College of Education

ENG119- LITERARY THEORY CRITICISM

1st Semester, AY 2023-2024
Emmanuel D. Dayalo, EdD, Course Facilitator

Module 2

Name: Bernard B. Onasin Jr, Course/Year/Section:BSED ENGLISH 3-B.

UNIT 1: Mimetic Theory of Arts

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #1)

Aside from the one mentioned, what do think are the other failures of Mimetic Theory as
postulated by Aristotle?
Mimetic theory is known for it simplicity and view art as an imitation of reality. I believe
there are several important aspects of literature that mimetic theory failed to go deeper. For
example, literature has this quality of being interpreted in many ways which is what we call
“ambiguity.” However, because of its simplicity, I believe that this quality makes it difficult to
examine a literary work's intended meaning in greater depth. Mimetic theory also misses the
individual existence of a literary work. Lastly, I believe it fails to demonstrate the important
literary elements like language, form, structure, theme, plot, etc.

UNIT 2: Formalist Theory and Criticism

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #2)
Formalists pay attention to three aspects of literary text. What are they? Explain
each aspect.

The formalist approach to literature pays close and careful attention to the language, form, and
structure of literary texts:
Language- in order to express or convey their literature to their intended audience or readers,
writers use language.
Form- Literature can be categorized based on its structure or purpose and we call it form.
Structure- it is all about how the author arrange words and ideas to achieve a specific goal.

What is the goal of formalism?

It is the primary goal of formalism to make the study of literature an autonomous and
specific discipline, to shift the attention from poet to poetry itself.

What does ‘defamiliarization’ mean to formalists?

According to formalists, literature is unique from all other materials since it tends to
defamiliarize objects, It refreshes our sense of life and experience. And when we say
defamiliarizition, it is a literary technique in which the process of writing is itself focused on
more than any particular plotline. This technique involves exploring the differences between
literature and reality. So in formalism, art defamiliarizes things that have become habitual or
automatic. The familiar is made strange in art.

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #3)

Formalistic Approach to Demetillo’s “Barter in Panay: An Epic” by Biclar, 2015
https://www.galda-verlag.de/product/study-barter-in- panay/
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Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)
Write a reflection on the assigned article.

The article discusses the formalistic approach to Demetillo’s “Barter in Panay: An Epic.”
The article had give me a slight idea on how to effectively use the formalistic approach in an epic
“Barter in Panay,” although I can’t understand deeper since I’ve only read the short description
of the book. It shows the method used by the author of the book. As I search deeper on the
background of the epic, I believe the literary epic by Demetillo serves as an instrument for the
preservation of our folkloric tradition, which portrays the Filipino worldviews, socio-political,
and traditional cultures, making the text significant in the canon of Philippine and World
literatures. Personally, I would love to meet the author of this book and be guided by him on how
to effectively analyze a certain literary piece, since he specializes in on Philippine folklore and
cultural studies. I also want to further know about his works.

UNIT 3: Structuralist Criticism

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #4)
Read the Poem “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Apply the theory of Structuralism in interpreting the poem as a form of literary criticism.

The poem Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson can be interpreted using structuralism, a
literary theory that focuses on studying the underlying structure and form that reveals the
meaning of a certain literary text. For example, this poem is written as a dramatic monologue
with ten syllables per line, the lines are in blank verse, or rhymed iambic pentameter, which
serves to impart a fluid and natural quality to Ulysses’s speech. The poem “Ulyssess” symbolizes
the grieving poet, proclaims his resolution to push onward in spite of the awareness that death
closes all. Analyzing the symbols and language used by the author in order to interpret the poem.

Structuralist Criticism on the poem “Ulysses”:

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;

Ulysses tells us that he's visited a lot of different places with different governments, people,
foods, and the like. He portrays himself as some kind of predatory animal, "roaming with a
hungry heart." Because he doesn't say "I was like a lion" or "I roamed just as a lion might," this
is a metaphor.

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'

Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.

Ulysses compares life to an arch – that's a metaphor again – and explains that the "untravelled
world" (death; places he hasn't experienced) gleams through it. The "untravelled world" is
likened to some kind of planet or luminous world, which means this is also a metaphor.

The setting provides structure for the overall mood and theme of the poem “Ulysses.” The poem
follows a structure where the main character expresses frustration at how dull and pointless his
life now seems as king of Ithaca, trapped at home on the rocky island of Ithaca. The structural
pattern plays a role in providing us the subject of the poem which is about the search for
adventure in human beings that makes their lives worth living. We see how an old adventurer is
not ready o settle even at his age and always yearns for that one more quest.

UNIT 4: Post Structuralism

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Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)
Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #5)
How does a critic deconstruct a literary text?

The goal of deconstruction is not destruction, but to break down important details in a
literary work. To deconstruct is to breakdown a text along the "fault lines" in its structure that are
produced by the ambiguities present in one or more of its central ideas or themes in order to
expose the ambiguities or contradictions that enable the text. Deconstructing a literary work
encourages readers to look deeper than what is apparent and explore the complexity of language
and meaning.
A critic deconstruct a literary text by thoroughly going over every word, phrase, and
sentence for small details and hidden meanings. They value the beauty of ambiguity, knowing
that a single word or phrase can be interpreted in a number of different ways, like a painting that
changes colors in different lighting. As it was stated that in the module that the gap between
signifier and signified is symptomatic of a "space" of emptiness, nothingness, non-meaning that
lies at the heart of every text, so it means that the critic or reader understands that sometimes the
most significant messages lie in what remains unsaid or in the pauses between words.

UNIT 5: New Criticism

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #6)
What literary texts can attract exponents of New Criticism most?

Exponents of New Criticism are attracted by literary works that meet their unique
standards for excellence. They are drawn to texts that skillfully create paradoxes while
maintaining an appealing unity. Unity is achieved by balancing and harmonizing the conflicting
ideas in the literary work, critics favors complex yet unified works. Critics prefer complex yet
harmonious works because unity is achieved by balancing and harmonizing the opposing ideas in
the literary work. They believe that "good" works of literature should be like a complex puzzle,
with layers of paradoxes that are so deep that a simple summary fails to adequately express their
meaning.

Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #7)

Why did New Critics refer to their critical practice as "intrinsic criticism."

For the New Critics, readers must focus attention on the literary work as the sole source
of evidence for interpreting it. With that being said, they call their critical practice as "intrinsic
criticism" since they focus more on the internal factors of a literary work, rather than its external
factors. As it was stated in the module that new criticism focused our attention on the formal
elements of the text and on their relationship to the meaning of the text. New Criticism’s puts its
focus on the text itself disregarding any authorial background and intention.

UNIT 6: Deconstruction
Self-Assessment (Journal Entry #8)
Explain “undecideability.”

Undecideability is a concept that presents the idea that texts and language that can be
found in a certain literary text is complex and open to a variety of interpretations. It can also
mean that there’s no right way to interpret a text. It's open to multiple interpretations, and they
can coexist without one being more correct than another. Everyone can come up with their own
interpretations, and it will depend on a person's personal experience, perspective, and how they
view the world. For this reason, we can say that literature is open to discussion.
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Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)
UNIT 7: Application of Theories
Activity Proper
A. Read e.e. cummings’ poem below and write a literary criticism focusing on the aspects that
the formalist critic does.
old age sticks
up Keep
Off
signs) &

youth yanks them

down (old
age
cries No

Tres) & (pas)

youth laughs
(sing
old age

scolds Forbid
den Stop
Must
n’t Don’t

&) youth goes

right on
gr
owing old
- e.e. cummings
The formalist/structure approach to analyzing "Old Age Sticks " by e.e. cummings
focuses on the formal elements used by the author, including structure, and language..
In "Old Age Sticks" by E.E. Cummings, Cummings uses a change from normal
formatting to an odd, separated format. This form play a significant role in conveying its
meaning.the reader. This poem has five stanzas, each with four lines, as well as a parenthetical
element. The only literary device is free verse and there is no rhyming, structure, or punctuation
which why his work is considered unique.
What make this poem so intriguing is its use of wordplay and language, such as its use of
irregular punctuation, lack of capital letters. Playing with spelling, grammar, line-breaks,
punctuation, and rhyme allowed cummings many levels of ambiguity, many subtleties of
meaning in a seemingly simple verse.

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Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)
B. Using deconstruction, critic the poem below:
Prison
By Mila D. Aguilar

Prison is
a double wall;
one of adobe,
the other
so many layers
of barbed wire,
both formidable.
The outer wall
is guarded
from watch towers.
The other is the prison
within,
where they will
hammer you
into the image
of their own likeness
whoever they are.

The poet opens with a description of a prison. A prison with two walls—one made of
adobe and the other of barbed wire—is portrayed in the poem as a representation of both internal
and external imprisonment. The guarded outer wall represents society's rules and norms that
surround us. These are like the standards that we are meant to met, and duties we are expected to
do.
On the other hand, the speaker talks about the inner prison which indicates the personal
struggles we face. It's the pressure to fit in and change into what other people want us to be. The
use of "they" establishes a context of ambiguity because it is not clear to whom it is referring. Is
it the society? the Government? What authority? It really is up to us to figure out to whom or
what this "they" refers.
Overall, the poem discuss the two types of prison in a person’s life. A person can be a
prison of his actions or can be a prison of his own mind. It is a reminder that we all face
expectations and punishment from the outside world and from within ourselves.

C. Using structuralism, interpret the poem below:

Jabberwocky
By: Lewis Carroll

Lewis Caroll wrote the ballad-style poem “Jabberwocky”, which has 6 stanzas with 4
lines each and an ABAB rhyme scheme. The majority of the meter in "Jabberwocky" is iambic
tetrameter, which has four feet per line and one iambic unit in each foot. This simple meter
works well with the poem's diction. The poem's actual language is quite strange, but the overall
consistency of the metric structure helps readers in understanding it.
Despite the poem's strange language, its structure as a ballad helps readers in
understanding that an adventure or quest is highlighted, the particular form of the poem is
appropriate to the story, in which a hero sets out to slay a monster, the "Jabberwock".

Accredited: Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (AACCUP)
Member: Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC)
Agricultural Colleges Association of the Philippines (ACAP)