Biographical Critical Approach By: Maddie Hale and Megan Kowalis

Biography When people hear Biographical they often refer it to a biography. A biography is a branch of History that provides insight on the author or a person's’ life. A biography uses letters, diaries, and poems. Biographies help readers better understand the story because they can see into the mind of the author and what the author was thinking. Examples: Josephine Miles Weldon Kees

Biographical Criticism A biographical critic doesn’t try to recreate the author’s life like a biography. Focuses on explicating the literary work by using the information on the author’s life. Biographical critics often see how a book comes out in the beginning and compare it to how it changed in the end due to the author's life.

Shakespeare’s Hamnet Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who died at the same time he wrote his play “Hamlet” and although he did not grieve the death of his son, his wife took the death very hard. She claimed she had thoughts of suicide because her son was in her head telling her to go meet him. She said, “Grief fills the room up of my absent child, Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, Remembers me of all his gracious parts, Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form.” Hamlet was made such a tragedy because he watched his wife suffer so tremendously through the loss of their only son.

Mary Poppins Before: Children story Intended to save the children Saving Mr.Banks acts as the Biographical Approach Before: Children story Intended to save the children Uplifting Magical Story Marry Poppin’s bag was magical and full of gifts After: It’s a sad, dark story The backstory behind Mr. Banks is that he is supposed to be the dad of the author who died from alcohol abuse. Mary Poppins comes to save Mr. Banks Travers threatened to drown herself in a creek and was sent to live with her aunt--with a bag like Marry Poppin’s

Benefits/ Flaws Creates deeper meaning that might not have been as clear before. Opens more doors for connections and clarification. Helps discover subtle but important meanings in poems or novels. Writers often revise the facts of their life to take away embarrassing facts or make their life more entertaining. Authors also tend to adjust their life so that it will make the biggest impact on the story.

Bibliography http://www2.sdfi.edu.cn/netclass/jiaoan/englit/englit/criticism.htm http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2004/10/21/the-death-of-hamnet-and-the-making-of- hamlet/