Literary Analysis and Criticism
Literary Analysis and Criticism
Criticism definition
- from "critical"
- adjective to discern, judge
- see critical thought
- in literature, "criticism" involves assessment of a work through
- analysis of literary techniques and their effectiveness
- other literary merits
- other literary faults
Summarizing
- plot, setting, narrator, character, conflict, change, connection, reflection, language, and theme.
Literary analysis
author analysis
- author biography
- author historical context
- author publications
- author critical reception
textual analysis
- character
- author purpose
- author technique
- metaphor and analogy
- "read between the lines"
- narrative
- moral purpose
Journey of the hero
12 Elements of the hero's journey:
1. background, life as normal
2. the call
3. refusal of the call
4. mentor
5. passing the threshhold (heading into the journey)
6. encounter allies and enemies
7. tests and challenges
8. the "innermost cave" (despair moment)
9. seizing the sword: facing the enemy head on
10. the ultimate ordeal
11. resurrection: hero brought back to life, literally
12. Returning w/ the elixir and return to normal life
- see : Joesph Campbell's "The Power of Myth"
- the monomyth of call to adventure, tests, and resurrection
Literary Criticism
George Orwell
- Politics and the English Language
- essay on honesty and clarity of language
- argues against euphemisms and euphemistic language
- online sources:
Sokal affair
- Professor of Physics Alan Sokal published a paper purporting to take seriously the idea that the laws of physics are social constructs
- he was satirizing similar theories in the social sciences, especially postmodern studies
- his paper: Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity (nyu.edu)
- see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- by Thomas C. Foster: "How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines"
- Themes, advice, and quotations
- "Fiction and poetry and drama are not necessarily playgrounds for the overly literal" (p. << to cite)
- "No literary Christ figure can ever be as pure, as perfect, as divine as Jesus Christ. Here as elsewhere, one does well to remember that writing literature is an exercise of the imagination. And so is reading it."
- to bring our imaginations to bear on a story if we are to see all its possibilities; otherwise it’s just about somebody who did something." (p. << to cite)
- Themes, advice, and quotations
- online sources: