ENGLISH CRITIQUE

• The necklace was worth 40,000 francs
• Aristocles/Plato: 'made the Moralist Approach'
• The actual price of the necklace was 500 francs
• Karl Heinrich Marx: 'wrote the book "Communist Manifesto" where the Marxist approach was derived from'
• INTRODUCTION

  1. State the title of the work and the author's name

  2. Outline main ideas and identify the author's thesis

  3. State your own thesis statement and your main idea about the work
• Ferdinand de Saussure: 'made the Structuralist/Formalist Approach'
• The Necklace is a short story that describes the tale of Mathilde Loisel and her experience with a diamond necklace
• Critical Analysis (Critique) is a technique that aims to study, discuss, evaluate, and interpret literary works
• SAMPLE CRITIQUE includes the title of the text, the author's name, and the author's thesis statement
• Literary-Literature (novels, poems, and short stories) are subjects for critique
• The purpose of critiquing a literary work is to know its overall value and determine its strengths and weaknesses
• ANALYSIS


  1. State what you like and do not like about the text

  2. Interpret and evaluate the text based on how it is organized, the style and rhetoric, the effectiveness of the message, whether or not the author did justice to the message, and how the text appealed to its target audience
• CRITIQUE is synonymous with criticism
• Mary Wollstonecraft: 'made the Feminist Approach'
• Monsieur Loisel gave Mathilde 400 francs to buy a dress
• William Duncan Strong: 'made the Historical Approach'
• Research studies, books, films/movies, and artworks are subjects for critique
• John Dryden: 'father of English criticism'
• A critique could be a critical essay, an article evaluating a literary piece, or a review
• PARTS OF A CRITIQUE (Critical Analysis)

  1. INTRODUCTION

  2. SUMMARY

  3. ANALYSIS

  4. CONCLUSION
• After the discount, the necklace was worth 36,000 francs
• SUMMARY


  Summarize the text in your own words
• Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant wrote "The Necklace"
• CONCLUSION

  1. Restate your thesis in new words

  2. Summarize your main ideas with new and stronger words

  3. Include a call to action
• Speaker: 'Just a victim of the materialistic values of the French society'
• The Loisels do not blame each other for what happened


  They face life as it is
• Elements examined in Marxist Approach

  • Class stratification
  • Class relations
  • Dominant ideology
• Structuralist / Formalist Approach


  • True meaning of a text can be determined by analyzing literary elements and understanding how they work together to form a cohesive whole
• Feminist Approach


  • Focuses on female representation in literature, paying attention to female point of view, concerns, and values
• Elements of a text in Structuralist / Formalist Approach

  • Literary elements
  • Literary devices
  • Structure
  • Language
• Reader-Response Approach

  • Argues that the meaning of a text is dependent upon the readers' response to it
• A text can be analyzed using a combination of different critical approaches to interpret, evaluate, and appreciate a literary work
• Historical Approach


  • Involves understanding the historical and cultural conditions that influence the production of the literary work
• Marxist Approach


  • Examines the relationship of a literary product to the actual economic and social reality of its time and place
• Moralist Approach


  • To determine if a work conveys a lesson or message that can help readers lead better lives and improve their understanding of the world