The following ideas will help you choose a specific focus for your analysis and

help you to develop a thesis:

Four elements are involved in the process which produces art:

A. the artist
B. the universe which provides the subject for the work of art
C. the audience or the reader
D. the work itself, the product of the process

A. Focus on the Artist

1. BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM

Examines the writer’s life and makes connections and contrasts between his/her life and
the writing. Broader historical studies explore social and intellectual currents that show
links between an author’s work and the ideas events, and institutions of that period. The
work reflects the events, specific experiences, prejudices, and "truths" of the author’s
personal life. Often literature written in the first person is interpreted as autobiographical.

Sample typical question:

What were ______________’s views of marriage, men, and class structure and how were
they reflected in __________________________?
How did Dickens’ childhood impact his social satire in A Tale of Two Cities?

♦ How does the text reflect aspects of the author’s experience or beliefs? (This
could also be a Philosophical Approach.)
♦ How does this text compare to other works by the author? (This is one example
of Comparative Literature.)
♦ How does the literary work represent the author’s particular time, place, society
and/or culture? (This would be a Sociological/Historical Approach.)

2. PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITICISM

The poem reflects the psychological state of the poet and is a manifestation of his/her
expressed or repressed needs, desires, ambitions, frustrations, etc.
 Brief glimpse into what it looks/sounds like:
"The Promised Land" by Bruce Springsteen: The speaker of these lyrics is
psychologically prepared for confrontation. Although he is "just killing time"
with work and "chasing some mirage" with play, he expresses the desire to "take charge."
Although he expresses his hopes for the future to some unidentified "little girl," he moves
on to assert his manhood ("I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man") to "Mister," to whom he reveals
his belief in a "promised land." "Pretty soon" becomes now and he is "heading straight
into the storm" to test his faith and realize his unfulfilled dreams. However, by his
statements and his actions, he reveals that he will be rewarded for his efforts "to live the
right way" and for his faith in a better life ("promised land").

B. Focus on the Universe

1. SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM

♦ Marxist - an umbrella term for a number of critical approaches to literature that draw
inspiration from the social and economic theories of Karl Marx. Marx maintained
that material production, or economics, ultimately determines the course of history,
and in turn influences social structures. These social structures, Marx argued, are
held in place by the dominant ideology, which serves to reinforce the interests of the
ruling class. Marxist criticism approaches literature as a struggle with social realities
and ideologies.

♦ Feminist - explores the just and unjust treatment of women as well as the
effect of gender on language, reading, and the literary canon; an umbrella term for a
number of different critical approaches that seek to distinguish the human experience
from the male experience. Feminist critics draw attention to the ways in which
patriarchal social structures have marginalized women and male authors have
exploited women in their portrayal of them.

♦ Minority - the critic interested in race and ethnic identity explores similar
issues, with the focus shifted to a specific cultural group

2. HISTORICAL CRITICISM

How does the literary work represent the author’s particular time, place, society or
culture?

Sample typical question:

Which 1960s ideals are reflected in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?

3. MORALISTIC/DIDACTIC CRITICISM

Literature reflects (or should reflect) a higher truth, an ethical perspective; it teaches the
reader how to live and behave. This approach evaluates works of art in terms of moral,
ethical, or political messages that are conveyed. Rooted in religious studies and ethics,
this approach explores the moral dilemmas literary works raise.
4. ARCHETYPAL APPROACH:
♦ Archetypal critics or myth critics are strongly influenced by the belief that
primitive man is yet within us and that myth, ritual, and poetry – found in the
beginnings of every culture – have the power to make us aware of the
collective experiences of the race.
♦ The archetypal critic is concerned with enduring patterns and motifs and
how they are reflected in literature.
♦ Archetypal criticism examines those events, images, symbols, types that
have existed throughout our recorded stories such as “The Hero’s Journey,”
the manifestations of the “Mother Goddess,” and many others.

5. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH:
♦ Some critics apply psychological theories to literary works by exploring
dreams, symbolic associations, and motivation.
♦ In approaching a piece of literature psychologically, we tend to focus on
the work of Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. To survey their work/ideas here
would be impossible. Critics employing this approach may apply Freud’s
work on the Oedipal Complex, the components of personality (id, ego,
superego), sex, or dream analysis or discuss Jung’s collective unconscious in
analyzing a work of literature.

Sample typical questions:

What does the work reveal about ______________’s psychological state and his personality?
How do the references to Neptune deepen the meaning in _____________________?
In what ways are _______________’s motives class based and economic?
What is the status of women in this society?

C. Focus on the Audience

READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM

The focus is on the “transaction” between the text & reader, who sees the text not as an
object to be analyzed but as an experience which is different for each reader. The work is
recreated each time by its reader and can only mean what the individual reader or a
community of readers brings to bear on its interpretation. This transaction process will
result in an ongoing refinement of meaning, meaning-in-process. There is no
interpretation which every reader can share in at any point in the process.

Consideration :
The "affective fallacy," which this approach implies, results from the assumption that
because the reader feels something, the work means something. The impressions of the
reader are the criteria for criticism. There is no such thing as objectivity.

Brief glimpse into what it looks/sounds like:

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats: Although many aspects of this poem inspire
consideration, the line in Section V in which the speaker, in reference to the urn, notes
that it "dost tease us out of thought/As doth eternity," is especially provocative. The urn
has many things about it which tease us to think. The poem's initial metaphor of the
 "unravished bride of quietness" offers a paradoxical consideration. The unanswered
questions of Section I will never have historical answers. The "unheard melodies" are
"sweeter" but only to the imagination, not to reason or the senses. Perhaps the teasing
thoughts which the urn does provoke are also the cause for teasing "us out of thought."
We can imagine eternity in some metaphorical way but never rationally respond to it
since it is alien to the content of our experience. Therefore, the "message" of the urn (and
of eternity) can "tease us out of thought," i.e., take away our reasoning ability. However,
to experience this form of insanity is not undesirable according to the context provided.
The urn will remain "a friend to man" for future generations and teach beauty's truth, "all
ye need to know."

Sample typical questions:

How does the reader become aware of _________’s true nature in _________________?
Do men and women read ___________________ differently?
Who were _________________’s original readers?

D. Focus on the Work/Text

1. PHILOSOPHICAL CRITICISM

The work is strongly influenced by the philosophy of the author or by a prominent

philosophical idea.

Sample typical questions:

Discuss how Sartre’s views on consciousness are manifested in No Exit .

What is Shakespeare saying about free will versus determinism in Macbeth?
How are Camus’ views on absurdity expressed in The Stranger?

2. LINGUISTIC CRITICISM

Literature is a process of communication. Consequently, we must study the resources of

language, the meanings of individual words and their syntactical patterns, in order to
better understand the communicated message.

Brief glimpse into what it looks/sounds like:

"A Lecture upon the Shadow" by John Donne: The speaker implies that the addressee is
in need of a lecture on "Love's philosophy." Such an assumption is as redundant as the
preceding phrase when viewed in terms of the etymological wordplay that the poet
employs. A lecture, from the Latin lex, is literally a reading, the format employed in
medieval and renaissance universities where books were scarce and women were not
present. In Greek, philos means "love" and sophos means "wisdom." This wisdom of love
is, however, something that a person cannot stand still for and be lectured about; it is
always "growing" and "love's day is short." Therefore, the philosophy of love which the
poem's language implies is imbedded in the paradox of time and the effort of the speaker
to control it (and the education of his beloved).
3. FORMALIST CRITICISM

This approach emphasizes the structure of a work and the rules of its genre are crucial to
its meaning. It determines how various elements (plot, character, language, etc.)
reinforce the meaning & unify the work. Literature is an artful arrangement of language
characterized by formal elements which separate it from the language of ordinary
(grammatical) or even persuasive (rhetorical) discourse. It is necessary to analyze it in
terms of how (technique) the language is given shape, how the formal elements result in
an aesthetic effect.

Consideration :
The search for aesthetic meaning is ultimately a human, hence a social activity, and
cannot be isolated in the world of the poetic work. A poem's "art" only makes sense in the
context of its inception (by its artist) and reception (by its audience).

Sample typical question:

How do irony, symbolism, imagery, etc. help to develop the theme of ___________ in
____________________?

Standard Elements/Questions:

CHARACTERIZATION: You can explore aspects of character.

♦ What motives determine a character’s course of action?
♦ What are the most revealing aspects of one of the characters?
(Consider his or her thoughts, words, and actions.)
♦ What external conflicts affect the main character? (Consider
conflicts with other characters, the setting, objects, society, fate, etc.)
♦ What internal conflicts make life difficult for the main character?
(Consider the thoughts, feelings, or ideas that affect him or her.)

PLOT: You can explore aspects of plot development.

♦ How is suspense built into the story? (Consider the important
events leading up to the climax.
♦ Are there any twists or reversals in the plot? (What do they add to
the story?)
♦ Does the text exhibit traits of a quest, a comedy, a tragedy, or an
ironic twist on one of these patterns of development? This might be
considered the Genre or Literary Tradition Approach. In other
words, you can discuss how a piece of literature fulfills the rules or
expectations for a specific “type” of literature?

SETTING: You may want to analyze the role that setting plays in the narrative.
♦ What effect does the setting have on the characters? The plot?
The theme?
♦ Has the setting increased your knowledge of a specific time and
place?
♦ Is the setting new and thought provoking?
 THEME: You can write about one of the themes presented in your selection.
♦ Does the author seem to be saying something about love, hate,
ambition, courage, greed, jealousy, happiness, carpe diem, mercy,
justice, greed, etc.?
♦ Does your work show you what it is like to experience racism,
loneliness, alienation, success, failure, etc.?
♦ Does the author say something about a specific time and place in
history?
(This would be a Historical Approach.)

STYLE: You can give special attention to the author’s style of writing.
♦ What feeling or tone is created in the selection? How is it
created?
♦ Are their significant images or image patterns in the narrative
and what is their significance?
♦ Is there an important symbol or motif that adds meaning to the
selection? (How is this symbol or motif represented in different
parts?)
♦ Has special attention been given to figures of speech like
metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, irony, allusion, etc.?
♦ Does the author use point of view in a significant way?
♦ Can your work be read as an allegory? If so, what do the literal
events, characters, settings, and objects represent symbolically?
♦ Is satire integral to the author’s purpose?

NOTE: There is a great deal of diversity AND commonality among

the various critical approaches. Interpretive methods often
share important characteristics. Now that you are familiar
with some of the questions defining literary criticism, you
may more easily understand your own research articles,
essays, etc.