1. Honors American Literature
Literary Criticism
Honors American Literature

2. What is it?
Literary criticism is a view or opinion on what a particular written work means. It is about the meanings that a reader finds in an author's literature.

3. Feminist literary criticism
To develop and uncover a female tradition of writing.
To interpret symbolism of women's writing so that it will not be lost or ignored by the male point of view.
To analyze women writers and their writings from a female perspective
To resist sexism in literature.
To increase awareness of the sexual politics of language and style.

4. Historical Criticism
To understand a literary piece, we need to understand the author's biography and social background, ideas circulating at the time, and the cultural environment.
To find meaning in a text by considering the work within the framework of the prevailing ideas and assumptions of its historical era

5. Formalism
Formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text. These features include not only grammar and syntax but also literary devices such as language.
The formalist approach reduces the importance of a text’s historical, biographical, and cultural context.

6. Marxism
Analyze how the characters interact with one another. Marxist thought relied on the relationships between individuals, thus, their interaction will show hierarchy and particular mannerisms associated with different social classes.
Evaluate the jobs of the characters. The Marxist critique includes a focus on a 'class system' where the vocations of characters provided the most direct reference to their place within the system. The level of luxury and how much they work is also an indicator.
Identify how the characters use their free time. Marxist theory states that individuals have the ability to use free time productively or by their own choice. These free choices are an indicator to the individual’s way of life and connection to the societal conforms around them.