1. Critical Theory or Literary Criticism
10 Honors Graziano

2. What is Literary Criticism?
The study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature
A theory founded upon the term “critique” (an analysis of written or oral discourse)
Literary Criticism is usually in the form of a critical essay (though book reviews may sometimes be considered literary criticism)
There are several "schools" of criticism which we will begin to examine today

3. Lit. Crit./Critical Theory
Biographical Criticism (Traditional Criticism)
Moral/Ethical Criticism
New Criticism/Structural Criticism
Historical New Criticism
Reader-Response Criticism
Feminist Criticism
Historical Materialistic Criticism
Cultural Criticism
Psychoanalytic Criticism (Freudian Criticism)

4. Biographical Critic
Connects an author’s life events with the ideas presented in a text
Believes that authors use their own life experiences to craft texts—even if it is done unintentionally
The excellence of the critical essay comes with the DEPTH of the connections

5. Bio Critics asks these questions:
How does the author’s early family life influence the ideas presented in the author’s tales?
How does the author’s relationship with her husband impact the presentation of men in the author’s works?
How does the author use first hand knowledge to craft the setting of the novel?
Write your own question from a bio critic’s standpoint.

6. Moral/Ethical Critic
Analyzes the text for moral lessons or to demonstrate that the texts present examples of ethics to shape the reader’s life.
Believes that literature serves the higher purpose – to teach!
The excellence of the critical essay comes with the QUALITY of the lessons presented.

7. Moral Critics ask these questions:
What is the author’s message?
What lessons can you learn from this text?
How could you avoid the tragic ending of the character in your own life?
Write your own question from a moral critic’s standpoint.

8. New Critic/ Structuralist Critic
Includes “close” readings of the words of a text and analysis of the relationship between a text’s genre and the meaning of that text.
Focuses on character development, use of metaphor to convey meaning, and function of archetypes/epic heroes.
Looks at how the text’s genre shapes or is shaped by the text.
This is the most dominant form of literary criticism across the United States.

9. Structuralist Critics ask these questions:
How does the author’s use of metaphor affect the meaning of this text?
How should the text be classified in terms of its genre? In other words, what patterns exist within the text that make it a part of other works like it?
Which words in the text contribute to the tone of the text?
How is theme related to the setting used?
Write your own question from a structuralist critic’s standpoint.

10. Historical New Critic
Uses ideas of new criticism/structuralism, but adds that the interpretation of a literary text must be true to the history of the time the text was produced.
The quality of the text is determined (by the historical critic) by the consistency with which the author adheres to the general rules of the time period
(or, the author’s ability to find a new way to use the rules of the time period!)

11. Historical New Critics ask these questions:
How does the author’s use of metaphors common to Scottish literature of the 1500s affect the meaning of this Scottish text written in 1520?
What did the words in the text mean when the words were written and how do meanings contribute to the tone of the text?
How would a reader living contemporaneously with the author say the theme is related to the setting used
Write your own question from a historical new critic’s standpoint.

12. Reader Response Critic
Defines the meaning of the text as an intersection of text, topic, author, and reader – the meaning is derived IN that moment of intersection.
At its most basic level, reader response critics consider readers' reactions to literature as vital to interpreting the meaning of the text.
Reader Response Criticism is directly opposed to New/Structuralist Criticism:
Excellence in literature is defined by group norms (rather than an author giving literature meaning, meaning is gained when multiple readers think the text is worthwhile)

13. Reader Response Critics ask these questions
What does the text mean to me? What does it mean to you? Can we come to a consensus?
How does the text connect to my personal experiences?
What do I think happened at this point in the text where we are left with a gap in the storytelling?
Write your own question from a reader response critic’s standpoint.

14. Feminist Critic
Believes that literary texts tell readers about gender relationships.
Analyzes text to explain usage or discussion of gender.
Excellent literature is defined as that which promotes gender equity.

15. Feminist Critics ask these questions:
What are the roles played by the male and female characters of the story?
How are women’s roles expanded/contracted in this novel?
How does the poet’s or novelist’s works promote or inhibit gender equity?
Write your own question from a feminist critic’s standpoint.

16. Historical/Materialistic Critic
Believes that literary are products of the society that produced them.
Believes that texts politically and socially enrich one group of that society while depriving another.
Demonstrates how power and money are distributed as a result of the product of the text.
Excellent literature promotes social equity.

17. Materialistic Critics ask these questions:
What social classes are described in the text?
What lifestyles are promoted as appropriate and which ones are inappropriate?
Which social classes do the text promote/inhibit?
How did the publication of the text affect the economics of the culture when the text was produced?
Write your own question from a materialistic critic’s standpoint.

18. Marxist Critic Concerns the representation of the social classes
Examines the socioeconomic distinctions and disparities
Examines the material conditions in which the characters function
Excellent literature is considered when it analyzes or describes the injustices which Marxist societies aim to overcome.

19. Marxist Critics ask these questions:
Where are there disparities in the social classes?
How does the author address injustices towards lower socioeconomic classes?
How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?
How are the lower classes oppressed?
Whom does this text benefit? The elite? The middle class?
Write your own question from a Marxist critic’s standpoint.

20. Cultural Critic
Believes that a literary text is a product of the society that produces it.
Believes that the text reflects the beliefs of that society.
Analyzes ethnic and racial beliefs and philosophies that govern the text.
Excellent literature promotes ethnic and racial equality.

21. Cultural Critics ask these questions:
How do my own cultural beliefs compare with those expresses by a text?
How does a text promote one culture as more valid/valuable than another?
How does this promote ethnic or racial equity or dissonance?
Write your own question from a cultural critic’s standpoint.

22. Psychoanalytic Critic (Freudian)
Believes that ALL texts must be analyzed through the tenets of psychology.
Focuses on the primary elements of Freud’s work:
Id, ego, superego
Oedipal complex
The unconscious, the desires, and the defenses
Includes analysis of the characters and the author.
Excellence is thought to be found in texts that prove that psychological theory works.

23. Psychoanalytic critics ask these questions:
Where are the id, ego, and superego at work?
How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work?
What does the work suggest about the psychological being of its author?
How does the first-person narration give us insight into the psyche of the narrator?
Write your own question from a psychoanalytic critic’s standpoint.