Literary Criticism: Questions for a Variety of Approaches
I. Formalistic Approach: This approach focuses on form. The analysis stresses items like symbols, images, and structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole.
How is the work’s structure unified?
How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) can you find? What is the effect of these patterns or motifs?
How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.)
Note the
Historical Approach: This approach focuses on connection of work to the historical period in which it was written; literary historians attempt to connect the historical background of the work to specific aspects of the work.
How does it reflect the time in which it was written?
How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?
What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the work?
How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was written or set?
(Consider beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.)
What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?
How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s contemporaries?
Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it was written? Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing values?
How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to interpreting the work?
V. Psychological Approach: This approach focuses on the psychology of
How does the microcosm (small world) of the story reflect the macrocosm (large world) of the society in which it was composed?
Do any of the characters correspond to types of government, such as a dictatorship, democracy, communism, socialism, fascism, etc.? What attitudes toward these political structures/systems are expressed in the work?
VII. Archetypal Approach: This approach focuses on connections to other literature, mythological/biblical allusions, archetypal images, symbols, characters, and themes. How does this story resemble other stories in plot, character, setting, or symbolism?
What universal experiences are depicted?
Are patterns suggested? Are seasons used to suggest a pattern or cycle?
Does the protagonist undergo any kind of transformation, such as movement from innocence to experience, that seems archetypal?
Are the names significant?
Is there a Christ-like figure in the work?
Does the writer allude to biblical or mythological literature? For what purpose?
What aspects of the work create deep universal responses to it?
How does the work reflect the hopes, fears, and expectations of entire cultures (for
Consistent in literature throughout every era and culture, archetypes represent a recurring image, pattern, or motif mirroring a typical human experience. An idea developed by Carl Jung, archetypes in literature exist as representations reflecting vital perceptions of the human psyche expressing the manner in which individuals experience the world. Using Jung’s concept, writers of all epochs embeds archetypes in structures, characters, and images of their narratives. John Gardner, in his novel Grendel, integrates several of Jung’s archetypes into his epic tale derived from the early story Beowulf. Gardner associates Jung’s personas of the outcast, the shadow, and the mentor-pupil relationship through the identities of Grendel, the narrator of events, and the dragon.
What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as “a work of art”?
One of the main themes is slavery, mainly the evil of slavery. At the very beginning of the book, readers are shown the idea that not all slave owners are indeed evil and only care about money. There are some owners who do not abuse or mistreat their slaves, however these ideas are not placed to show that the evil of slavery is conditional, but as a way to show the wickedness of slavery even in the best-case scenario. Due to the fact that even though Shelby and St. Clare show kindness towards their slaves, at the same time their ability to tolerate slavery renders them hypocritical and morally weak. In fact, this is first shown when Shelby shamefacedly breaks apart Tom’s family by selling him. Yet, the most evil of slavery does not render its head until Tom is sold to the Legree plantation, where it appears in its most hideous and naked form; the harsh and barbaric settings where slaves suffer beating, sexual abuse and murder. The play then introduces the shock that if slavery is wrong in the best of case scenario, then in the worst cases it ca...
reflects upon the theme of the novel. As it highlights the fact that if people in the society
From the novel, it can then be concluded that issues that may seem to have disappeared from the world still thrive no matter the period of time. There is still some sort of oppression that takes place even if not necessarily by one race over another. Slavery, racism and gender abuses are still very much a part of the modern world. No matter how they seem to be removed from the world, there is still a little part of them that thrives within the very fabric of society.
The theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses. Considering that people have an impression of her being a good woman who is quiet and peaceful, it becomes completely unbecoming that she instead engages in very abnormal behavior. What makes it even more terrible is the fact that she uses gossip as the premise for her to propagate her hate messages not only in a single household but across the many different households in the estate where she stays.
...ndicates a level of justification each felt in their actions. These actions, immortalized in two of the most widely read classics of all time, even today call into question the values each society held so dear, and led the modern reader to explore what honor and traditional gendered values mean both in these societies and our own.
This includes the historical period of the writing of the novel, the symbolic meaning of the plot and other parts of the narrative, and the characters which help us understand the way we should act in society being just, empathetic and
Make sure to provide quotes and references from the story to support your answer. (3 Marks)
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
This novel was set in the early 1900’s. During this time, the black people were oppressed by white people. They were abused and taken advantage of. Not only were the black people were oppressed but also women were oppressed. They had little freedom and were unable to be self-sufficient.
Second, what is the mood of this story trying to portray with the setting. The setting c...
some of controversy over many parts of the book, and relates to what the rest of the essay will
The first theory to be discussed is structuralism, this theory is composed of many different branches. The branches that this paper will be looking into is archetypes. The definition of of archetype is typical images, characters, narrative designs and themes and other literary phenomena. Archetypes have their own form of criticism that is called archetypal criticism. Archetypal criticism means the generic, recurring and conventional elements in literature that cannot be explained through historical influence or tradition.
Literary elements are demonstrated throughout the story and further improve our understanding of the central idea. The setting is important to the central idea because it shows the reader the type of society being described in the story. The language is also important to the central idea because it contains metaphors which further prove that the people are afraid of going against tradition because they are scared of being the target of violence. The conflict contributes to the central idea as well, because there are many examples of the society going against character, Mrs. Hutchinson, for not respecting the traditions put in place. The central idea is important to our understanding of the story because it sums up the main objective and furthers our