Literary Criticism and Interpretation: an introduction

What Is Interpretation?
In general, to interpret something is to make it personally meaningful. Our brain takes raw data from the senses and makes
it meaningful by relating it to our previous experiences. When we read or hear a sentence, we put the words together into a
meaningful whole, rather than just noting their separate dictionary definitions. Most everyday language is fairly straightforward
and requires little interpretation. Because literature presents us with more than one possible meaning, interpreting literature
requires more care and attention.

Why Should We Interpret Literature?

Authors of fiction, poetry, or drama choose literature for their expression because they believe that there are at least two valid
sides to any major issue--not just a simple right and wrong. Reading and interpreting literature, then, nourishes us with a
sense of the complexity of life's deepest mysteries-- love, hate, death, conflicts between the individual and society, and so
on--so that when we approach these problems we do so with greater self-awareness and greater tolerance for the views of
others.
When we interpret literature at this level, we are taking what we already know about human nature and adding in the
experience and wisdom of the author (even if we don't share all of the author's convictions).
There is no unified cultural tradition but rather a set of cultural conflicts -including conflicts over what the cultural tradition is
and has been thought to be. Eliot and Borges offered the idea that each new writer of importance alters the canon preceding
him or her, shifting our perspective so that we see earlier work in a different way, and thus sometimes enormously enriching
our appreciation of an earlier writer's prescience and modernity.

What Is Literary Criticism?

Literary criticism is an extension of this social activity of interpreting. One reader writes down his or her views on what a
particular work of literature means so that others can respond to that interpretation. The critic's specific purpose may be to
make value judgements on a work, to explain his or her interpretation of the work, or to provide other readers with relevant
historical or biographical information. The critic's general purpose, in most cases, is to enrich the reader's understanding of
the literary work. Critics typically engage in dialogue or debate with other critics, using the views of other critics to develop
their own points. Unfortunately, when critics assume that their readers are already familiar with previous criticism, the
argument may be difficult to follow.
Discovering the meaning of literary work, and the way that specific meaning is made, remains the first task of literary criticism,
followed by evaluating that work in comparison to other literary works, so as to account for its appeal or lack of it to generations
of readers.
Literary criticism is the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. Plato's cautions against the risky consequences
of poetic inspiration in general in his Republic are thus often taken as the earliest important example of literary criticism.

Why Is Criticism Important for Students?

The teaching of literature involves deciding what works to study and why, what questions to ask about them, what contexts
to put them in. To teach the traditional canon assumes a theory of why it should be taught. By "theory" here we mean some
technical concepts, and ideas that give point and value to literary study. To understand and appreciate the literature treated
in their classrooms, students need to understand the theoretical ideas that determine why it is being taught as it is.
As a reader of literature, you may find the views of others very helpful in developing your own interpretations. When you write
an essay about literature, you will also find criticism helpful for supporting your points. But criticism should never be a substitute
for your own original views--only in very rare cases would an assignment require you to summarize a critical work without
including your interpretation of the literature.

Is All Literary Criticism Valid?

Certainly if a critic has added to your appreciation of a literary work, then that person has been useful. But as you read a
variety of criticism on a given author, you will discover that some criticism more useful than others, and you may find some
completely useless, particularly if it only summarizes the plot, focuses on an issue you're not interested in, concentrates too
much on other critics or theories and not on the literature itself, or uses an unnecessarily technical vocabulary.
Although some critics believe that literature should be discussed in isolation from other matters, criticism usually seems to be
openly or covertly involved with social and political debate. Since literature itself is often partisan, is always rooted to some
degree in local circumstances, and has a way of calling forth affirmations of ultimate values, it is not surprising that the finest
critics have never paid much attention to the alleged boundaries between criticism and other types of discourse. Especially in
modern Europe, literary criticism has occupied a central place in debates about cultural and political issues. Sartre's own
What Is Literature? (1947) is typical in its wide-ranging attempt to prescribe the literary intellectual's ideal relation to the
development of his society and to literature as a manifestation of human freedom. Similarly, some prominent American critics,
including Alfred Kazin, Lionel Trilling, Kenneth Burke, Philip Rahv, and Irving Howe, began as political radicals in the 1930s
and sharpened their concern for literature on the dilemmas and disillusionments of that era. Trilling's influential The Liberal
Imagination (1950) is simultaneously a collection of literary essays and an attempt to reconcile the claims of politics and art.

How Do I Incorporate Literary Criticism into a Research Paper?

Just as it's usually best to read criticism after you've developed your own views, so do you normally refer to or quote criticism
after you've expressed an idea of your own. A typical paragraph may consist of a topic sentence (expressing a portion or
subtopic of your interpretation), followed by an elaboration of the idea, a reference to or brief quote from the work that you're
analyzing, an explanation of how this passage illustrates your point, a quote or reference from a critic on this passage (or a
similar one), and perhaps a brief discussion of the critic's comments.

Fiction/Non-Fiction Activities
Introduction:

Enable the children to identify the difference between fiction and non-fiction. First present the children
with a blank poster and explain that together you are going to come up with the differences between
fiction and non-fiction.

Key Questions:

1. What does the word fiction/non-fiction mean? What is the difference between these?
2. Can you think of some TV shows that are fictional/non-fictional?
3. Name as many sources of non-fiction as you can.
(For older students, you could ask them to order these beginning with the most accurate).
4. Do you prefer reading fiction/non-fiction?

Overview of differences

Fiction Non-fiction

Not real Real

Story talk Fact talk

Read to enjoy Read to learn

Read in order Read in any order

Illustrations Photographs, charts, graphs

Characters Index, glossary, bold words, labels

Problems, solutions True information, directions

Name as many non-fiction sources as you can

Approximate time: 6 minutes

Age appropriateness: 8+

Materials required: Paper, pen

Groups of children: Pairs

Introduction:
Explain to the children that they are going to be asked to come up with as many non-fiction sources
as they can. Encourage the children to think of sources which they might see being used daily in their
homes.

Development:
The children are given three minutes and are asked to write down as many non-fiction sources as
they can in this time.

E.g. – textbook, internet, newspaper, dictionary, encyclopaedia, thesaurus, atlas, biography,

autobiography etc.

Conclusion:
The children report back their ideas to the rest of the class – children are encouraged to add to their
own lists if they hadn’t thought of some ideas.

Differentiation:
For older children, ask them which sources would be the most accurate and why. Any children over 8
years could be asked to use a Venn diagram to sort the sources.

That's fiction!
Approximate time: 8 minutes

Age appropriateness: All ages

Groups of children: Whole group

Introduction:
Explain activity to the children – explain that they are each going to take a turn to call out a fact. This
fact has to be true or false – if it is true the children say “That’s non-fiction” and if it is false they
say “That’s fiction”.

Development:
The children call out facts one by one and these facts are either true or false. If the fact is true, the
other children called out “That’s non-fiction”, while if it false they call out "That’s fiction”.

E.g. – Child 1: I have blue eyes.

Rest of class: That’s fiction!

Other examples: I can fly, I have wings, We are in a park, We are in the library, I am very tall,
Elephants are very big, Caterpillars turn into butterflies, etc.
TV guide – Fiction or Non-fiction
Approximate time: 15 minutes

Age appropriateness: 8+

Materials required: TV guide

Groups of children: Groups of three

Introduction:
To begin this activity the children are invited to call out their favourite TV shows and state whether
they are fiction or non-fiction.

Development:
In groups of three the children are given a simple TV guide to look at together. The children work
together to decide which TV shows are fictional and which are non-fictional.

Conclusion:
The children compare their answers with other groups.

Differentiation:
More detailed TV guides for older children.

Sort the books

Groups:
groups of three children

Activity:
Each group of children is given ten books and are asked to sort these into two piles – fiction and non-
fiction