AN OVERVIEW OF SOME 'CRITICAL APPROACHES' FOR LITERARY ESSAYS How do we think about what we read?

NOTE: Literary essays MUST maintain a focus on the primary text(s) being examined. Do not misinterpret the prompts below as license to discuss matters only loosely connected with the literature itself -- they are merely 'prompts' to help you discover a critical 'lens' or 'filter' to view it through, to help you come up with your own focused 'reading' and analysis of it. The list below is merely provided to help you 'think outside of the box' — there are many other valid perspectives from which you can examine and analyze specific works.

Whatever you do, remember that a literary essay always focuses on an analysis of the literary text itself. Do not let your enthusiasm for external things linked to the text cause your paper to lose its literary focus!!! Also, your analysis should be well supported by clear references to the text (carefully chosen quotations and paraphrasing specific examples to prove the points being made).

CULTURAL CRITICISM The focus here is upon the uniqueness of, or the complex interrelations between, the customs and institutions within the social group(s) depicted in a literary work. Suggestion: Determine if there are cultural elements in your text(s) that might be worthy of exploration regarding underlying tensions between various cultural groups, or in the case of strong, underlying cultural elements that affect such narrative elements as characterization, plot, or theme. Relevant background research is essential here.

NEW HISTORICISM Similar to 'cultural criticism,' this approach to literature views the work in the context of the historical and political ideas, conventions, and attitudes of the specific period in which it was written. It examines the social, political, and intellectual climate within which every writer has to work, and which his or her writing often reflects to some degree.

NEW HISTORICISM Suggestion: If this sounds like an appealing approach to you, be sure you can set aside your own assumptions and associations that will interfere with the frame of reference from which the work derives its form and meaning. Your goal here is to make the work more accessible to modern readers by reconstructing the historically relevant and appropriate background during which it was written, all the while keeping the focus of your analysis upon the literary text itself. Relevant background research is essential here.

NEW HISTORICISM want to know what impact cultural or societal influences have on a text when it is written look at the relationship between economic, social, political, and aesthetic (appreciation of beauty) concerns which overlap specifically, the description of forms of power and how it works at any given time in history

NEW HISTORICISM Questions to ask when reading: What are the relations of power suggested by the text? How is power operating explicitly or implicitly? What might threaten power? How do those in authority attempt to contain, co-opt, or appropriate attempts to subvert that authority? What historical or cultural events illuminate the text?

MARXIST CRITICISM Naturally, Marxist criticism is based upon the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx. It is similar to historical criticism, but narrows the focus of the analysis even further (see below).

MARXIST CRITICISM Suggestion: Look for ways in which the text(s) might be analyzed in terms of: the evolving history of humanity in terms of its basic economic organization; historical changes in the power relations of social classes and the various conflicts between economic, political and/or social elements of society; or human consciousness in any era as represented by an ideology (a set of concepts, beliefs, values, and ways of thinking, through which human beings perceive, and then explain, what they take to be reality). Relevant background research is essential here.

MARXIST CRITICISM has a keen interest in the role of economic systems and their role in legitimizing specific types of social hierarchies focus on celebrating texts that address the interests and needs of the disenfranchised groups, particularly the "working class" tend to read text as an allegory depicting the history of class conflict and/or changes in modes of production

MARXIST CRITICISM Questions to ask when reading: What are life's conflicting forces? What threatens order? What restores order? Are characters from all social levels equally sketched? What values, attributes, qualities, attitudes are associated with these social levels? Who do you identify with? Is there a class of virtuous people? What makes them so? What social class is the author affiliated with? Does this influence the representation of characters? Who has the power to govern and what is that power based on?

ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM 'Archetypes' refers to those symbols, themes, settings, or character-types that recur in different times and places in myths, literature, dreams, and rituals, so often or so prominently, as to suggest that they embody some essential element of 'universal' (or archetypal) human experience. Suggestion: Look for recurrent symbols, common themes, mythical settings, or stock characters in the works you are considering analyzing, to determine if archetypal criticism is a possibility. For example: are there epic elements of a quest by a hero who returns much the wiser? does a 'trickster' type character offer the hero a 'boon' giving him or her special powers or knowledge? does the plot in any way parallel those of well- known fairy tales or fables? is there a clear polarization of the forces of good versus evil? etc.

FEMINIST & GENDER CRITICISM Feminist criticism has only been around since the late 1960s and attempts to analyze literature in terms of the gender roles or stereotypes found therein. The generalized assumption underlying such criticism is that civilization has been historically 'patriarchal' (i.e. 'ruled by the father' -- therefore, male-centered and controlled). Suggestion: Look for ways in which your text(s) may be analyzed in terms of whether they do or do not do justice to female points of view, concerns, and values -- OR, seek out ways in which stereotypical images of women occur and analyze this element.

FEMINIST & GENDER CRITICISM GENDER CRITICISM: This approach is similar to a feminist critical approach, but does not limit itself to the feminine perspective. Instead, it opens up elements of meaning in the text in terms of male and female gender stereotypes, the tensions between them, and issues related to human sexuality.

FEMINIST & GENDER CRITICISM feminists want to question representations of gender, recover ignored works, and celebrate texts that challenge patriarchy or subvert traditional representations of gender. Three types: humanist feminists: gender is irrelevant, we are all humans essentialist feminists: men and women are different, but attributes and qualities of women should be celebrated vs. devalued social constructionist feminists: there is nothing natural about gender; identity, sexuality and roles are created by specific cultures.

FEMINIST & GENDER CRITICISM Questions when reading: What roles are most often assigned to women and men? What attributes are tied to certain behaviours or types of women/men? How and why do female/male characters succeed/fail? What kind of reward do they receive? How are femininity and masculinity defined?