Methods of Literary Critique

915 Words2 Pages

Criticism is one of the most important aspects of literally works because it helps the reader to have a broader perspective of the works, which could be poetry, literature or drama work. The process of critiquing works of art can be focused in areas that include psychological, theological, gender, and Marxist ones. There are a number of approaches that can be used as forms of carrying out literally criticism; one of them is the use of archetypal approach.

There is no specific way to explain exactly what literature means and is to each individual person. It can be a type of genre historically or fictional, a poem, a novel, or short story that can be used by the writer to express a certain situation or emotion. It can also be a form of information used to gain knowledge about a specific period of time in history. Either way we all view literature in our own ways and to me, I have always viewed literature as a way to gain more meaning/knowledge and as an escape to my everyday life. When reading Kate Chopin’s writing called The Story of an Hour, I have found myself using the archetypal approach and analyzing the tone and imagery in the story.

The meaning of the term archetypal can be loosely be taken to mean the original, whereby in this context original can simply be taken to mean the initial idea of the pattern that can be duplicated to produce others, it is can also be considered or said to be a blue print of something. According to the context which this term is used, it could stand to mean an approach which contains elements of all the other approaches because they have borrowed from it.

The reason as to why this form of criticism captured my interest is because it brings out a combination of elements that are present in o...

... middle of paper ...

...s. However, the end of the story brings about suspense as her husband comes home alive and Mrs. Mallard’s life is cut short. “When he doctors came they said she had died of heart disease- of joy that kills (Clugston 2010).” It is obvious that the character Ms. Mallard dreaded being married and hoped only to be alone with no one to answer to.

Kate Chopin set the tone and used a great deal of imagery to express and show the characters emotions throughout the story. By doing this she was able to draw me into the story and make comparisons to that of my own life. She easily captured my imagination and helped me gain more insight from the characters perspective on life and also drew me away from my everyday life as well.

Works Cited

Clugston,R.W. (2010). Journey into Literature. Retrieved from

https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125.10.2/sections/ch00

Open Document