An Introduction to Literary Criticism

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An Introduction to Literary Criticism
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Watch the Try video by Pink
You will find this video on our web page on the
Lit Crit page!

• What did you think while you were watching the
  video? Tell me five things.
• What stood out to you? Tell me three things.
• What scene did you think was the most important?
  Why? Explain in 4-6 sentences.

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What is literary or critical theory?
The terms literary theory and critical theory
refer to essentially the same fields of study.
They both address ways of looking at literature
beyond the typical plot-theme-character-setting
studies.
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What is literary or critical theory?
Just as a PERSPECTIVE is a way of looking at
something, a CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE is a way of
criticizing or analyzing literature. Your
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE is the view you bring to the
literature you read.
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How and why did literary theory develop?

• We all know that different people will experience
  the same event differently. It follows, then,
  that different people will approach the same
  literary text differently. Literary theories
  emerged as ways to explain different peoples
  views and responses to literature. Rather than
  insisting that one view is the best or correct
  view, literary theory attempts to find value in
  all views that are based on a careful study of
  the literature.

• One person may be offended by a characters
  actions, while another finds them comic.
• One reader is energized by a storys political
  implications, while another is awed by the same
  storys philosophical bent.

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What are the benefits of studying a work from
more than one critical perspective?

• One of the views is likely to affirm your
  perspective and speak to what you see in the
  literature you are studying.
• Studying a view different from yoursnot to
  disagree with it, but to understand ithelps you
  understand those who hold that view.
• Studying a work from more than one view gives you
  a deeper understanding of the authors work and a
  better appreciation for the richness of it.

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What does studying a work from multiplecritical
perspectives involve?

• Essentially, all you have to do to study a work
  from more than one critical perspective is to put
  your own view on hold and entertain the other
  view. Although you may be a staunch
  green-thinker, you now ask yourself, What would
  a yellow-thinker see in this work?

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What does studying a work from multiple
criticalperspectives not involve?
First and foremost, studying a work from multiple
critical perspectives does not require that you
agree with any of the perspectives you study. You
are not being asked to become a yellow-thinker,
only to considerwithout criticism and
judgmentwhat a yellow-thinker would see in the
text.
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What does studying a work from multiple
criticalperspectives not involve?
Second, studying a work from multiple critical
perspectives does not require that you blend or
merge two or more perspectives into a single
interpretation. Some of the points of some of the
theories are actually mutually exclusive and
cannot be reconciled. While examining a work from
the feminist perspective, you do not need to take
into account what a Marxist would find. You would
examine each perspective independently.
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What are the most common or popular critical
theories?

• Feminist
• Marxist
• Psychological
• Archetypal

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Pick Up the Survey!

• Take a moment to honestly respond to each
  statement. Think before you check!
• Which critical theory do you lean towards
  naturally?
• Add together each section of three and put it on
  the far right of the grid!

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
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Take a minute and use your graphic organizer and
in the notes section write down some of the key
terms that have popped up for each type of
criticism! You do not need sentences just the
key words !
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Now that you have your notes section complete . .
. . Fill in your survey rank which type of
criticism ranked the highest for you? Next
highest? And so on . . ..
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With your table you are going to complete a basic
critique of a Coldplay video. After we watch the
video we will see what comments can be made
looking through the lens of each criticism! On
your graphic organizer you can just bullet these
ideas!
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The Literary Criticism Microtheme
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The Literary Criticism Microtheme
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For each Literary Theory . . . .

• You will need to . . .
• Review the lit crit power point this is where
  you will get the actual information about the
  literary criticism we will be exploring.
• Each Lit Crit will have an assessment. You will
  want to prepare for the assessment by reviewing
  the appropriate power point. You can take notes
  on the Lit Crit Breakdown AND use this on your
  assessment. You can ONLY use this handout during
  the quiz nothing else. You CANNOT take notes on
  notebook paper. Keep in mind that you will only
  have a set amount of time to complete the
  assessment so it is important that you
  understand that literary criticism. For each
  assessment you will be asked about key ideas as
  well as address one of the essential questions.

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For each Literary Theory . . . .

• Please keep in mind the following if you choose
  to use the Lit Crit Breakdown graphic organizer
  for any of your assessments
• You can print out the graphic organizer and
  handwrite on it or you can type into it and use
  it electronically.
• Your breakdown sheet CANNOT go beyond one page!

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The Literary Criticism Units
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The Literary Criticism Units
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The Literary Criticism Units
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The Literary Criticism Units
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questions?