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schools of thought, concepts, key terms, and process

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1 schools of thought, concepts, key terms, and process
Literary Criticism schools of thought, concepts, key terms, and process

2 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Focus/Key Ideas Humans have similar ways looking at the world: archetypes. Images, characters, symbols, and story patterns that all humans recognize. Responses to archetypes deep and unconscious Archetypes represent universal experiences: hopes, fears, expectations and values

3 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Terms/Concepts Archetypal story patterns: Hero/ quest initiation/coming of age metamorphosis the underworld birth/death/rebirth seasons

4 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Terms/Concepts Archetypal characters: Hero Innocent youth Damsel in distress scapegoat trickster wise old man/woman father figure/earth mother

5 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Terms/Concepts Archetypal images and symbols Sun, moon Sunset, sunrise water, sea Circles Snakes, monsters Caves Fire Paradise

6 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Process look for underlying patterns that reveal universal meanings look at characters, images, and symbols RESEARCH the archetypes that you think applies to your story

7 Archetypal/Mythological Criticism
Example Hamlet archetypal coming of age story. Loses his parents, must take on an adult role. Struggles with the responsibility. Qualities of trickster character. Wordplay, hiding body—he is the only character who knows the truth but is treated like a fool.

8 Feminist/Gender Criticism
Focus/Key Ideas Society defines what it means to be a a man or woman, masculine or feminine—these definitions can shape and sometimes limit people’s identities, opportunities, etc. Women are NOT “better” or “worse” than men—their experiences and interpretations are different and equally valuable Women have different ways of speaking and writing than men do—they use different symbols, metaphors, etc. Men are also affected by gender stereotypes.

9 Feminist/Gender Criticism
Terms matriarchy/matriarchal patriarchy/patriarchal stereotype gender role outsider/insider masculine or feminine discourse

10 Feminist/Gender Criticism
Process Focus on the roles of men and women Pay attention to who has power and voice Look for characters who try to defy stereotypes or who represent them Look for the author’s attitudes about gender—are there assumptions that shape the story? Look for diction or other elements that indicate masculine or feminine discourse and how that shapes the story

11 Feminist/Gender Criticism
Example Patriarchal structure forces women into very restrictive roles leading to Gertrude’s and Ophelia’s betrayals. Male characters have controlling and limited understanding of female sexuality—women can be mothers or chaste virgins, but are suspect if they are sexual.

12 Marxist Criticism Similar to feminist criticism
Focus/Key Ideas Similar to feminist criticism Points out that socioeconomic forces affect people: characters, authors, readers People don’t notice that they are part of a socioeconomic system and they do not question or challenge it—it shapes their perceptions of everything in life Exposes inequalities in power and access caused by social and economic class

13 Marxist Criticism Class Class struggle
Terms Class Class struggle Proletariat/bourgeois/capitalist Ideology and superstructure Materialism Upper class/working class/lowER class

14 Marxist Criticism Process Identify the socioeconomic class of characters (and the author) Look for struggles between characters of different classes, or of characters trying to move between classes Look for assumptions about class and power made by the author or characters. Challenge the assumptions! Look for good guys/bad guys—who is oppressing whom?

15 Marxist Criticism Example The socioeconomic structure of Denmark leads to Hamlet’s downfall and death. Characters like Claudius and Polonius will do anything to move up in position. This leads to their corruption. Only working class characters like the gravediggers, outside of the social system, can speak the truth.

16 Psychological / Psychoanalytical Criticism
Focus/Key Ideas Heavily influenced by Freudian theory Reading a literary work is a way of experiencing the consciousness of the author Examines the internal mental states, desires, and motivations of characters

17 Psychological / Psychoanalytical Criticism
Terms Conscious/ Preconscious/ Unconscious Id/ego/super ego Child development: Oedipal complex / Electra complex Stages of development: oral/anal/phallic Repression

18 Psychological / Psychoanalytical Criticism
Process Try to explain characters’ actions, motivations and attitudes Pay attention to symbols and dreams Look for what is unsaid—subtle clues to unconscious motivations or feelings Research the particular complex or stage you think you see

19 Psychological / Psychoanalytical Criticism
Example Suffering from an Oedipal Complex. Subconsciously in love with his mother and wants to eliminate his mother’s sexual partner. Unable to have a meaningful adult relationship with Ophelia because of this. Confused about his role as a son and prince—superego says get revenge. Id and ego seek self-preservation.

20 Reader-Response Criticism
Focus/Key Ideas A piece of literature is an interaction between the reader and the text-like a piece of sheet music to be performed by a musician The reader constructs the meaning of the text as she reads The reader brings his own unique insights to the text, and the text is influenced by the reader’s individual values and expectations This does NOT mean that ALL interpretations are correct—they still need to be plausible 

21 Reader-Response Criticism
Terms Expectations and anticipations Assumptions Actual reader/ideal reader Gaps Process Ambiguity Constraints of the text

22 Reader-Response Criticism
Process Consider your expectations before reading. How does who you are affect your reading of the text—your social class, world experience, age, gender, etc.? Pay attention to thought process as you read—what did you notice right away? What questions did you have? Why did you have them? Look for “gaps”—things the text doesn’t tell us—and how you were able to fill them in Did your ideas and perceptions change as you read? What adjustments did you make in your understanding?

23 Reader-Response Criticism
Example The reader begins by expecting Hamlet to be a classic tragic hero. The reader begins by understanding Hamlet as a simple character motivated by grief for and loyalty to his father and the reader begins to empathize/identify with him. As the play develops, understanding of the character becomes more complex—flaws and weaknesses emerge that make the reader doubt the purity of Hamlet’s motives and the reality of the ghost. Reader might feel impatient or frustrated –lose empathy. At the end of the play, Hamlet’s death feels like a release of frustration, as the reader empathizes with Hamlet’s inevitable sacrifice of self for his ideals.

24 Deconstructionism Focus/Key Ideas
Assumes texts do NOT have fixed meanings “Assumes that language is unstable and ambiguous…” And therefore “that a literary text is usually self-contradictory” Focuses on what the texts reveal the “authors were unaware of or thought they kept safely out of sight” Deconstruction is NOT destruction—simply picking apart Deconstructionists often have radical re-readings of classic texts

25 Deconstruction Key Terms
Binary opposition Black/white Good/evil Male/female Emotional/logical Hierarchy – each binary opposition is a mini hierarchy; one concept is considered superior, even if only slightly Subtext / Multiple narratives Subversion

26 Deconstructionism Process
Use close reading techniques to show what the author tried to keep hidden/wasn’t aware of in text (subtext) Look for the underlying binary opposition(s) in a text Decide which element in the opposition(s) the author finds superior (hierarchy) Use close reading techniques (looking at language, syntax, etc.) to show how the text does NOT really support these hierarchies

27 Deconstructionism Example
One binary opposition in Hamlet is male/female Shakespeare (based on his character’s actions/words and based on the popular ideology of the time) considers the male element to be superior to the female But both female characters, however, are superior to Hamlet (and the other men) in terms of his tragic flaw: But both ARE able to act—unlike Hamlet. Gertrude gets over her husband’s death much better than Hamlet. Ophelia commits suicide immediately when she can’t bear life

28 Deconstructionism Example--continued
Other binary oppositions in Hamlet include Man/God Corruption/Innocence Life/Death

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