Good

MORNING!

Prayer..
Our Lord God in heaven. Thank you for the new day you've bestowed upon us. Until this
moment, we still have our borrowed life and strength from you. We worship and praise
Your Holy Name. This moment, we will continue to study and acquire new knowledge.
May you bless your students with witty brain to think fast and an inquiring mind to be
curious on whatever knowledge they will learn today. Most importantly bless them with
Your wisdom and a heart that will follow your commandments in order for them to
become worthy in their studies.

We ask all of these. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Amen.
1
Literary
Criticism
Literary criticism
 It 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.

4
1 Approaches to
Literary
Criticism
Feminist / Gender
Criticism
 Feminist criticism concerns with the woman’s role in
society as portrayed through texts. It typically
analyzes the plight of woman as depicted in the
story. Generally, it criticizes the notion of woman as
a construct through literature.

6
Some terms that are relevant to our understanding of Feminism are the
following:

 Patriarchal woman – refers to the woman who has unconsciously

integrated in her being patriarchal norms, beliefs, and values.

 Patriarchy – refers to the culture where men are privileged and

women are expected to be confined within the traditional roles.

 Sex – refers to the biological state of the person

 Gender – refers to the categories created by the culture and society

7
 What questions do feminist critiques ask? What do they do?

 How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?

 What are the power relationships between men and women (or
characters assuming male/female roles)?
 How are male and female roles defined?
 What constitutes masculinity and femininity?
 How do characters embody these traits?
 Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? How so?
 How does this change others’ reactions to them?

8
Historical-Biographical
APPROACH
 Historical criticism relies heavily on the author and
his world.

 This approach sees a literary work as a reflection of

the author’s life and times or the life and times of the
characters in the work.

9
 What questions do historical critiques ask? What do they do?

 When was the work written? When was it published? How was it
received by the critics and public and why?
 What does the work’s reception reveal about the standards of taste and
value during the time it was published and reviewed?
 What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and
content of the work?
 What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
 What historical events or movements might have influenced this
writer?

10
READER – RESPONSE
APPROACH
 The reader—response approach of literary criticism
aims to focus on the active role of the audience
(reader) in interpreting the meaning of the symbols
embedded or seen in the local colors, actions, and
dialogues of the characters in the literary text.

11
 What questions do reader-response critiques ask? What do they do?
 What quality of which character strikes you as a good characteristic to
develop within yourself over the years? Why? How does the character
demonstrate this quality?
 Who tells the story? Is the best person to tell it? Why?
 How would the story be different if told through another character’s
eyes?
 Why do you think the author wrote this story?
 If you were the author, would you have ended the story in a different
way? Why? How so?
 How does the character’s actions affect other people in the story?

12
Formalistic Criticism
 A formalistic approach to literature, once called New
Criticism, involves a close reading of the text.

 Formalistic critics believe that all information essential to

the interpretation of a work must be found within the work
itself; there is no need to bring in outside information about
the history, politics, or society of the time, or about the
author's life.

13
 What questions do structuralist/formalist critiques ask? What do they do?

✗ Who are the protagonist and antagonist? How are they characterized?
✗ What is the conflict?
✗ What themes does the work include?
✗ How are symbols, images, and other poetic devices used?
✗ What role does setting play in the work?
✗ Trace the plot structure (rising action, climax, resolution, etc.)
✗ Examine how genre forms affect the content, (i.e. how does the short
story)

14
Sociological / Marxist
Criticism
 This viewpoint considers particular aspects of the
political content of the text; the author; the historical
and socio-cultural context of the work; and the
cultural, political, and personal situation of the
reader in relationship to the text.

15
The following terms are crucial to our understanding of Marxism.

 Classism – it is an “ideology that equates one’s value as a

human being with the social class to which one belongs

 Capitalism – refers to the market economy that relies on

consumerism or that act of acquisition of consumer goods.

 Imperialism – refers to the domination of one nation through

military, economic, and/or cultural means.

16
 What do Marxists Literary Critics Do? What questions do they ask?

✗ What kinds of power (social, economic, sexual, physical, etc.) are

evident in the text?
✗ What is the social order?
✗ Who has power in the text? How do they maintain and/or gain power?
✗ How do power relationships operate in the text? Who gains and loses in
the relationships?
✗ What, if anything, causes power to change hands?
✗ What ideologies (values, beliefs, social roles) are evident in the text?

17
Moral-Philosophical
APPROACH
 This approach takes the position that the larger
function of literature is to teach morality and probe
philosophical issues, such as ethics, religion, or the
nature of humanity.

18
 How to Do it?
✗ Is the author and his/her treatment of the subject (both character and
theme) mature, sincere, honest and sensitive, or courageous? How so,
and how does knowing this help us approach the text in a meaningful
way?
✗ Does the text seek to corrupt or negatively influence the reader?
✗ What moral lesson or ethical teaching is the author presenting in the text/
or through character, plot, or theme?
✗ How do characters, settings, and plot events represent or allegorize
moral or ethical principles?
✗ Does the work in question pose a pragmatic or moral lesson or
philosophical idea?
19
20
Activity

21
Thanks
!Any questions/
clarifications?

Checking of Attendance…
23