Some theories analyze a work from an historical perspective, while others focus solely on a close reading of a text. Accordingly, as with other genres, the following key features need to be read as points of departure as opposed to a comprehensive blueprint:. Examine a subject from a rhetorical perspective. Identify the intended audience, purpose, context, media, voice, tone, and persona.
Distinguish between summarizing the literary work and presenting your argument. Many students fall into the trap of spending too much time summarizing the literature being analyzed as opposed to critiquing it. As a result, it would be wise to check with your teacher regarding how much plot summary is expected. As you approach this project, remember to keep your eye on the ball: What, exactly in one sentence is the gist of your interpretation?
You can develop your ideas by researching the work of other literary critics. What literary theories do literary critics use to interpret texts or particular moments in history? Reading sample proposals can help you find and adopt an appropriate voice and persona. By reading samples, you can learn how others have prioritized particular criteria. Below are some of the questions invoked by popular literary theories. Consider these questions as you read a work, perhaps taking notes on your thoughts as you reread.
How does the text make you feel? What memories or experiences come to mind when you read? If you were the central protagonist, would you have behaved differently? What values or ethics do you believe are suggested by the story? As your reading of a text progresses, what surprises you, inspires you? How does the story re-inscribe or contradict traditional gender roles?
Are the men prone to action, decisiveness, and leadership while the female characters are passive, subordinate? Do gender roles create tension within the story?
How does the story reflect the aspirations and conditions of the lower classes or upper classes? Is tension created by juxtaposing privileged, powerful positions to subordinated, dominated positions? Has the reader employed multimedia or hypertext? What traditions from print and page design have shaped the structure of the text? In what ways has the author deviated from traditional, deductively organized linear texts?
Literary criticism involves close reading of a literary work, regardless of whether you are arguing about a particular interpretation, comparing stories or poems, or using a theory to interpret literature. Do not summarize the story. The purpose of the document is not to inform the readers, but to argue a particular interpretation.
You only need to cite parts of the work that support or relate to your argument and follow the citation format required by your instructor see Using and Citing Sources.
Note how the writer uses block quotes to highlight key elements and paraphrase and summarizes the original works, using quotation marks where necessary. A close reading of this passage, however, shows that the river is not a privileged natural space outside of and uncontaminated by society, but is inextricably linked to the social world on the shore, which itself has positive value for Huck.
Instead of seeking to escape society, Huck wants to escape the dull routines of life. Here Huck celebrates the beauty of the natural world coming to life at the beginning of a new day. However, Huck includes a number of details within this passage that would seem to work against the language of natural beauty.
In the paragraphs that follow, however, this opposition is subtly reversed. No songbirds, no sweet breezes. Criticism written by advanced English majors, graduate students, and literary critics may be more about what other critics have said than about the actual text.
Indeed, many critics spend more time reading criticism and arguing about critical approaches than actually reading original works. However, unless you are enrolled in a literary theory course, your instructor probably wants you to focus more on interpreting the work than discussing other critical interpretations.
In English classes, you may be able to assume that your readers are familiar with the work you are critiquing. Perhaps, for example, the entire class is responding to one particular work after some class discussions about it. The final unit focuses on the skills of criticism, research, and revision:. English Professor Susan Van Zanten gives you a quick guide on how to get the most out of reading poetry.
Skip site navigation and jump to page content. Course Descriptions. Close reading is the primary tool used in interpretation. Interpretation also recognizes how the cultural context of the text and the reader might influence our interpretive conclusions. Literary critics use different theoretical approaches when interpreting texts, and the priorities of literary criticism have shifted over time.
While this is not a critical theory course, it will briefly introduce some major schools so you can recognize them and perhaps experiment with one or more of them in your own work. Literary critics do research in order to participate in the conversation scholars are having about a certain text.
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