LITERARY CRITICISM

AND WRITING A LITERARY ESSAY

Module 1

LUCKY ANN
[Document subtitle]

[COMPANY NAME]  [Company address]

INTRODUCTION

This module covers the concepts of literary criticism. It is crucial to understand the
meaning and purpose of literary criticism to be able to produce a good literary analysis. In the
study of literary criticism, we’ll go through literary theories – the lens through which we see
literature. Consequently, at the end of the course, you will be critics grounded in literary theory
and critical writing.

Furthermore, strategies and tips in writing literary analysis are given from collective readings
and resources. Strategic reading and analysis of literary texts are encouraged.

Please note that the content of these modules including the explanations are not the only ways
and means of studying the world of literary criticism. I encourage you to review cited works,
writers, or references for further learning and understanding. Questions will of course be
attended to through the communication means we use in class.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

1. define literary criticism and its concepts,
2. distinguish literary theories from literary criticism,
3. adopt writing strategies to produce literary essays.

PRETEST

Short-Answer Test. Before starting with the lessons, let us check your knowledge of the given
topics. Take note of the questions that you do not know yet. Keep in mind that you need to
answer this test before proceeding with the lessons.
1. What is literary criticism? ______________________________________________________
2. What are literary theories? ______________________________________________________
3. What are critical lens? _________________________________________________________
4. What is a literary analysis? _____________________________________________________
5. What are the parts of a literary analysis essay? ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.

MODULE 1: LITERARY CRITICISM AND WRITING A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY

Objectives
At the end of the module, you should be able to:
1. explain literary criticism comprehensively,
2. distinguish the parts of a literary essay,
3. master techniques in writing a literary essay,
4. evaluate a literary analysis essay.

LET’S ENGAGE

Give your personal view on the following:

1. How do you understand literary criticism?
2. What is literary theory as a school of thought?
3. Have you written an analysis essay? How do you find the process?
LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

WHAT IS LITERARY CRITICISM?

Generally, literary criticism is defined as the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. It
is a concept formed based on critical analysis and primarily estimates the value and merit of
literary works for the presence or quality of certain parameters of literary characteristics.

WHAT ARE LITERARY THEORIES?

Literary theory is a school of thought or style of literary analysis that gives readers a means to
critique the ideas and principles of literature. They are used to analyze, interpret, and evaluate a
literary text from a specific era, geographic location, or from writers of specific backgrounds or
identities to conclude the similarities and differences in similar kinds of literary works. Through
the evolving practice and development of literary theories, they are now referred to as critical
lenses through which we can see texts. These lenses also allow critics to focus on particular
aspects of a work they consider important.

For instance, if a critic uses a Marxist lens, the focus will be on how the characters in a story
interact based on their economic situation. If a critic uses a biographical lens, s/he will consider
the life and experiences of the author in interpreting the text.

1. The Reader Response Lens

2. The Formalist/New Criticism Lens
3. The Moralist Lens
4. The Archetypal Lens
5. The Historical Lens
6. The Biographical Lens
7. The Philosophical Lens
8. The Cultural Lens
9. The Structuralism Lens
10. The Deconstruction Lens
11. The Marxist Lens
12. The Eco-Critical Lens
13. The Feminist Lens
14. The Psychological Lens
15. The Post-Colonial Lens

Note: Literary criticism uses literary theories which are referred to as critical lenses. As you go
through these modules, we will discuss critical lenses on their definition, purpose, and/or
concepts. However, please note that the content of these modules including the explanations are
not the only ways of distinguishing these varied theories. I encourage you to use the list of
scholars and works cited for further understanding and learning.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY CRITICISM

Literary Criticism traces back its foundation in literary theory as a school of thought or mode of
literary criticism. Aristotle is widely considered to be the Western world’s first true literary
theorist. While Plato (who was Aristotle’s teacher was among the first intellectuals to give
careful consideration to the role and function of literature in society, Aristotle presented the first
fully developed theory as to how literary art can and should function within society.
You may read further on the following:
 Plato (429-347 BCE) – He worked on The Republic and The Symposium.
 Aristotle (384-322 BCE) – He worked on Poetics (335 BCE), which is the world’s first
recorded definition and theory of poetry and drama.
 Horace – The Art of Poetry
 Longinus – On the Sublime
 Dante - Divine Comedy
 Lodovico Castelvetro – A commentary on Aristotle’s Poetics
 Sir Philip Sydney - Defence of Poesie (1595)
 John Dryden – True Satire
 Alexander Pope – Essay on Criticism
 Samuel Johnson
 Percy Bysshe Shelley

HOW DO WE WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY?

Tips to Remember Before Writing Your Essay:

• Understand the purpose of writing a literary criticism – To carefully examine and
evaluate a work of literature or an aspect of a work of literature.
• Note that your objective in writing is to convince the person reading your essay that you
have supported the idea you are developing.
• The critical analysis depends on the writer's interpretation of the text, it's often necessary
to convince the reader of your point of view.

PARTS OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY:

1. WRITING THE INTRODUCTION

 Write an introduction that will “hook” your reader in reading your paper. It should be an
attention-getter/ a creative opening. You can use a quotation, provocative question, a brief
anecdote, a startling statement, or a combination of the example of a creative opening/hook:
a. A startling fact or a bit of information
Example: Nearly two hundred citizens were arrested as witches during the Salemwitch scare of
1692. Eventually, nineteen were hanged, and another was pressed to death (Marks65).
b. A snatch of dialogue between two characters
Example: “It is another thing. You [FredericHenry] cannot know about it unless you have it.”
“Well,” I said. “If I ever get it I will tell you [priest].” (Hemingway72). With these words, the
priest in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms sends the hero, Frederic, in search of the
ambiguous “it” in his life.
c. A meaningful quotation (from the book you are analyzing or another source
Example: “To be, or not to be, that is the question”{3.1.57}. This familiar statement expresses
the young prince’s moral dilemma in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, Prince of
Denmark.
d. A universal idea
Example: The terrifying scenes a soldier experiences on the front probably follow him
throughout his life— if he manages to survive the war.
e. A rich, vivid description of the setting
Example: Sleepy Maycomb, like other Southern towns, suffers considerably during the Great
Depression. Poverty reaches from the privileged families, like the Finches, to the Negroes and
"white trash" Ewells, who live on the outskirts of town. Harper Lee paints a vivid picture of life
in this humid Alabama town where tempers and bigotry explode into conflict.

 Include the title of the work of literature and the name of the author. You may include a
piece of background information relevant to your thesis and necessary for the reader to
understand the position you are taking.
 Clearly state your thesis. A thesis statement is a restricted, precisely worded declarative
sentence that states the purpose of your essay– the point you are trying to make; the foundation
of your paper. This will outline what will be discussed throughout the body of the paper. You
will have to formulate a strong and clear statement. Typically, the thesis statement can be found
at the end of the introductory paragraph.

2. BUILDING THE BODY – The body is the development of the central idea of your paper.
You may consider making an outline in organizing your ideas.

NOTE: A good paper contains an explanation of your ideas and evidence from the text (short
story, poem, play) that supports those ideas.

The following helps in building the body of your paper:

a. Topic Sentence – Each body paragraph should contain a topic sentence (usually the first
sentence) which states one of the topics associated with your thesis, combined with some
assertion about how the topic will support the central idea.
b. Textual Evidence – Using lines, phrases, or sentences from the literary text can
illustrate and support the ideas you are developing in your essay. This should be used judiciously
and only when it directly relates to your topic. You can use a summary, a paraphrase, a specific
detail, or direct quotations.
c. Commentary – Your explanation of the textual evidence; your main argument. This tells what
the author of the text means or how the textual evidence proves the topic sentence. It may
include interpretation, analysis, argument, insight, and/or reflection.
NOTE: In your body paragraph, it is often advised to have twice as much commentary as textual
evidence. In other words, for every sentence of textual evidence, you should have at least two
sentences of commentary.
d. Transitions – Words or phrases that connect “hook” one idea to the next, both between and
within paragraphs. Use connecting words as well as repeating keywords or using synonyms.
Examples: Finally, In the climax, Another example, Later in the story, In contrast to this
behavior, Not only, but also, Furthermore.
e. Clincher/Concluding Sentence – The last sentence of the body paragraph. It concludes the
paragraph by tying the textual evidence and commentary back to the thesis. Example: Thus,
before Carter experiences love, he is able to convince himself that the world has no meaning.

3. CONCLUDING THE ESSAY – This should give your essay a sense of completeness and
allows the reader to know that they have come to the end of the paper.
You may:
 Restate the thesis statement in different words.
 Make a relevant comment about the literary work you are analyzing but from a different
perspective.
 Summarize the main points you have made.
 Demonstrate why your argument is important.
 Wrap up your arguments.

NOTE: After writing, it would be great to proofread your paper.

Check your organization: Do your ideas flow cohesively and coherently?
Check your thesis and supporting arguments: Do you have enough information to support your
main idea?
Check your conclusion: Does your final paragraph make up a satisfying ending?
Check for corrections: spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc.
IT’S YOUR TURN (MODULE 1)
Good job! You are now done with this lesson. Let’s check your learning through the
following activities.
NOTE: Kindly detach these activities and submit them for checking one week before the
examination. God bless! 😊

Name of Student: _________________________ Date Submitted: _________

Course and Year: _______________________ Submitted to: ________________________

ACTIVITY:
The text below is an example of a literary analysis essay. With your notes on writing a literary
essay, write your observation, analysis, and evaluation of how Arielle Samuel wrote her essay.
Summarize your observations using the table given. Make sure to cite statements from the text to
support your answer.

Observe the following:

Comprehensive content and good organization of ideas – 15
Writing should be free of spelling/grammatical errors –5

Plot and Character in Maupassant’s “The Necklace”

© 2003, Arielle Samuel

“Life…is composed of the most unpredictable, disparate, and contradictory elements,”

according to Guy de Maupassant. “It is brutal, inconsequential, and disconnected, full of
inexplicable, illogical catastrophes” (“The Writer’s Goal" 897). Utterly to the point with his
words, Guy de Maupassant’s fame as a writer stemmed from his “direct and simple way” of
telling readers what he observed (Chopin 861). His short story, “The Necklace,” is no exception.
“The Necklace” is evidence of the literary realism that dominated literature during the 19th
century. Cora Agatucci, a professor of Humanities, states that the subjects of literature during
this time period revolved around “everyday events, lives, [and the] relationships of middle/lower
class people” (Agatucci 2003). In “The Necklace,” Maupassant describes an unhappy woman,
born to a poor family and married to a poor husband, who suffers “ceaselessly” from her lower-
class lifestyle, “[…] feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries” (Maupassant
524). Through the unfolding of the plot and the exquisite characterization of Mathilde and her
husband, Maupassant offers readers a dramatic account of what could happen when a person is
not satisfied with her place in life.

Ann Charters defines plot as “the sequence of events in a story and their relation to one
another as they develop and usually resolve a conflict” (Charters 1003). According to Charters,
there are five major parts of a plot. The exposition explains the characters, the time period, and
the present situation; the rising action introduces a major complication, with smaller conflicts
occurring along the way; the climax, or the dramatic turning point in the action of the story; the
falling action, which helps wrap up the major complication; and finally, the conclusion of the
story (Charters 1004-1005).

Plot plays a vital role in “The Necklace,” particularly the exposition. Approximately one
page is devoted entirely to Mathilde’s description, a description of both her physical appearance
as well as her mentality, giving the readers a crystal-clear picture of the main character and the
reasons behind her depression. Mathilde “dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but
she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station,” undoubtedly a
station of wealth and prosperity in her mind. Suffering “from the poverty of her dwelling,”
Mathilde often dreamt of “silent antechambers hung with Oriental tapestry, lit by tall bronze
candelabra” when her own drab furniture and dreary walls angered her to look at them
(Maupassant 524). The exposition paints Mathilde as a woman who feels she’s been dealt a poor
hand in life, a woman desiring riches far beyond her grasp, which foreshadows the events to
come later in the plot.
 “The action of the plot is performed by the characters in the story, the people who make
something happen or produce an effect” (Charters 1006). Without the characters, the plot would
be meaningless because the characters bring the plot to life. Charters also explains that
characters can be one of two types: dynamic or static. A static character does not change
throughout the story; he or she just stays the same, while a dynamic character is often described
as “round” and often changes throughout the course of the story (Charters 1007). The way an
author chooses to develop a character affects the entire story, particularly the climax. If a
character developed as a calm and levelheaded person, he or she will react wisely to conflicts or
emotional turning points; however, if a character is developed as greedy and self-absorbed, the
climax of the story will cause the character to make irrational choices in the face of conflict, as
Mathilde, the dynamic main character of “The Necklace” illustrates.

Mathilde’s character is consistently unhappy with her own life and her own possessions,
always longing for more than what she has. When her husband brings home the invitation to the
ball, hoping his wife will be thrilled at the chance to attend such an exclusive gathering, she
instead “threw the invitation on the table with disdain,” because she had nothing to wear. At her
husband’s suggestion of wearing her theater dress, she simply cries with grief. When the dress
dilemma is resolved, Mathilde is “sad, uneasy, [and] anxious” (Maupassant 525). Her lack of
fine jewelry and gems makes her feel that she “should almost rather not go at all” (Maupassant
526). Clearly, Mathilde’s character is one with an insatiable greed for what she does not have.

Later in the story, after the precious necklace has been lost, Mathilde’s character appears
to change, taking on the role of a poor woman with “heroism.” As she is forced to scrub dishes,
wash laundry, and bargain with their “miserable” money, the reader would assume Mathilde has
been humbled by her greed and the price she paid for insisting on wearing the diamond necklace.
The reader questions the extent of Mathilde’s transformation when Mathilde sits at her window
and ponders the evening of the ball, remembering her beauty and the attention she received.

Contrary to Mathilde is her husband, M. Loisel, a character who remains static

throughout the course of “The Necklace.” M. Loisel seems happy with the small things in life,
desiring only please his wife. When he sits down to a supper of soup, he exclaims, “Ah, the
good pot-au-feu! I don’t know anything better than that” (Maupassant 524). Meanwhile,
Mathilde is picturing food she feels she is worthy of, like “the pink flesh of a trout or the wings
of a quail” (Maupassant 524). M. Loisel does look his patience once with his wife, saying to
her, “How stupid you are!” (Maupassant 526) when she is upset about her lack of jewelry. Other
than that small episode, M. Loisel remains consistent throughout the length of the story.

The construction of the plot, such as the dramatic climax when Mathilde realizes she has
lost the necklace, combined with the shaping of the two main characters, Mathilde, and her
husband, force the reader to realize the unspoken theme of the story. Mathilde’s envy of other
people’s possessions leads to the eventual demise of her life, while her husband’s contentment
with what he has allows him to remain essentially unchanged, illustrates the theme running
throughout the story, which is the importance of being satisfied with who you are and what you
have, as well as the importance of not wanting or envying what others have. This theme
becomes obvious when, in the exposition, Mathilde’s perspective on her life makes her seem
poor and underprivileged; yet, when the Loisels are forced to make drastic changes in their way
of life, such as firing their maid and moving to more economical lodging, the reader realizes the
poverty Mathilde suffers from is not poverty at all compared to the life they must lead after they
are forced to replace the diamond necklace.

Without a strong plot that envelops the reader in the ongoing action, a story is not as
powerful or effective; without good characterization of the main characters, there is no
mechanism for the plot to unfold. If there is not an effective plot with identifiable characters, the
theme of any story is lost to the reader, so clearly the three go hand in hand with each other.
Maupassant’s ability to communicate facts and descriptions, leaving the emotional interpretation
for the reader, is what he’s known for. In fact, this ability makes the reader feel as though
Maupassant is telling the story for their ears and hearts only. Kate Chopin eloquently wrote, “I
like to cherish the delusion that he has spoken to no one else so directly, so intimately as he does
to me” (Chopin 862).

Introduction
Body
Conclusion

POST ASSESSMENT
Good job! You are now done with this module. Read and analyze the given statement.
Then, write the letter corresponding to your answer on the blank provided before each number.

a. The first statement is TRUE but the second statement is FALSE.

b. The first statement is FALSE but the second statement is TRUE.
c. Both statements are TRUE.
d. Both statements are FALSE.

_____1. Literary theory is the same as literary criticism.

Literary criticism is the evaluation of a literary piece.
_____2. The literary theory deals with methods for analyzing literature.
The literary theory uses literary criticism.
_____3. Literary Criticism aims to narrate a sequence of events.
The literary analysis depends on the writer's interpretation of the text.
_____4. A writer must be creative in writing the introduction of a literary essay.
The introduction of a literary essay shouldn’t use a quotation.
_____5. Transitions are words or phrases that connect ideas.
A commentary requires a piece of textual evidence.
_____6. The conclusion should give the essay a sense of completeness.
The conclusion can be a summary of the main points of the essay.
_____7. The introduction should observe an explanation of the main point.
The body of the essay is the endpoint of the literary analysis.
_____8. A good literary analysis contains evidence from the text for support.
Textual evidence should be directly related to the topic.
_____9. Comments must be relevant to the literary works being analyzed.
A commentary may incorporate argument or reflection
_____10. The purpose of literary criticism is to enhance the understanding of a text.
Literary criticism requires narration and description of ideas.

REFERENCES

Rice, Philip, and Waugh, Patricia. Eds. Modern Literary Theory: A Reader. 4th edition.

Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1997.

Rafey Habib, A history of literary criticism: from Plato to the present. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Pub, 2005.

Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism. Purdue Online Writing Lab. Retrieved from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_sc
hools_of_criticism/index.html

Literary Criticism. Retrieved from https://iep.utm.edu/literary/

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-britlit1/chapter/literary-criticism/