A N I NTRODUCTION TO L ITERARY A NALYSES AND C RITICAL A PPROACHES Grade 10 English Language Arts Summer 2012

Ways of looking at literature. Aids in analyzing literature in an organized way. Guards to limit the focus to one area. A series of questions to use to make our analysis easier. W HAT ARE C RITICAL A PPROACHES AND C RITICAL P ERSPECTIVES ?

8 C RITICAL A PPROACHES FOR S TUDYING L ITERATURE Biographical – Focuses on connection of work to an author’s personal experiences Historical – Focuses on connection of the work to the historical background and period in which the text was written. Formalistic – Focuses on form. Analysis stresses symbolism, imagery, structure, and how parts relate to entire work. Archetypal – Focuses on connections to other literature, mythological/biblical allusions, archetypal images, symbols, characters, themes. Psychological – Focuses on the inner motivations of the characters. Philosophical – Focuses on themes, views of the world, moral statements, philosophy. Sociological – Focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and business. Feminist – Focuses on female characters, images of women, and concepts of the feminine in myth and literature.

B IOGRAPHICAL A PPROACH Analyzes the literary work by focusing on the author. It looks at the author’s background and how it impacted the literature. Considers the following: the author’s stated beliefs the author’s personal life and experiences the values of the author’s contemporaries

What aspects of the author’s personal life are related to or important in this story? Which of the author’s stated beliefs are shown? Does the writer challenge or reflect the values of his/her contemporaries? What appear to be the author’s major concerns? Do you see any of the writer’s personal experiences in the text? Do any of the events or characters in the story correspond to real events or people? B IOGRAPHICAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS

H ISTORICAL A PPROACH Analyzes the literary work based on the historical time period in which the work was written. Considers the historical conditions and how this context impacted the literature. Considers the following: time period of the writing and/or setting literature of the time attitudes and beliefs of a society, especially related to race, religion, politics, gender, society, and philosophy major historical events, influences, or movements prevailing societal values (and opposition to the values)

H ISTORICAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS How does the work (and how accurately) reflect the time in which it was written? 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? (race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.) What literary works, historical events, or movements might have influenced this writer? How would the writer’s contemporaries view characters and events in the story? Does the story show or contradict prevailing values of the time period?

F ORMALISTIC A PPROACH Analyzes the literary work with its form, structure, and literary elements in focus. The critic looks at the structure and elements of the entire literary work. Considers the following: structure, elements, meaning how the entire structure is unified literary elements (including repetition, theme, motif, imagery, diction, syntax, plot, figures of speech, paradox, irony, symbol, characterization, plot, style of narration, tone, mood, etc.)

How is the work’s structure unified? What are the recurring patterns of words or images? What is the effect? How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)? How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning? What is the plot, and how do its parts produce a certain effect? What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.) Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style of narration. What effects are produced? Do these relate to one another or to the theme? Is there a relationship between the story’s beginning and end? How does the author create tone and mood? How do tone and mood affect the story at various parts? F ORMALISTIC A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS

A RCHETYPAL A PPROACH Analyzes the literary work by focusing on connections to other literature, mythological and biblical allusions, or archetypes. Considers the following: Universal experiences or concerns Patterns or cycles Religion or mythology Attempts to explain the origin of man or the purpose and destiny of humans Archetypal events, images, characters, and/or settings Archetype: the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or based; model; pattern (Dictionary.com)

A RCHETYPAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS How does this story resemble other stories? Are there patterns or seasonal cycles? What universal experiences or human concerns does the text have? Does the protagonist undergo any kind of universal transformation, such as movement from innocence to experience? Are the characters’ names significant? Are there biblical or mythological allusions? How does the text reflect hopes, fears, or expectations of entire cultures? How does the text attempt to explain the unexplainable: origin of man? Purpose and destiny of human beings? Death and rebirth? How do stories from one culture correspond to those of another? (creation myths, flood myths, etc.) Are there archetypal… events? (quest, initiation, scapegoats, descents into underworld, ascents into heaven) images? (water, rising sun, setting sun, symbolic colors), characters? (mother earth, femme fatal, wise old man, wanderer) settings? (garden, desert)

P SYCHOLOGICAL A PPROACH Analyzes literature by focusing on the psychology of the writer and characters. This approach evaluates the thoughts, motives, actions, development and subconscious of the characters. Considers the following: motivating forces, emotions, and dimensions of the mind conscious and unconscious behaviors internal and external conflicts application of Freudian or other psychological theories tripartite self: id (basic desires), superego (morality), and ego (balance of id and superego) psychological disorders and dreams

P SYCHOLOGICAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS What forces motivate the characters? Which behaviors or conflicts are conscious and unconscious? Given their backgrounds, how believable are the characters’ behaviors? Are Freudian or other psychological theories applicable? Do any of the characters correspond to the tripartite self? (Id, ego, superego) What roles do psychological disorders and dreams play? What do the characters’ emotions and behaviors reveal about their psychological states? How is the writer’s personal psychology or unconscious dimensions of his/her mind reflected?

P HILOSOPHICAL A PPROACH Analyzes literature by focusing on themes, view of the world, moral statements, and the author’s philosophy. Considers the following: Human nature Mankind’s relationships with God and with the universe Morality, good vs. evil Reward and punishment

P HILOSOPHICAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this? What moral statement does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit? What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God? What does the work say about the nature of good or evil? What does the work say about human nature? Is good rewarded? Is evil punished? Is the world ordered or random?

S OCIOLOGICAL A PPROACH Analyzes literature by focusing on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and economics. Considers the following: Economic power and money Urban, rural, and suburban values Societal, race, gender, and class issues Social power and forces Government structures and systems, such as dictatorship, democracy, communism, socialism, fascism, Marxism, etc.

S OCIOLOGICAL A PPROACH : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS What is shown about economic or social power? Who has it and who doesn’t? What is the impact on characters’ lives? What role does money play? How are urban, rural, or suburban values shown? Are societal forces or issues (race, gender, and class) addressed? How do they shape power relationships between groups or classes? Who has power, and who doesn’t? Why? What is the relationship between the characters and society? Does it challenge or affirm the social order presented? Is the protagonist’s struggle symbolic of a larger class struggle? How does the story’s small world (microcosm) reflect the larger world (macrocosm) of the society in which it was composed? Do any of the characters correspond to government structures? What are the attitudes toward these political structures/systems?

F EMINIST P ERSPECTIVE Analyzes literature by examining images of women and concepts of the feminine in myth and literature. The approach incorporates aspects of the psychological, archetypal, and sociological approaches, as well. Considers the following: Writer’s gender Women’s lives and traditional views of women Male and female relationships and conflicts Patriarchal social forces and gender equality Marriage

F EMINIST P ERSPECTIVE : Q UESTIONS FOR L ITERARY A NALYSIS How are women’s lives portrayed in the work? Is the work’s form and content influenced by the writer’s gender? How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved? Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women? How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces that have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men? What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations have? What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations have? If a female character were male, how would the story be different)? How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or happiness?

A PPLYING CRITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : P ERRAULT ’ S “C INDERELLA ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “A high premium is placed on feminine beauty, and beauty is equated with virtue in the majority of tales in the canon” (Parsons 137). “During the 19 th century the market for literary fairy tales in English was increasingly urban and middleclass” (Cullen 649). “Rather than talking about Cinderella’s love for the prince, then, it is more accurate to say that Cinderella, in alliance with her mother, bewitches the prince in order to gain the power and prestige that will accrue upon her marriage to a member of the nobility” (Panttaja 660). This Cinderella cannot speak for herself, she cannot act on her own behalf, and she cannot function autonomously; yet she is rewarded with the ultimate prize….yet she did nothing” (Parsons ). “It takes a Fairy Godmother – an intrusion of magic, of something unnatural to the rationalist world of the 18 th century [the Age of Reason] – to change Cinderella’s situation” (“Perrault’s Durable Myth Cinderella: WestCiv Female Role Model Propaganda”).

C RITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : “Y EH -S HEN ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does the critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646). “In many traditional tales, being rewarded with the prince and the security of the marriage is the result of the heroine’s submission and suffering, along with her beauty, rather than [her own action]” (Parsons 137). “Shoes themselves are symbols in the folklore of all peoples” (Jameson 87). ““women suffer at the hands of other women” (Parsons 138) “Her story is of loss so profound that the narrative moves to metaphor. The discovery of a gold-red carp and the knowledge of how to raise such fish… transforms into a deeply evocative text of loss after loss, then recovery—a story with universal resonance” (Beauchamp 462). “Because the story concerns children of a king, the stakes are high; the mother of the heir gains prestige, power, and comfort while the other wife is much diminished along with her progeny” (Beauchamp 470).

C RITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : “T HE W ICKED S TEPMOTHER ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does the critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646). “‘Cinderella’ cannot fail to activate in us those emotions and unconscious ideas which, in our inner experience, are connected with our feelings of sibling rivalry” (Bettelheim). “Shoes themselves are symbols in the folklore of all peoples” (Jameson 87). “women suffer at the hands of other women” (Parsons 138) “…what is most interesting about Cinderella’s mother is her similarity to the stepmother. These two women share the same devotion to their daughters and the same long term goals…” (Panttaja 700). “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646).

C RITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : “T HE O LD M AN ’ S D AUGHTER ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does the critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646). “A high premium is placed on feminine beauty, and beauty is equated with virtue in the majority of tales in the canon” (Parsons 137). Both the mother and the stepmother are “willing to resort to extreme measures to achieve her aim” (Panttaja 660). “Liberalization and democracy did not produce a more tolerant and egalitarian set of attitudes about sex roles [in Eastern Europe]; rather, they have deeply unsettled men and unleashed a tide of anger against women” (Molyneux) “…we have certainly failed to meet the Prince, and know nothing of this man except that he is extraordinarily superficial, a late bloomer, and wholly dependent upon his parents (Baum 72). “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646).

C RITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : K ENYA ’ S “C HINYE ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does the critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646). “Shoes themselves are symbols in the folklore of all peoples” (Jameson 87). “Cinderella’s rags-to-riches story inspires females to prevail against improbable odds” (Baum 69). “For it seems as if the fairy godmother were always there, available…to drop in when you needed direction” (Baum 74). “…we have certainly failed to meet the Prince, and know nothing of this man except that he is extraordinarily superficial, a late bloomer, and wholly dependent upon his parents (Baum 72). “In early Cinderella tales, the dead mother hovers protectively, reincarnated…. Her relationship with the grieving daughter is as significant as the girl’s triumph” (Cullen 646).

C RITICAL QUOTES & QUESTIONS : G ERMANY ’ S “A SHENPUTTEL ” Quote from Literary Critic Summarize quote How does the critical quote apply to the story? Textual Support for your analysis Literary critical approach “On a basic moral level the instructions are as clear as glass: good triumphs over bad, beauty over its repulsive opposite” (Baum 74). “Shoes themselves are symbols in the folklore of all peoples” (Jameson 87). “Cinderella is intimately associated with nature…through the animals which…become domesticated” (Baum 74). “Cinderella is pushed down and degraded by her stepsisters; her interests are sacrificed to theirs by her (step)mother; she is expected to do the dirtiest work and although she does it well, she receives no credit for it; only more is demanded of her” (Bettelheim 652). “In the end, the mother, despite death, reigns supreme. Not only does she take revenge on her daughter’s enemies,… but she succeeds in bringing about her advantageous marriage” (Panttaja 660). “…we can be agents in our destiny” (Parsons 152).

E XIT T ICKET : Based on the quotes you have read and analyzed, which critical approach is best to analyze the Cinderella Stories?