1. Examining a literary text through a specific lens
Literary Theory
Examining a literary text through a specific lens

2. What is literary theory?
This is just a way to say “ways of looking at literature.”

3. What are the benefits of studying a work from more than one perspective?
This gives the reader a broader and more in- depth look at a piece of literature.
This gives the reader a view that might be different from yours, expanding on your own personal interpretation.

4. Common Critical Theories (not all)
Feminist
Marxist
Psychoanalytic or Freudian
New Criticism
New Historicism

5. Feminist Theory (3 waves)
1st Wave: late 1700s to early 1900s
2nd Wave: early 1960s to late 1970s
3rd Wave: early 1990s to present

6. Feminist Theory Questions:
How are male and female roles defined?
What are the power relationships between men and women?
What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
Do characters take on typical traits of opposite genders?
What does the work reveal about the operations of patriarchy?
What does the work imply about sisterhood and female relationships?
Think Cinderella…what would you examine in this text?

7. Marxist Theory Who had the economic power?
How are materialism vs. spirituality depicted?
What are the classes depicted and how?
What are the class conflicts between characters?
What values does the text reinforce or subvert?
Think Cinderella…what would you examine in this text?

8. Psychoanalytical/Freudian Theory
How does the work address concepts of repression structure?
Id, Ego, Superego
Are there any Oedipal dynamics?
Son’s desire for mother?
Father’s envy of the son and desire for the mother’s attention.
Daughter’s desire for father?
Mother’s envy of the daughter and desire for her father’s attention.
Think Cinderella…what would you examine in this text?

9. New Historicism/Cultural Studies
What language/characters/events present in the work reflect the current events of the author’s day?
How are such events interpreted and presented?
Does the work’s presentation support or condemn the event?
How are political/historical figures portrayed?
How does the work consider traditionally marginalized populations?

10. New Criticism/Formalism (our foundation in IB)
How does the work use imagery to develop its own symbols?
Does how the work is put together reflect what it is?
How are the various parts of the work interconnected?
How do paradox, irony, ambiguity and tension work in the text?
What does the form of the work say about its content?