LITERARY

APPROACHES
Structuralist/ Formalist, Moralist, Marxist, Feminist
BASIC IDEA

The Basic Idea of criticism is to argue your

point of view on a work of literature
A critical analysis is an in-depth
examination of some aspect of the
literary work . You may examine any
element of the text: character
development, conflicts, narrative point of
view, etc.
Literary criticism has two main functions

To analyze, study, and evaluate works of literature

To form general principles for the examination of works

of literature
Formalist Approach

QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE ANSWERED IN FORMALISTIC

PERSPECTIVE?
WHAT SYMBOLS HELP CONVEY A
WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE
MESSAGE?
PIECE?

WHAT IS THE IMAGERY USED?

WHAT IS THE THEME?

FORMALISTIC VIEW DISOWNS THE FOLLOWING

THE NAME OF THE THE POLITICAL BELIEFS OF

AUTHOR IS NOT THE AUTHOR IS NOT
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT

THE TIME WHEN THE THE ACTUAL READER IS

AUTHOR LIVED IS NOT NOT IMPORTANT
IMPORTANT
WHAT IS FORMALISTIC APPROACH?
It attempts to discover meaning by close reading of a work of
literature

It focuses on:
Form, organization, and structure, Word choice and
language, Multiple meanings, analyzing irony, paradox,
imagery, and metaphor
Also setting, characters, symbols, and point of view.
 Roses and Lilacs
Activity 1 FORMALISTIC APPROACH
Winter
READ THE POEM ROSES AND LILACS AND
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS ? By Michael R. Burns

The rose of love’s bright promise

1. What do Lilacs symbolize? Lies torn by her own thorn;
Her scent was sweet
But at her feet
2. What do roses symbolize? The pallid aphids mourn.

3. What is the spiritual meaning of a The lilac of devotion

rose? Has felt the winter hoar
And shed her dress;
4. What do different color of roses Companionless
She shivers—nude, forlorn
symbolize?

5. What is the theme of the poem?

 Moral/Ethical Criticism

Believes that the larger purpose of literature is to teach

morality and to probe philosophical issues.
MORALISTIC APPROACH
A tendency—rather than a recognized school—within
literary criticism to judge literary works according to
moral rather than formal principles.
– Judging literary works by their ethical teachings and
by their effects on readers.
– Literature that is ethically sound and encourages
virtue is praised
– Literature that misguides and corrupts is
condemned.
Activity 2 The Fox & the Grapes
A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe
grapes hanging from a vine trained along the
Explain the moral branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to
or the lesson burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as
he gazed longingly at them.
acquired in the The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox
Fable. Relate your had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he
missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short
answer by citing distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall
real life experience short once more. Again and again he tried, but in
vain.
to depict the Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in
lesson . Explain disgust.
"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing
your answer in an myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are
essay format. not worth gaping for."
And off he walked very, very scornfully.
FEMINIST APPROACH

A belief that women universally face some form of oppression or

exploitation
A commitment to uncover and understand what causes and sustains
oppression

A commitment to work individually and collectively everyday life to end all

forms of oppression.
Typical Questions

How is the relationship between men and What role does the work play in terms of
women portrayed? women's literary history and literary
tradition?

What are the power relationships between

men and women (or characters assuming
male/female roles)?

How are male and female roles defined?

What does the work say about women's

creativity?
Activity 3 Feminist Approach
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold
Read the poem entitled Still I Rise. In an essay form explain how
mines
the poem be instrumental in empowering women .
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your

words,
Still I Rise You may cut me with your eyes,
Just like moons and like suns,
BY MAYA ANGELOU You may kill me with your
With the certainty of tides,
You may write me down in history hatefulness,
Just like hopes springing high,
With your bitter, twisted lies, But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Still I'll rise.
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you?
Did you want to see me broken?
Does it come as a surprise
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Does my sassiness upset you? That I dance like I've got
Shoulders falling down like
Why are you beset with gloom? diamonds
teardrops,
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells At the meeting of my thighs?
Weakened by my soulful cries?
Pumping in my living room.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise