Transcript Document
LITERARY CRITICISM
MR. CHUNG
LANGUAGE ARTS
VALENCIA H.S.
Agenda
TKAM Articles
TKAM Literary Criticism
TKAM Objective Final
Preview
Objective
Begin understanding of
literary criticism
Identify & apply literary
theories to TKAM
Prepare for analysis &
evaluation of TKAM
Standards
Literary Criticism 3.11
Evaluate the aesthetic
qualities of style,
including the impact of diction and figurative
language on tone, mood, and theme,
using the terminology of
literary criticism.
(Aesthetic approach)
Standards
Literary Criticism 3.12
Analyze the way in which a
work of literature is
related to the themes and
issues of its historical
period. (Historical approach)
Standards
Literary Response and Analysis 3.5c.
Evaluate the philosophical,
political, religious, ethical,
and social influences of the
historical period that
shaped the characters,
plots, and settings.
KWL:
WHAT I THINK
I KNOW…
WHAT I WANT
TO KNOW…
Literary Criticism
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.
“lenses” through which we can
see texts
Usually leads to a whole new
perspective
EXAMPLES [Most Common]
Archetypal Criticism
Symbols, motifs, myths,
characters, situations
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]
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
Can it be universal or contextual?
EXAMPLES [Most Common]
Reader-Response Criticism
Reader’s role in the
development of
interpretation
Reader creates meaning
Subjectivity?
EXAMPLES [Most Common]
Mimetic
Real world reality?
Morality, norms, values
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]
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
EXAMPLES [Most Common]
Psychological &
Psychoanalytic Criticism
Psychological motivations
of the characters [or of the
author]
Freud, Jung
OVERVIEW
LITERARY CRITICISM
AUTHOR’S
WORLD
AUTHOR’S
LIFE
Psychological
Historical,
Biographical
Mimetic
BEYOND
THE
WORLD
Archetypal
REAL
WORLD
LITERARY
WORK
Formalist
OTHER
LITERATURE
Intertextual
[Structuralism],
DeconstructionAUDIENCE
Feminist,
Marxist, etc.
ReaderResponse
VARIATIONS
1930-1960
Alabama
To Kill A Mockingbird
Harper
Lee
MAD DOG
Connector
BEYOND
THE
WORLD
2007
Hero; Scapegoat
Feminine Voice;
Power Structure
TKAM
AESTHETIC;
TLA Linguist
HISTORICAL;
TLA…
•Historian
•Sociologist
•Geographer
OTHER
LITERATURE
TKAM FILM
A Separate Peace;
Of Mice and Men
PIB/H
CONNECTIONS
VARIATIONS
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
3-5 pages, wordprocessed
MLA style
Due: FRIDAY, Nov. 9
APPLICATION/SUMMARY
TOPIC [open]
Approach…
APPLICATION
ATTICUS FINCH & THE MAD DOG
TOPICS:
SYMBOLISM
ARCHETYPES
PSYCHOLOGICAL
APPLICATION
HOLLYWOOD & RACE
TOPICS
COMPARE/CONTRAST
INTERTEXTUAL
A SEPARATE PEACE
SOUTHERN AUTHORS SHORT
STORIES
MIMETIC
APPLICATION
LEE’S TRAGIC VISION
TOPICS
HISTORICAL
PSYCHOLOGICAL
AESTHETICAL
APPLICATION
SECRET COURTS OF MEN’S HEARTS
TOPICS
POWER STRUCTURE
[MARXIST]
MORES [MORALS], VALUES
SOCIAL CODES
APPLICATION
FEMALE VOICE…NARRATIVE STRATS
TOPICS
AESTHETICAL APPROACH
INTERTEXTUAL:
COMPARE/CONTRAST FILM
TO TEXT
FEMINIST
WORKS CITED
Bloom, Harold, ed. Modern
Critical Interpretations:
Harper Lee’s To Kill a
Mockingbird. Philadelphia,
PA: Chelsea House
Publisher, 1999.
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 .