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Department of Education
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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
ENGLISH 10
S.Y.2023-2024
Quarter 3
MELC 4: Critiquing a Literary Selection Based on Different Approaches
(Structuralist/ Formalist, Moralist, Marxist, Feminist, Historical, Reader-response)
OBJECTIVES:
1. Explore different view a on how to critique a literary text;
2. Analyze texts according to approaches used in critiquing literary selections;
3. Critique a literary selection using the appropriate approaches in critiquing text.
Key points!
Literary Criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description, or interpretation of literary works.
What More!
A. Structuralist/ Formalist
Structuralism or formalism is an approach in analyzing and interpreting a selection by looking into the
form of a selection. The critic, one who analyses the text, will scrutinize the elements such as point of
view, theme, symbol, plot, setting, character, measure, rhyme, tone, imagery, etc. and how these create
meaning.
B. Moralist
The philosopher Plato debated that literature has the ability to influence people. With this, moralist
approach in literary criticism judges the value of literature based on the teachings that can be taken
from a literary text. The role of the critic in this way of analyzing literature is to look into how the
events, characters, themes, symbols, etc. develop or destroy a person’s value or morality.
C. Marxist
This approach in literary criticism is anchored on the political theory of Carl Marx. The focus of Marxist
criticism is to describe how social class, economy, money and power play a role in literary selections.
The social class struggles in literature reflect how the low class are being dominated by the upper class
in the society.
The critic will dig into how the dominant groups exploit the minority groups in a text and how to
redeem the status of said minority groups.
D. Feminist
Most of the literature in the past were gender-biased due to domination of male written texts. Feminist
criticism tries to change the mostly male dominated perspective towards women on literature through
the feminist consciousness
In this approach, the critic will look into how literature treats women such as their roles, images,
portrayals, character, and characterization. It aims to uplift the women’s status from a discriminated or
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silenced one into women who are equal with men. Its intention is not to overcome the men but both to
have harmony and collaboration.
E. Historical
This approach in literary criticism perceives that each literary work is a product of its time and its
world. It investigates how a text manifests the attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and culture of the period it was
created. In doing this, the reader or critic will look into the background of a story or a poem in order
that he or she will understand the text better. Included in the background are the author, the time it was
written, and the situation at that time.
F. Reader-response
This criticism focuses on what was going on in the mind of the reader before, during, and after reading.
The critic is not interested on the intention of the author and what kind of text he or she reads. Instead,
the meaning is created based on the reader’s experience while reading. This mean that there is no single
meaning since the reader is the one producing it. Additionally, a reader’s understanding of a text may
change from time to time due to his or her experiences and readers from different generations, culture,
and place can have different understanding.
Activity 1:
A. I Finally Found You!
Directions: Search for the 10 literary devices and elements analyzed in a short story based on the
formalist approach. Write them on your answer sheet.
Clue: The words were formed horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.
B. Read and analyze the introductory part of the story A Day in the Country by
Anton Chekhov. Answer the following questions
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A Day in the Country
By Chekhov
(Summary)
In a village, a 6-year-old little girl named Fyokla came running through. The village were
preparing for a storm. Fyokla was asking every “uncle” (how she calls the people in the village).
Fyokla was able to receive help from a man named Terenty, who is a “tall old man with a thin,
pock-marked face, very long legs, and bare feet, dressed in a woman’s tattered jacket”. He does not look
hero type.
Fyokla asked to help free her brother Danilka, whose arm got stuck in a tree. Terenty agreed,
disregarding the storm to help Fyokla’s brother and ensuring Fyokla in a fatherly manner that he will
free him.
Eventually he freed Danilka, the children eventually loved the old man. Terenty may not look like
it but he answers all questions, and there is no secret in nature which baffles him. He knows everything.
All the villagers know as much as he does but the children love him because he is willing to share his
knowledge and time with the two orphan children.
All three retire to a deserted barn after the children spend a day with the old man. Terenty
shows sincerity and love for the two orphan children. Terenty comes back later and puts bread under
their heads and prayed for them while they are asleep. In this way Terenty tries to make the lives of
Fyokla and Danilka a little better than his own.
1. Who are the characters introduced in the story?
A. Fyokla and Anton
B. Fyokla and Terenty
C. Terenty and the cobbler
2. Where do you think the story happened?
A. The setting of the story was in the city.
B. The events took place in the jungle.
C. The story happened in the province.
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the exposition of the story?
In the beginning of the story…
A. a storm destroyed the village.
B. the villagers were expecting for an approaching storm.
C. Fyokla and the villagers were preparing for a feast after the storm.
4.What literary device is evident in the introduction of the story?
A. Symbolism
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B. Metaphor
C. Imagery
5.They hear a whistle and a rumble, but not such a rumble as the storm clouds carried away. A
good train races by before the eyes of Terenty, Danilka, and Fyokla. The engine, panting and
puffing out black smoke, drags more than twenty vans after it. Its power is tremendous. The
children are interested to know how an engine, not alive and without the help of horses, can
move and drag such weights, and Terenty undertakes to explain it to them.
What is the point of view of the narrator in the story based on the text
above?
A. Third person point of view
B. Second person point of view
C. First person point view
Reflection Time!
What is the significance of the title "A Day in the Country" in relation to the themes of the story?
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C. Use the picture below in critiquing the story “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin (1894).
Activity 2:
A. Differentiate the following ideas below.
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POSITIVE TEACHING NEGATIVE TEACHING
B. Write Agree if the statement is correct about moralist approach and Disagree if it’s wrong.
____________ 1. Moralistic approach is to criticize a literary work based on its structure.
____________ 2. Parables is a kind of a moral literature.
____________ 3. Literature that misguides is condemned.
____________ 4. Describe, Analyze, Interpret, and Assess is a way on how to write critique.
____________ 5. Ethical teachings are the main point of writing a moralist critique.
Activity 3: Differentiate the following approaches in literary criticism and provide real life
examples for each approach.
APPROACHES DEFINITION REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE
1. Structuralist/ Formalist
2. Moralist
3. Marxist
4. Feminist
5. Feminist
6. Historical
7. Reader-response
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Activity 4: Based on the story “The Story of Keesh”, write your own criticism about the story
using the Structuralist / Formalist approach. Use a separate sheet of paper for your output.
Activity 5: Based on the story “The Story of Keesh”, write your own criticism about the story
using the moralist approach. Use a separate sheet of paper for your output.
Activity 6: Using the Venn Diagram below, compare and contrast Historical Approach and
Reader-Response Approach of literary criticism.
Prepared By:
Rachel Mae M. Bautista Christine Angelique Y. Borja
Teacher I Teacher I
Kimberly Ann S. Isidro Azajar Y. Obregon
Teacher I Teacher I
Checked: Approved:
Alma D. Bautista Paul D. Gamboa
HT-III, English Principal II
