21ST CENTURY LITERATURE REVIEWER
STEM 11 - ST. JOSEPH | 1st Semester Final Term Padayon !
LITERARY CRITICISM THE CRITICAL PROCESS- BASIC STEPS I
Criticism
1. Understanding what the text says
- Can be favorable as well as
2. Analyzing literary elements such as plot,
unfavorable
character, point of view, symbolism, irony etc
- The science of forming & expressing
3. Interpreting the literature by making broad
correct judgement upon the value &
observations or generalizations of the theme
merit of works of Literature.
4. Evaluating the literature by applying specific
- Through this intellectual appreciation &
criteria
clear understanding becomes possible
- When heard automatically though as Purpose of Literary Criticism
pointing out weaknesses & failures. - Helps to explain a work and its
underlying principles to readers who
Literary Criticism
may not fully understand the text
- Helps interpret the meaning of a short
- Helps interpret works to readers who
story, poem, or play
might otherwise fail to understand or
- Helps the reader view the text through a
appreciate them
different lens
- Helps discover and apply principle
- Gives us a window into a work of art
that describe “good literature”
- The evaluation, analyzation, description
- Examines how culture, politics, gender,
or interpretation of literary works
popular ideologies, history, psychology,
- Usually in a form of critical essay
author’s life affect interpretation of
- In - depth book reviews sometime can
literature
be an example
- Helps establish clearly defined
- May look at author’s way of writing
standards of evaluation
- Helps justify imaginative literature in a
Literary criticism of a work usually offers:
world that finds its value questionable
- Interpretation of its meaning
- Analysis of its structure and style
- Judgment of its worth by comparison TYPES OF LITERARY CRITICISM I
with other works
- Estimation of its likely effect on readers 1. Reader-Response Criticism
- Text - Meaning - Reader
Literary criticism can be applied to a: - Stresses the importance of the reader’s
- genre role in interpreting texts
- An author’s writings as a whole - No single, fixed meaning is inherent in
- A specific literary work every literary work
1
- The reader creates his or her own - May argue that gender determines
meaning through a “transaction” with everything or just opposite, gender
the text means nothing
- Each interpretation is subjective and - Focuses on the roles, positions, and
unique influences of women within literary texts
- The reader is essential to the meaning
4. Marxist Criticism
of a text for they bring the text to life
- To have or have not
- It’s purpose is to examine, explain &
- MARXISM: an economic and social
defend one’s personal reaction to a text
system based upon the political and
- Be cautious of criticizing any text. If you
economic theories of Karl Marx and
do criticize, base your criticism on the
Friedrich Engels
principles & form of the text itself
- Focuses on economic issues, plight of
2. Formalist/New Criticism working class, capitalist control
- The whole text and nothing but text - Focuses on the ideological oppression
- New critics treat a work of literature as if of a dominant (wealthy) class over
it were a self-contained, self-referential subordinate (poorer) classes
object - Examines class structure and living
- New critics DO NOT look at: conditions of the poor, working class
> the reader’s response - Look for indications that the working
> the author’s stated intentions poor are oppressed
> historical contexts
5. Historical Criticism
> author’s life
- History accuracy is key
- Performs a close reading,
- Historical critics believe it is necessary
concentration on the words and
to know about the political, economical,
structures within the text
and sociological context of the stories
- Examine the text only, not allowing any
- Examines actual historical setting
influence outside the text influence
context
3. Feminist Criticism - See works as the reflection of the
- It’s all about gender-or-gender means characters’ life and times
nothing - Linked to Authorial Criticism
- assumes that all literature reflects or - Examines in terms of what it says about
promotes patriarchy (Men control a a specific time/place in history
disproportionately large share of - Often checks the accuracy of facts
power) and/or look for new facts
- Assumes that the text reflects society’s
6. Psychoanalytic Criticism
view of women as outsiders or inferiors
- It’s all in your mind
- Assumes that women are sociologically
- View literature through the lens of
underrepresented
psychology
2
- Apply psychological theory about the
workings of the human mind
- Examines psychological motivations of
WRITING LITERARY CRITICISM
characters
- Make predictions based upon patterns
- You can go beyond the basic literary
of psychology
elements & apply them to other lines,
- Is often Freudian (based upon the
categories. (Psychology, politics, history etc.)
theories of Sigmund Freud)
- You will focus on specific attributes of the
7. Authorial Criticism texts
- To know the meaning, you must know - When discussing attributes, you want to make
the author sure that you are making a specific arguable
- See works as a reflection of the author’s point about it.
life and times - You will defend the point with reasons &
- Believes it is necessary to know about evidences drawn from the Text
the author
- Study the biography of the author and Tips or Guidelines:
relate author’s life to the text for 1. What do we read?
meaning 2. Why do we read?
- Examines the author’s acquaintances, 3. How do we read?
friends, and relatives for character
origins Basic Outline
I. Introduction. Hook, Background, Thesis
- Attempts to determine what facts from
II. Body Paragraphs. topic sentence -
the author's life appear in the text
textual evidence commentary -
concluding sentence
8. Post colonialism Criticism
III. Conclusion. Connect back to your
- Defined as having been created in a
creative opening. Give your opinion of
country that has experienced
the literary text’s value or significance
colonization by other nations
- Covers people experiences ff. the
liberation of their nation from colonizers INTRODUCTION I
- Changes in religion, culture, language,
and significant historical Hook
- introduces a broad topic
In Summary:
Transition/Background
- narrows the big idea by connecting it to
Literary Criticism
the literary work you are discussing
- attempts to explain and evaluate
literature
Thesis statement
Critics
- is the specific idea that you are
- Attempt to create meaning by
discussing in the essay
examining many factors
3
- Sets argument to control the focus of CONCLUSION I
the entire paper
- Provides unity and a sense of direction The conclusion should do one or more of the
- Specifies to the reader (audience) the following:
point of the analysis 1. Reflect on how your essay topic relates
to the story as a whole
Creating a Thesis 2. Evaluate how successful the author is in
1. Start by reading the text closely achieving his or her message
2. Craft a statement that summarizes 3. Give a personal statement about the
your thoughts about the text and topic
responds to the idea of other critics- a 4. Make predictions
working thesis 5. Connect back to your creative opening
3. Modify your working thesis as you 6. Give your opinion of the story’s
continue to interact with your research significance
and the text
Find evidence that supports your thesis. This
evidence may include:
- Opinions of other critics INTRODUCTION TO WORLD LITERATURE
- Discussion of the text’s historical and
social context - The distinct language and inventiveness of
- Discussion in books or articles about certain lit. coming from different continents
your text showcase the lives and emotions of their
- Discussion in books and articles about people, while offering the world a view of what
theories related to your argument happens in their society
- A good example is the common themes of
BODY PARAGRAPHS I diaspora in Asian and African literature, magic
realism in Latin American Literature, and
Basic Outline for Body Paragraph societal issues in the classical literature of
1. Transition from previous paragraph + Europe and North America
topic sentence
2. Lead-in to concrete detail WORLD LITERATURE: AFRICAN,
3. Concrete detail/quote ANGLO-AMERICAN, LATIN AMERICAN, EUROPEAN,
4. commentary/analysis/explanation SOUTHEAST ASIAN & EASTERN/WESTERN
5. Transition and lead-in to next concrete LITERATURE
detail
6. Concrete detail/quote
7. commentary/analysis/explanation
8. Concluding or clincher sentence
4
SIX WORLD LITERATURES speak and share about what had
happened to them
AFRICAN LITERATURE - Modernismo or oftentime known as
- Oftentimes refer back to its colonial modernism, began in Latin America
past - Magic realism came from them
- Literature became unique, subversive, - Their literature is characterized by
and expressive mysticism, magic, uniqueness, raw
- African writers are not afraid to attack creativity and wonder
their colonizers and to demand their - Their experiences has been shown in
freedom their literature
ANGLO-AMERICAN LITERATURE EUROPEAN LITERATURE
- Oldest literature recorded in history - Outpouring poems during the late 14th
- Anglo-Saxons (some of the first people century and middle century
who wrote using Old English) - Has always been seen as canonical or
- Because of this it gave birth to two important in the context of global
kinds of literature; epic pagan poems literary traffic
and Christian Literature - Closely related to this lit. is the concept
- Modern American Literature came of romanticism, which may be applied
about, and nowadays, the topics are to any literary text that despite its short
more diverse due to the historical and existence as a literary movement in the
cultural shifts of recent years 1800s, it has prevailed as a popular
- This Literature also affected the Filipinos concept up until now
because they came to colonize our - Romanticism proves that the hunger for
country more than 200 years ago it literature that is nostalgic, bizarre,
showed that how much of their culture experimental, and innovative will
the Filipinos have assimilated as their always exist as long as humanity exits
own, including their own sensibilities, itself
beliefs, practices, and values
- Anglo-American Lit. is undeniably SOUTHEAST ASIAN LITERATURE
integral part of world literature - Fitting to look with the idea of formalism
- It has paved the way for most of the - There had been so many challenges to
traditions and innovations that Southeast Asia's history, and the
students of literature now enjoy vastness and uniqueness of the
literature in the 11 countries that belong
LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE to this corner of the world shows the
- Has greatly contributed to world lit. extent of these experiences
- Its turbulent history as a highly
colonized region has brought to life EASTERN/WESTERN LITERATURE
some of the passionate works of art - Fitting to look at the literature of East
through the desire of Latin Americans to Asia through the critical lenses of post
5
colonialism and decolonization to find
out the identity of the colonies through
literary work
- Looking at Western Asia with Marxism is
a way to analyze the kinds of
“alienation” present in their literature
and culture
TEST TYPES!
I. MULTIPLE CHOICES
II. IDENTIFICATION
III. ESSAY (1 QUESTION)
TOTAL: 80 POINTS
