Critical Worlds

Looking at Literature using Critical Theory

Determine your approach

For each possibility choose one of the

following:

Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

A. What determines us most as humans is:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Our
Our
Our
Our
Our
Our

wholeness
emotions
language
political / social environment
upbringing / childhood
social class / gender

B. You see a beautiful, ripe, red apple. You

think,
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What a perfect applethe ultimate destiny

of an apple seed.
That makes me happy and a little bit hungry.
Ripe, rednice alliteration, but would it
taste as sweet by any other name?
I wonder where and how this apple was
grown? Organic? Local? Fair trade?
This reminds me of my Grannys apple pie.
Why was Eve the one to pick the apple from
the Tree of Knowledge, not Adam?

Tally your score.

Strongly agree = +2
Agree = +1
Neither agree nor disagree = 0
Disagree = -1
Strongly disagree = -2

What is your approach?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

New Criticism
Reader-Response Criticism
Structuralist / Deconstructive Criticism
Historical Studies
Psychological Criticism
Feminist Criticism

New Criticism

Motto: Back to the Text!

Works of art form an organic UNITY
Works of art are characterized by COMPLEXITY

How to Do New Criticism

CLOSE READING.
Find oppositions, tensions, ambiguities and
ironies in the work
Find a/the unifying idea of the work.
Give details from the work to show how the
parts (tensions) work together to create the
whole (unity).
Tip: pay special attention to the beginning
(title) and the end of the work.

Reader-Response Criticism

The readers response is what counts

Readers actively create meaning in a text

Personal response
Ideal readers response

Responding to a text is a process

How to Do Reader Response Criticism

Move through the text in slow motion,

recording your reactions (thoughts, feelings,
associations) as you go.
Focus on the details that shape your response.

Structuralist and Deconstructive Criticism

Language is an arbitrary system of meaning,

built on oppositions.
Meaning is created by favouring one of the
two sides of an opposition.
Deconstructionism looks at the side that isnt
favoured, reversing the meaning of the text.
Turning the text against itself reveals the
instability and open-endedness of language
itself.

How to Do Deconstructionism

Identify oppositions in the text. See which

sides of the oppositions are favoured.
Find the central idea of the text, and those
ideas which are marginal or excluded
altogether.
Reverse the texts hierarchy to open-up an
alternative reading.

Historical Criticism /Cultural Studies

It matters when and where something was

written, and by whom.
The facts about the authors life, and the
times in which he/she lived and wrote can
illuminate the work.
Tip: be careful to distinguish between real
life and literature.

How to Do Historical Criticism /Cultural

Studies

Research the authors life and relate this

information to the work.
Research the authors time (political history,
economic history, etc) and relate this to the
work.
Research the authors culture and the culture
in which he lived and relate this to the work.

Psychological Criticism

Creative writing is like dreamingwishes and

fears expressed as symbols.
Eveyones psychological history influences his
or her motivation.
This can be retraced in the interpretation of
literature. We can uncover what is repressed
and transformed.

Psychological Criticism: Background

Psychological Criticism: Background

Psychological Criticism: Background

Psychological Criticism: Background

The tricks of the unconscious mind:

Projection
Displacement
Denial
Reversal

How to Do Psychological Criticism

Consider how repressed material may be

expressed in the works pattern of imagery or
symbols.
Ask what seems to be motivating the author
or character.
Relate the work to psychologically significant
events in the authors life.

Feminist Criticsm

Your gender influences your reading of a text.

Women have often been excluded from
literature.
Literature can influence social change.

How to Do Feminist Criticism

Identify the qualities of gender showing how

individuals are portrayed as members of a
group.
Consider whether the text promotes or
undermines stereotypes.
Imagine how the text might be read by a
certain type of reader (eg. Man or woman).
Tip: ask yourself if the text would change if
the characters were of the opposite gender.

Assignment

Work in groups of 5 students on a theory youve

been assigned.
In your group summarize how Steven Lynn
interpreted Here at the New Yorker using your
theory.
Prepare a poster with a mindmap / brainstorm
how your theory helps to interpret the short
story. Give details from the text.
Think of one question to start a discussion of
your interpretation.
In class, present your summary, your poster and
lead the discussion of your question.