HERCOR COLLEGE

Km. 1 Lawaan, Roxas City, Capiz 5800

ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023

Department: College of Education Course Code: EL 117

Name of Instructor: Richele B. Dorado ,LPT ,MAT Reporter : Marly D. Espejo BSEDE 3 A
Course Descriptive Title: Literary Criticism Semester: 2nd Sem/A.Y. 2022-2023

LITERARY TECHNIQUES
A literary device is any specific aspect of literature, or a particular work, which we can recognize, identify,
interpret and/or analyze. Both literary elements and literary techniques can rightly be called literary devices.

A Literary techniques are specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey
meaning. An author’s use of aliterary technique usually occurs with a single word or phrase, or a particular group of
words or phrases, at one single point in a text. Unlike literary elements, literary techniques are not necessarily present in
every text.

 Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the
same sentence or line.
 Anthropomorphism: Where animals or inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as people, such as by walking,
talking, or being given arms, legs and/or facial features.
 Blank verse: Non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter.
 Creative license: Exaggeration or alteration of objective facts or reality for the purpose of enhancing meaning in
a fictional context.
 Dialogue: Where characters speak to one another; may often be used to substitute for exposition.
 Dramatic irony: Where the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the
story are not aware.
 Exposition: Where an author interrupts a story in order to explain something, usually to provide important
background information.

Figurative language: Any use of language where the intended meaning differs from the actual literal meaning of
the words themselves. There are many techniques which can rightly be called figurative language, including metaphor,
simile, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, verbal irony, and oxymoron.

A. Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two non-similar things. As a literary device,
metaphor creates implicit comparisons without the express use of “like” or “as.”
B. Simile is a figure of speech and type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words “like” or
“as.”The purpose of a simile is to help describe one thing by comparing it to another thing that is perhaps
seemingly unrelated.
C. Personification is a literary device that uses the non-literal use of language to convey concepts in a relatable
way. Writers use personification to give human characteristics, such as emotions and behaviors, to non-human
things, animals, and ideas.
D. Onomatopoeia is one way a poet can create sounds in a poem. An onomatopoeia is a word that actually looks
like the sound it makes, and we can almost hear those sounds as we read.
E. Verbal irony occurs when a speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to say. It is an
intentional product of the speaker, and is contradictory to his/her emotions and actions.
F. Oxymorons are figures of speech in which two contradictory terms are combined in order to create a rhetorical
effect by paradoxical means.
 Foreshadowing: Where future events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggested by the author before they
happen. Foreshadowing can take many forms and be accomplished in many ways, with varying degrees of subtlety.

Iambic pentameter: Poetry written with each line containing ten syllables, in five repetitions of a two-syllable pattern
wherein the pronunciation emphasis is on the second syllable.

Imagery: Language which describes something in detail, using words to substitute for and create sensory
stimulation, including visual imagery and sound imagery.

Paradox: Where a situation is created which cannot possibly exist, because different elements of it cancel each
other out.

Symbolism: The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas. This term is commonly misused,
describing any and all representational relationships, which in fact are more often metaphorical than symbolic.

LITERARY CRITICISM

Literary criticism is the comparison, analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of works of literature. Literary criticism
is essentially an opinion, supported by evidence, relating to theme, style, setting or historical or political context. It
usually includes discussion of the work’s content and integrates your ideas with other insights gained from research.

TYPES OF LITERARY CRITICISM

 Historical-biographical criticism - Historical-biographical criticism examines literature through the

perspective of the author’s historical context. This approach assumes that the significance of a particular
piece of literature is inextricably linked to its historical context.
 Moral-philosophical criticism - This literary criticism style approaches literature based on its ethical merits.
Moral-philosophical critics evaluate literary works based on the moral statements and judgments the
characters and author express throughout the literary text.
 Sociological criticism - Sociological criticism evaluates literature based on its relationship to society. The
sociological criticism method examines the author’s status in their society as well as the effect that the
literary work had on its audience within the society.
 Psychoanalytic criticism - This form of literary criticism examines literature based on the psychological
desires and neuroses of the characters within a particular piece of literature. Psychoanalytic critics believe
that an author’s unconscious thoughts are expressed through their work.
 Practical criticism - This study of literature encourages readers to examine the text without regard to any
outside context—like the author, the date and place of writing, or any other contextual information that may
enlighten the reader.
 Formalism - compels readers to judge the artistic merit of literature by examining its formal elements, like
language and technical skill.
 Reader-response criticism - rooted in the belief that a reader's reaction to or interpretation of a text is as
valuable a source of critical study as the text itself.
 New criticicism - focused on examining the formal and structural elements of literature, as opposed to the
emotional or moral elements.
 Post-structuralism - post-structuralist literary criticism abandoned ideas of formal and structural cohesion,
questioning any assumed universal truths as reliant on the social structure that influenced them.
 Deconstruction - proposed by Jacques Derrida, deconstructionists pick apart a text’s ideas or arguments,
looking for contradictions that render any singular reading of a text impossible.
 Feminist criticism - As the feminist movement gained steam in the midtwentieth century, literary critics
began looking to gender studies for new modes of literary criticism. One of the earliest proponents of
feminist criticism was Virginia Woolf in her seminal essay, A Room of One's Own. Other notable feminist
critics include Elaine Showalter and Hélène Cixous.
 Mimetic criticism - Mimetic is the process by which the work reflects and reinterprets the world around it.
Derived from a Greek verb meaning 'to imitate,' the philosopher Aristotle adapted the term to fit his idea that
art mimics whom and what we observe in the real world.