4: Literary Analysis
- Page ID
- 59526
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)- 4.1: Finding Literary Criticism
- This page discusses literary criticism as a tool for analysis rather than mere critique, emphasizing the importance of plot, character, setting, and themes. It highlights the need for reputable scholarly sources, recommending peer-reviewed journals and assessing significance through citation frequency.
- 4.3: The Nature of Analysis
- This page emphasizes the importance of analysis, contrasting it with mere summaries or reviews. Using Jeff, a student studying Shakespeare's "The Tempest," the text illustrates the need for a balanced integration of assertions, examples, explanations, and significance in writing. It highlights Shakespeare's theme of impermanence, evoking mixed feelings and motivating deeper engagement with subjects.
- 4.4: How to Analyze a Novel
- This page provides a detailed overview of literary analysis, highlighting essential elements like setting, characterization, plot, and theme. It explores how these components influence the narrative and the author's stylistic choices. The importance of conflict and theme in storytelling is emphasized, leading to the conclusion that literary analysis should be thorough and subjective, promoting balanced perspectives and deeper insights into the work.
- 4.5: How to Analyze a Short Story
- This page offers a guide to analyzing a short story by exploring its structure and literary elements such as setting, characterization, and plot. It provides guiding questions to engage readers with the narrative, emphasizing the author's intent and the thematic message. The analysis encourages examining characters and themes, and highlights the importance of presenting personal opinions in literary essays backed by textual evidence.
- 4.6: How to Analyze Poetry
- This page discusses poetry as a distinct form of expression that encourages diverse interpretations from readers, highlighting the importance of grounding these interpretations in the text. While poets have specific intentions, individual responses may vary. It emphasizes understanding key poetic elements and provides a guide with analytical questions regarding the poem's subject, title, speaker, audience, purpose, and tone.
- 4.7: How to Analyze a Film
- This page discusses how films, like novels, tell stories across genres using literary elements and multimedia techniques. It emphasizes the importance of analyzing aspects such as setting, conflict, character development, narration, imagery, themes, and cinematic effects to interpret a film's overall message and impact.
- 4.8: Introduction to Critical Theory
- This page outlines the evolution of literary theory from its ancient roots to a professional field that began in the 20th century, gaining momentum in the 1950s with structuralism. It highlights a peak in popularity from the late 1960s to the 1980s, with a slight decline in the early 1990s.
- 4.9: Reader-Response Criticism In Brief
- This page discusses reader-response criticism, a literary theory that focuses on the reader's experience and interpretation rather than the author's intent or the text's content. Emerging in the 1960s and '70s, theorists like Norman Holland and Stanley Fish argue that meaning is actively created by readers, making literature a performative art. This perspective contrasts with formalism and New Criticism, which emphasize fixed interpretations and textual analysis.
- 4.10: Reader-Response Criticism
- This page emphasizes the reader's role in meaning-making, particularly through reader-response literary criticism, encouraging personal engagement and critical assessment of texts. It highlights the representation of women in literature, citing Mrs. Mitty as a case study for female readers' challenges with negative portrayals and the influence of male narratives. The text calls for women to critically engage with literature to challenge stereotypes.
- 4.11: New Criticism
- This page discusses New Criticism, a mid-20th century formalist literary theory that emphasized close reading of texts as self-contained entities. It arose in response to historical and biographical approaches and was influenced by figures like Ransom and Eliot. The movement reached its peak during the Cold War, featuring notable contributions from Brooks and Warren.