed in “classic” literature that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full of equality with men?
Rejects the idea of “essential” feminine attributes 6. What behavioural expectations are imposed on the characters? What
effect do these expectations have?
Examines the experience of women from all races, classes and cultures
7. If a female character were male, how would the story be different? (and vice
Argues that differences of race, class and culture give rise to crucial versa?)
differences among women through history and from varied 8. How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or
geographical areas happiness?
Contends that gender is seen as a construct, not tied strictly to
biology
Assumes that the work does not have an objective status, an
Notes:
autonomy; instead, any reading of it is influenced by the reader’s own
status, which includes gender, or attitudes toward gender.
Suggests that men and women have not had equal access in the
production of literature and within stories themselves.
Maintains that men and women are different: they write differently,
read differently, and write about their reading differently. These
differences should be valued.
ENG3UI/W – Literary Criticism Page 2
ENG3UI/W – 2011-2012
Overview of Literary Criticism and Its Application Name: ______________________________
A Feminist Reading: “Lamb to the Slaughter” and “Boys and Girls”
Use your understanding of literary criticism based on gender to analyze these two stories with a “feminist” lens.
Literary Devices that Aid in
Analysis of a Character in the Quotation(s) that Illustrate(s) a
Story Themes that Emerge about Gender Gender/Feminist Reading (e.g.,
Story Gender /Feminist Reading
symbols, imagery, tone, analogy…)
“Lamb to the Slaughter”
“Boys and Girls”
ENG3UI/W – Literary Criticism Page 3
ENG3UI/W – 2011-2012
Overview of Literary Criticism and Its Application Name: ______________________________
Social Class/Marxist Criticism
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” – Karl Marx
The Theory: Questions for the Social Class/Marxist Lens:
struggles.” – Karl Marx
Is based upon the political and economic theories of Karl 1. What is the relationship between the characters and their society?
th
Marx and Frederick Engels (19 century philosophers) 2. Does the story address societal issues, such as race, gender, and class?
Explore the way different groups of people are represented in 3. How do social forces shape the power relationships between groups or classes of people in
texts. the story? Who has the power, and who does not? Why?
4. How does the story reflect the Great American Dream?
Evaluates the level of social realism in the text and how society
5. How does the story reflect urban, rural, or suburban values?
is portrayed.
6. What does the work say about economic or social power? Who has it and who does not?
Focuses on the dominant and the repressed classes
Any Marxist leanings evident?
(Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat) (Rich vs. Poor) (Powerful vs.
7. Does the story address issues of economic exploitation? What role does money play?
Weak)
8. How do economic conditions determine the direction of the characters’ lives?
Looks at the effects of power and money drawn from economic 9. Does the work challenge or affirm the social order it depicts?
or social class. 10. Can the protagonist’s struggle be seen as symbolic of a larger class struggle? How does
Has the main objective of finding how the text reveals the the microcosm of the story reflect the macrocosm of the society in which it was composed?
ideological oppression of a dominant class 11. Do any of the characters correspond to types of government, such as a dictatorship,
Considers how the text itself is a commodity that reproduces democracy, socialism, etc.? What attitudes toward these political structures/systems are
certain social beliefs and practices. Analyze the social effect expressed in the work?
of the literary work.
Argues these ideas of Karl Marx: Notes:
i. That the way people think and behave in any society is
determined by basic economic factors;
ii. Those groups of people who owned and controlled
major industries could exploit the rest of the population,
through conditions of employment and by forcing their
own values and beliefs onto other social groups.
ENG3UI/W – Literary Criticism Page 4
ENG3UI/W – 2011-2012
Overview of Literary Criticism and Its Application Name: ______________________________
A Social Class/Marxist Reading: “Boys and Girls” and “The Address”
Use your understanding of literary criticism based on social class to analyze these two stories with a “Marxist” lens.
Literary Devices that Aid in Social
Analysis of a Character in the Quotation(s) that Illustrate(s) a Themes that Emerge about Social
Story Class/Marxist Reading (e.g., symbols,
Story Social Class/Marxist Reading Class
imagery, tone, analogy…)
“Boys and Girls”
“The Address”
ENG3UI/W – Literary Criticism Page 5
