1. Historical Criticism

2. Historical Criticism
Attempts to recreate the meaning and values of the work for it’s own time.
Avoid criticism of text in terms of present day society and culture.

3. Extra Materials
Historical criticism requires that the critic use dictionaries, historical manuscripts/accounts, internet databases, and/or textbooks to provide adequate background knowledge.

4. Context What is the social context of the piece?
What is the cultural context of the piece?
What is the historical context of the piece?

5. What Do I Analyze? Historical events.
What was happening when the piece was being composed?

6. Historical Events (Composition)
What historical events does the text deal with?
In what ways did history affect the writer’s outlook?

7. Historical Alteration
In what ways did the author alter historical events?
Why did the author alter the historical events?
In what ways does history affect style? language? content?