Literary Criticism: Questions for a Variety of Approaches
I. Formalistic Approach: This approach focuses on form. The analysis stresses items like symbols,
images, and structure and how one part of the work relates to other parts and to the whole.
A. How is the work’s structure unified?
B. How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
C. What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) can you find? What is the effect of
these patterns or motifs?
D. How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
E. How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
F. What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
G. What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.)
H. Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style of narration.
What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another or to the theme?
I. Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
J. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
K. How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is there between tone and mood
and the effect of the story?
L. How do the various elements interact to create a unified whole?
III. Biographical Approach: Focuses on the connection of work to the author’s personal experiences.
A. What aspects of the author’s personal life are relevant to this story?
B. Which of the author’s stated beliefs are reflected in the work?
C. Does the writer challenge or support the values of her contemporaries?
D. What seem to be the author’s major concerns? Do they reflect any of the writer’s personal
experiences?
E. Do any of the events in the story correspond to events experienced by the author?
F. Do any of the characters in the story correspond to real people?
IV. Historical Approach: This approach focuses on connection of work to the historical period in which it was written;
literary historians attempt to connect the historical background of the work to specific aspects of the work.
A. How does it reflect the time in which it was written?
B. How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?
C. What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the work?
D. How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was written or set?
(Consider beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.)
E. What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
F. What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?
G. How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s
contemporaries?
H. Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it was written?
Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing values?
I. How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to interpreting the
work?
VIII. Feminist Criticism: This approach examines images of women and concepts of the feminine in
myth and literature; uses the psychological, archetypal, and sociological approaches; often focuses on female characters
who have been neglected in previous criticism. Feminist critics attempt to correct or supplement what they regard as a
predominantly male-dominated critical perspective.
A. How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?
B. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?
C. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these relationships sources of
conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?
D. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
E. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces that have impeded
women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men?
F. What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations
have?
G. What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do these expectations
have?
H. If a female character were male, how would the story be different (and vice versa)?
I. How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or happiness?
A Toolbox for Understanding
Literature: Critical Approaches
The toolbox of literary criticism offers us a variety of ways to tinker with the text until we have a better
understanding. We can use literary criticism to help us resolve a question in the reading, to choose the
better of two conflicting readings, or to form judgments about literature. Here are some critical
approaches that will enable you to delve deeply into literature.
(1) The Historical / Biographical Approach
Critics who employ this lens see works as the reflection of an author's life and times (or of the
characters' life and times). They believe it is necessary to know about the author and the political,
economic, and sociological context of his times in order to truly understand his works.
Advantages: This approach works well for some works--like those of Alexander Pope, John Dryden, and
Milton--which are obviously political in nature. One must know Milton was blind, for instance, for "On His
Blindness" to have any meaning. One must know something about the Exclusion Bill Crisis to appreciate
John Dryden's "Absalom and Achitophel." It also is necessary to take a historical approach in order to
place allusions in their proper classical, political, or biblical background.
Disadvantages: New Critics refer to the historical / biographical critic's belief that the meaning of a work
may be determined by the author's intention as "the intentional fallacy." They believe that this approach
tends to reduce art to the level of biography and make it relative (to the times) rather than universal.
(2) The Moral / Philosophical Approach
Moral / philosophical critics believe that the larger purpose of literature is to teach morality and
to probe philosophical issues. Practitioners include Matthew Arnold, who argued works must have "high
seriousness," Plato, who insisted literature must exhibit moralism and utilitarianism, and Horace, who
felt literature should be "delightful and instructive."
Advantages: This approach is useful for such works as Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man," which
presents an obvious moral philosophy. It is also useful when considering the themes of works (for
example, man's inhumanity to man in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn). Finally, it does not view literature
merely as "art" isolated from all moral implications; rather, it recognizes that literature can affect
readers, whether subtly or directly, and that the message of a work— and not just the decorous vehicle
for that message— is important.
Disadvantages: Detractors argue that such an approach can be too "judgmental." Some believe literature
should be judged primarily (if not solely) on its artistic merits, not its moral or philosophical content.
(3) Formalism / New Criticism
A formalistic approach to literature, once called New Criticism, involves a close reading of the text.
Famous formalistic critics include I.A. Richards, Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, and Allen Tate, to
name but a few. Formalists 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.
Those who practice formalism claim they do not view works through the lens of feminism,
psychology, Marxism, or any other philosophical standpoint. They are also uninterested in the work's
effect on the reader. Formalistic critics spend a great deal of time analyzing irony, paradox, imagery, and
metaphor.
They are also interested in a work's setting, characters, symbols, and point of view.
When reading the literary analysis of a New Critic, you might come across the following terms:
This formalistic approach does not allow us to account for most readers' natural (and
appropriate) response of disgust to the incestuous relationship or to examine how that affects the ability
of the author to communicate his story. Some would argue that an understanding of the text is where
criticism should begin, and not where it ends. We should also relate the text to life, ideas, and morality.
Advantages: The advantage of this critical approach is that it can be performed without much research,
and it emphasizes the value of literature apart from its context. This type of literary criticism in effect
makes literature timeless.
Disadvantages: The text is viewed in isolation. Formalism ignores the context of the work. This means
that, among other things, it cannot account for allusions. Some have argued that the formalist approach
reduces literature to nothing more than a collection of rhetorical devices.
(4) The Feminist Approach
Feminist criticism is concerned with the impact of gender on writing and reading. It usually begins
with a critique of patriarchal culture. It is concerned with the place of female writers in the cannon.
Finally, it seeks to present a feminine theory of or approach to texts. Feminist criticism is political and
often revisionist. Feminists often argue that male fears are portrayed through female characters. They
may argue that gender determines everything, or, in contrast, that all gender differences are imposed by
society, and gender determines nothing.
In A Literature of Their Own, Elaine Showalter argued that literary subcultures all go through three major
phases of development:
• The Feminine Stage involves "imitation of the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition"
and "internalization of its standards."
• The Feminist Stage involves "protest against these standards and values and advocacy of
minority rights...."
• The Female Stage is the "phase of self-discovery, a turning inwards freed from some of the
dependency of opposition, a search for identity."
Advantages: Women have been underrepresented in the traditional cannon, and a feminist approach to
literature redresses this problem.
Disadvantages: Feminists turn literary criticism into a political battlefield and overlook the merits of
works they consider "patriarchal." When arguing for a distinct feminine writing style, they tend to
relegate women's literature to a ghetto status; this in turn prevents female literature from being naturally
included in the literary cannon. The feminist approach is often too theoretical.
(5) Reader Response Criticism
Reader response criticism has been used by literary critics ranging from I.A. Richards and Louise
Rosenblatt to Walter Gibson and Norman Holland. Reader response criticism places strong emphasis on
the reader's role in producing the meaning of a literary work. It is in some senses an opposite approach
from that of formalism.
Whereas formalists treat meaning as objectively inherent in the text, in reader response criticism,
the text has no meaning until it is read by a reader who creates the meaning. Unlike the formalist critical
approach, this type of literary criticism insists that works are not universal, that is, that they will not
always mean more or less the same thing to readers everywhere. Indeed, according to one practitioner of
reader response criticism, Norman Holland, the reader imposes his or her own identity on the work, "to a
large extent recreating that text in the reader's image."
In reading the parable of the prodigal son in the New Testament, different readers are likely to have
different responses. Someone who has lived a fairly straight and narrow life and who does not feel like he
has been rewarded for it is likely to associate with the older brother of the parable and sympathize with
his opposition to the celebration over the prodigal son's return. Someone with a more checkered past
would probably approach the parable with more sympathy for the younger brother. A parent who had
had difficulties with a rebellious child would probably focus on the father, and, depending on his or her
experience, might see the father's unconditional acceptance of the prodigal as either good and merciful or
as unwise and overindulgent. While the parable might disturb some, it could elicit a feeling of relief from
others.
When using reader response criticism as a tool of analysis, you could write about how the author
evokes a particular reaction in you as the reader, what aspects of your own identity influence you in
creating your interpretation, and how another reader in a different situation might interpret the work
differently.
Advantages: Reader response criticism acknowledges that different people view works differently and
that interpretations change over time.
Disadvantages: This approach tends to make interpretation highly subjective and consequently does not
provide sufficient criteria for judging between two or more different interpretations of the text.
These seven critical approaches to literature can be combined to create a multi-level analysis of a literary
work. While imperfect individually, each of these tool can be useful in chipping away at the text until the
student of literature arrives at an in-depth understanding.
Source: https://www.skylarb.com/post/2018/09/26/a-toolbox-for-understanding-literature-seven-critical-approaches
