Introduction

to
Literary
Criticism
PARADIGMS AND POSSIBILITIES
• Literary Criticism is a way of viewing or
interpreting literature by using different lens.
• It is the study, discussion, evaluation, and
interpretation of literature.
• It does NOT mean “to criticize” as in complain or
disapprove; it means to critique or analyze an
author’s work.
LITERARY APPROACHES
TYPES OF LITERARY
APPROACHES
UPON SEEING AN ORANGE…
1. Formalist Approach
2. Reader Response
Approach
3. Gender Approach
4. Marxist Approach
5. Postcolonial
Approach
FORMALIST CRITICISM
• Attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a work.
• Focus is on:
Form, organization, and structure
Word choice and language
Literary Devices: Theme, Imagery, Plot, Character,
Setting, Figures of Speech, etc.
The critic plays special attention to the elements of the work
 FICTION: Plot, Point of View, Character, Setting, Style,
Theme and Symbols
 POETRY: Tone, Words, Symbols, Imagery, Figures of
Speech, Rhythm, Form and Kind of Poem (lyric, didactic,
epic, etc.)
 DRAMA: Modes of drama, Plot, Characters, Climax,
Theme, Setting and Symbols
 Once upon a time there
The Three were three little pigs. One
Little Pigs pig built a house of straw
while the second pig built his
house with sticks. They built
their houses very quickly and
then sang and danced all day
because they were lazy. The
third little pig worked hard
all day and built his house
with bricks.
 A big bad wolf saw the two little pigs while
they danced and played and thought, “What
juicy tender meals they will make!” He
chased the two pigs and they ran and hid in
their houses.
The big bad wolf went to the first house
and huffed and puffed and blew the house
down in minutes. The frightened little pig ran
to the second pig’s house that was made of
sticks. The big bad wolf now came to this
house and huffed and puffed and blew the
house down in hardly any time.
Now, the two little pigs were terrified and
ran to the third pig’s house that was made of
bricks.
 The big bad wolf tried to huff and
puff and blow the house down, but he
could not. He kept trying for hours but
the house was very strong and the
little pigs were safe inside. He tried to
enter through the chimney but the
third little pig boiled a big pot of
water and kept it below the chimney.
The wolf fell into it and died.
The two little pigs now felt sorry
for having been so lazy. They too built
their houses with bricks and lived
happily ever after.
 A Formalist Reading of
“THE THREE LITTLE PIGS”
1. What does the wolf symbolize? How about the pigs?
2. How does the story foreshadow the final fate of the pigs?
3. What does the wolf’s dialogue tell us about his character?
4. Notice the consonance/rhyme of “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…”
 Sample Formalist Criticism: The Three
Little Pigs
The story of “The Three Little Pigs” (Disney Enterprises, 311-320) juxtaposes
the beneficial rewards of hard work against the damaging effects of excessive
leisure. The Germans (the foolish pigs) did not take the time to move enough
troops to defend Normandy (the straw and stick houses) from the Allies (the
wolf). In contrast, the Chinese (the wise brother) built the Great Wall (the brick
house) which provided sufficient defense against the Mongols (the wolf). These
two situations parallel “The Three Little Pigs” because in each case, the side that
fully prepared survived while the side that did not prepare failed. This outcome is
universal throughout history and throughout the world because every human can
learn and grow from their experiences and failures. The pool of events in history
overflows with countless examples of success and failure, so the realm of
literature rings with stories of the clash between preparation and laziness.
PRACTICE
Unsay Pulos
Unsay pulos sa dag-om kung di ka uwan
Unsay pulos sa uwan kung di ka baha
Unsay pulos sa baha kung di ka gun-ob sa pangpang
Unsay pulos sa pangpang kung way karaang kahoy
Unsay pulos sa karaang kahoy kung way landong
Unsay pulos sa landong kung way ningpasilong
Unsay pulos sa ningpasilong kung way giagbayang uyab
Unsay pulos sa manag-uyab kung sa isig usa way gisaad
Unsay pulos sa saad kung di katarog og panganod
Unsay pulos sa panganod kung di kini ka dag-om
 GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images,
etc.) can you find? What is the effect of these patterns or
motifs to the poem?
2. How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
3. What figures of speech are used? How do the various
techniques interact to create a unified whole?
4. Is there are relationship between the beginning and the end of
the story? What is its effect to the story?
5. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
 FOR A SHORT STORY:
1. How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it
go next? How does it end? How is the plot related to it’s structure?
2. Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work? How is the narrator,
speaker, or characters revealed to the readers?
3. Who are the major and minor characters, what do they represent, and how
do they relate to one another?
4. What are the time and place of the work – its setting? How is the setting
related to what we know of the characters and their actions? To what extent
is the setting symbolic?
5. What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or
otherwise create the world of the literary work? More specifically, what
images, similes, metaphors and symbols appear in the work? What is their
function? What meanings do they convey?
READER-RESPONSE
CRITICISM
A literary theory that focuses on the reader
and his or her experience of a literary work; in
contrast to other schools and theories that focus
attention primarily on the author or the content
and form of the work.
READER-RESPONSE
CRITICISM
• Text has many interpretations—text & reader
interact to create meaning
• Meaning ultimately resides in the reader’s mind or
the consensual “mind” of a community of readers
• Making a connection between your experiences
and the text
READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM KEY QUESTIONS
• How does the meaning of a text change as you reread it?
• How do your values alter your perceptions of the text?
• How have readers in different time periods or of different ages
interpreted the text?
• How is the informed reader’s response to the text shaped by the
reader and the text?
• Which of your personal experiences or memories is affecting your
perceptions of the story?
• What was the work’s original intended audience? To what extent are
you similar or different from that audience?
PRACTICE
 GUIDE QUESTIONS:
• What does this work mean to me in my present
intellectual and moral make up?
• What particular aspects of my life may help me
understand and appreciate the work?
• How can the work improve my understanding & widen
my insights towards the incident?
• Which of your personal experiences or memories is
affecting your perceptions of the story?
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING WORDS:
fashion, football, breadwinner, pilot, strength, flower, ambitious,
perseverance, compassionate, bossy, helpless, thoughtful, soft,
brassy, dangerous, perpetrator, victim, attractive, opinionated,
hostile, emotional, books, colorful, astronaut, blue, caregiver.
Using your first instinct and without overthinking, write each word in
the column that seems most appropriate.
MALE FEMALE BOTH NEITHER
 GENDER CRITICISM
• Gender criticism analyzes literature through the
lens of socially-constructed gender roles.
• The largest part of gender criticism is feminism,
which critiques and seeks to correct women’s
subordination to men in society.
FEMINIST CRITICISM
• Realizes cultural and
economic problems in a
patriarchal society
• The patriarchal ideology
pervades writing that has
been considered “great
literature”
• Realizes issues that have
hindered women from
achieving.
QUESTIONS FOR FEMINIST CRITIC:
• How does the portrayal of women in so-called classic
literature (the canon) illustrate patriarchal ideology?
• How are women stereotyped? How are sexual
stereotypes reinforced?
• Consider the gender of the author and the characters –
what role does gender or sexuality play in this work?
• How are the relationships between men and women
presented in the text? How does it reflect or distort the
place of women or men in society?
 APPLYING FEMINIST CRITICISM TO
CINDERELLA
• Cinderella is waiting to be “rescued” from her horrible life by
the handsome prince.
It shows women are the weaker sex and will always depend
on men for everything

• “Good girls” are usually beautiful and “wicked girls” are ugly.
It shows that a woman’s worth is only in her beauty, or lack
of beauty.
• It is only through the magic of a fairy godmother that she
can be made presentable
PRACTICE
Unsaon Paggisa sa Bana nga Manghulga sa Asawang Dili Kahibalong Moluto
1. 1. Inita ang mantika sa kaha.
2. 2. Gisaha and sibuyas bombay ug ahos.
3. 3. Ilunod ang iyang kumo nga iya kunong isumbag sa imong nawong
4. 4. Isunod ang iyang mga tiil nga iyang ipatid nimo.
5. 5. Isagol'g apil ang ubang bahin sa iyang lawas.
6. 6. Pabukali.
7. 7. Tuslok-tusloka sa tinidor. Mas maayo kon kutsilyo.
8. 8. Timplahi dayog pamalikas ug maldisyon.
9. 9. Tilawi
10. 10. Hauna
11. 11. Kan-a. Kon way lami., ilawog sa iro
MARXIST CRITICISM
• Based on the economic and
cultural theory of Karl Marx,
Founder of Communism
• Communism: a stateless,
classless society
• Deals with class struggles

May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883

MARXIST CRITICISM
Believes that literature
is essentially political; it
either supports or refutes
economic oppression.
In other words, the
author either reinforces
the status quo or rebels
against it.
Marxist critics apply these economic and social
theories to literature by analyzing:
 Class conflict
 Ideologies that support the elite and place
the working class at a disadvantage

Marxism strongly influenced fiction, particularly

American fiction, in the 1930s.
 MARXIST CRITICISM GUIDE
QUESTIONS
• What is the economic status of the characters? What
happens to them as a result of this status?
• To what extent does the work fail by overlooking the
economic, social, and political implications of its
material?
• In what other ways does economic determinism
affect the work?
• How should the readers consider this story in today’s
developed or underdeveloped world?
APPLYING MARXIST CRITICISM TO CINDERELLA
• Cinderella must do all chores and wait on
stepmother and stepsisters hand and foot.
Shows the oppression of the lower class by the
upper class
• Cinderella desires to marry the prince and live
“happily ever after”
Shows the need for the lower class to join the
ranks of the upper class in order to be happy
BIOGRAPHICAL CRITICISM
• Analyzes the author’s life, upbringing, and
background with regards to his/her work.
• According to Wilfred Guerin, “biographical criticisms
sees a literary work chiefly, if not exclusively, as a
reflection of the author's life and times of the
characters in the work“.