Different Literary approach in analyzing literature.

1. LITERARY
CRITICISM
Giducos, Theresa Mae P. Linogon, Jean Mira M.

2. GUESS WHO?
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY
ATOMIC HABITS
THE GREAT GATSBY
BRIDGE OF TERABITHIA I AM PILGRIM
PETER PAN
IT ENDS WITH US

3. WHAT IS LITERARY
CRITICISM?
It is the comparison, analysis,
interpretation, and/or evaluation of
works of literature. Literary criticism is
essentially an opinion, supported by
evidence, relating to theme, style,
setting or historical or political context.

4. LITERARY APPROACHES

5. FORMALISM AND CLOSE
READING
Close reading involves paying careful attention to the details of a text:
its diction, syntax, patterns of imagery and metaphor, and so forth. The
practice of close reading has become central to mostforms of literary
criticism. (There are exceptions: for example, some critics study the
production,circulation, and purchasing of literary works in ways that do not
require close reading of the worksthemselves.) One can trace theories and
applications of close readings from Classical philosophy to the present, but
the practice took its place as the dominant mode of literary study in the
twentieth century as a result of New Criticism.

6. FORMALISM AND CLOSE
READING
Using a formalist approach to a text that sought links between
the smallest details of a work and its broadest, even mythical aspects, the
New Critics followed the poet Coleridge in thinking of the literary work as
an organic whole—that is, as like a living thing with diverse parts but a
recognizable order and identity. It is concerned solely with the “text in
itself”, with its language and organization. The New Critics therefore
emphasized close reading as a way of discovering the tensions and
paradoxes of a text in order to find their resolution into a coherent
whole; this approach de- emphasizes contextual considerations and
sometimes leads to the neglect of the parts of a text that trouble its
coherence.

7. HOW TO DO CLOSE
READING
Choose a
method of
capturing
information
before you read.
Ask questions
about the
implications of
what you have
found.
Looking for
patterns,
identify the
text’s imagery
and metaphor.
Make sure you
know the
meanings of the
text’s words.
Identify the
text’s voice and
implied
audience.
Identify the
text’s genre and
structure.

8. FORMALISM AND CLOSE
READING
Suggested Readings:
The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros

9. MARXIST CRITICISM AND
SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS
Marxist criticism focuses on class struggle, especially on the oppression
of the proletariat (the have-nots) by the bourgeoisie (the haves). As part
of its analysis of class struggle, it emphasizes the alienation inherent in the
modes of production and exchange inherent in capitalist society. It was
based on the ideas of Karl Marx, a political analyst. Marxism deals with the
theory and practice of socialism. It propagates the establishment of a
classless society. The means of production, distribution and exchange
should be owned by the community as a whole as against private
ownership. Marxism examines the struggle between the capitalists and the
worker class.

10. MARXIST CRITICISM AND
SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS
QUESTIONS TO ASK:
• What role does class play in the text?
• How does class affect the characters and the actions they choose?
• Maybe a character moves from one class to a new one, what are the
implications?
• What characters have money? What characters are poor? What are the
differences?
• Does money equate to power?
• Perhaps a rich character is a villainess and poor character is morally rich,
why is this? What causes this?

11. MARXIST CRITICISM AND
SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSIS
Suggested Readings:
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates,
“A Good Man Is Hard To Find” by Flannery O'Conner

12. FEMINIST AND GENDER
CRITICISM
Feminist theory can be traced to the theories of Simone de Beauvoir in The
Second Sex (1929), though in 1919, Virginia Woolf also formed the
foundation of feminist criticism in her seminal work, A Room of One’s Own.
Feminist criticism, or gender studies, focuses on the role of women (or
gender) in a literary text. According to feminist criticism, patriarchy, in its
masculine-focused structure, socially dictates the norms for both men
and women. Feminist criticism is useful for analyzing how gender itself
is socially constructed for both men and women. Gender studies also
considers how literature upholds or challenges those constructions, offering
a unique way to approach literature.

13. FEMINIST AND GENDER
CRITICISM
Elaine Showalter's three phases of feminism:
the “feminine” (women writers imitate men),
the “feminist” (women advocated minority rights and protested),
and the “female” (the focus is now on women's texts as opposed
to merely uncovering misogyny in men's texts).

14. FEMINIST AND GENDER
CRITICISM
Questions to ask:
• Is the author male or female? How do they connect with the text?
• Are there traditional gender roles? Do characters follow these roles? How
would they view a character that did not follow traditional roles?
• Are women minor characters in the text or do they take on a prominent
role? What roles do they have? Does it relate back to the gender of the
author?
• How does the author define gender roles?
• What role does society/culture play in gender roles/sexuality in the text?
• Would an LGBTQIA character be accepted in the text? Why or why not?

15. FEMINIST AND GENDER
CRITICISM
Suggested Readings:
Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Thinking about Women by Mary Ellman
The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

16. Psychoanalytic Literary Theory
and Character Analysis
Based on the theories of Sigmund Freud in which one's behaviors are
influenced by their unconscious thoughts and fears. When using this
criticism focus on the subconscious and how it affects and influences the
conscious mind. This theory often includes pinpointing the influences of a
characters’ ID, ego, and superego. This critic likes to point out sexual
implications of symbols and imgery as Freuds believed that all human
behaviour is motivated by sexuality. Many times this theory is applied to the
author and what the text is telling us about their psyche; however, it can be
applied to characters as well.

17. Psychoanalytic Literary Theory
and Character Analysis
A character analysis is an exploration of the traits, personality, and
characteristics of a character within a story.
A character analysis typically examines the conflicts a character faces
and the character's overall role within the story. It also considers the
motivation of the character, as well as what the character says to others.
The purpose of a character analysis is to garner a deeper understanding of
the story and the interconnections between the various characters.
Symbolism, foreshadowing, and other literary devices can lie within the
characters. Creating a detailed character analysis can provide a clearer
understanding of the intentions of the author.

18. Psychoanalytic Literary Theory
and Character Analysis
Questions to ask:
• What does the text reveal about the author?
• What message is the author trying to relay?
• What attitudes appear in the text?
• How do they change or progress through the piece?
• What kinds of family dynamics are happening in the work?
• Perhaps a character shows signs of mental repression, what events have
influenced this?
• How does it affect their daily life?
• How does it affect relationships with family and/or friends?

19. Psychoanalytic Literary Theory
and Character Analysis
Suggested Readings:
Alice in the Wonderland
Samson Agonistes
The Silence of the Llano

20. Postcolonial Criticism and
Cultural Identity in Literature
Post-colonial literary criticism frequently focuses on relationships
between colonizers and colonized people in literary texts. Post-colonial
criticism also analyzes whether a text upholds or subverts colonial ideals.
Charactristics of Postcolonial criticism includes an awareness of
representation of non-Europeans as exotic “other”, concern with
language, emphasis on identity as doubled or unstable, and stress on
cultural interactions. Post-colonial critics tend to analyze white
representation of colonial countries, uncover biases, and explore selves and
society.

21. Postcolonial Criticism and
Cultural Identity in Literature
Cultural identities are the distinct identities of people or groups in culture
or subcultural categories and social groups. Categories that make up
cultural identities include sexuality, gender, religion, ethnicity, social class,
or geographical region. Hence, Postcolonial criticism in general draws
attention to questions of cultural identity. Since the 1980s and especially in
the 1990s, postcolonial theories also had a significant impact on the study
of multiculturalism and English and American literature, which also
“promoted links between culture and the construction of collective identities”
(Lauter,2010,p.112).For postcolonialism, culture has always been the major
topic of reinterpreting the canonical literature. Of course postcolonialists do
not degenerate the traditional values of those literary works.

22. Postcolonial Criticism and
Cultural Identity in Literature
Questions to ask:
• How does the text depict relations between the colonizer and the
colonized?
• What principles of colonialism operate in the text?
• Do colonial powers usurp land, exploit the economy or environment, or
enslave the indigenous population?
• How do the colonial conflicts and politics of the text affect its meaning?

23. Postcolonial Criticism and
Cultural Identity in Literature
Suggested Readings:
Samuel Beckett's Murphy
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North
Toni Morrison's Beloved
J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians

24. Integrating Critical Theory in
Literature Pedagogy
Critical Theory is a social theory that aims to critique and change society as
a whole. Critical theories attempt to find the underlying assumptions in
social life that keep people from fully and truly understanding how the
world works. Strategies incorporating critical theory in literature includes
the use of literature to develop critical thinking i.e drawing inferences
from a text. Engaging critically with a text implies not taking anything at
face value; it means inferring the different meanings underlying a text.In this
activity, students will practise their inferential skills by reading excerpts of
literary texts critically to try to discover the underlying meanings and themes
in the text.

25. Integrating Critical Theory in
Literature Pedagogy
Further, one way to develop higher-order thinking skills is to have
students evaluate a text. This involves judging the merit of a text;
that is, saying whether one liked/disliked the storyline and why,
or what, in the reader’s opinion, are the special merits/demerits
of the text. This activity benefits students in many ways: they
learn to be self-confident and value their own opinions, they are
forced to think and present their views in a more logical and
creative manner, and they become motivated to read more.

26. IMPORTANCE OF LITERARY
CRITICISM
It expands your worldview – Understanding the works of literature through
various approaches can broaden your vision of the world around you. Every
literary style boosts the critic and reader to consider different perspectives from
their own.
It helps you to understand the literature better – Literary criticism can provide
the tools to study, evaluate, and depict literary works like novels, poems, and
short stories. Suppose you want to write a critical essay or a book review about
a specific piece of literature. In that case, reading other examples of literary
criticism can help you frame your viewpoints.
It provides an opportunity for a new writing style – With numerous
approaches, the practice of literary criticism develops space and context for
authors to create works of literature that force boundaries and break new
creative bases.

27. IMPORTANCE OF LITERARY
CRITICISM
Literary Criticism also supports the development of critical thinking
which is helpful to student’s decision making skills in real life
scenarios.
Literary Criticism improves your general reading skills, allowing you
to solve problems, develop empathy and in-depth understanding and
comprehension of a literary text.

28. PURPOSE OF LITERARY
CRITICISM
1. To help us resolve a question, problem, or difficulty in
reading.
2. To help us decide which is the better of two conflicting
readings.
3. To enable us to inform judgments about literature.

29. THANKS!