21st Approaches to literature

• Skimming


  • Quickly identify the main idea
  • Done at a speed three to four times faster than regular reading
  • Some people consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph
• Scanning


  • Quickly read a text to get the summary of it
  • Used to find answers to questions
• Extensive Reading


  • An approach to language learning, including foreign language learning, by means of a large amount of reading
• Factors to consider in critiquing a literary piece

  • Purpose of the author
  • Theme
  • Relevance of the content to the author's style of writing
• Formalist Approach


  • Critique a text based on its innate characteristics, including the form of the text
  • Literary elements
  • Literary devices
  • Structure
  • Language
• Marxist Approach


  • Stems from the idea that history has been all about the struggles of humans
  • Conflict between the rich and the poor is caused by the social status
• Moralist Approach


  • Presents a man as essentially rational; that is endowed with intellect and freewill; or that the piece does not misinterpret the true nature of man
• Feminist Approach


  • Analyzes textual representations from the woman's perspective
  • About women and their status in the society, how and why they act and are treated that way in the story
• Historical Approach


  • Operates on the premise that the history of a nation has telling effects on its literature
  • The piece can be better understood and appreciated if one knows the times surrounding its creation
• Reader-response Approach


  • Suggests that the role of the reader is essential to the meaning of a text
  • Only in the reading experience does the literary work comes alive
• Purposes of Reader-response Approach

  • Examine
  • Explain
  • Defend reader's personal reaction
• It is only the author who knows the real meaning of his literary piece
• Literary criticism gives us an opportunity to explore the beauty of a literary work
• Reader-response Approach


  • I like the poem because it speaks of the society we live in today. We often admire or we sometimes are envious of people because they seem to have the things that we wish we have in our lives. The ending is unexpected and I am clueless as to why he had to end his own life.
• Literary devices


  Techniques that writers use to convey their message more powerfully or to enhance their writing
• Many authors use literary devices without even realizing it
• Hyperbole


  • If the author exaggerate and say, "This invention has the potential to revolutionize the world,"
• Marxist criticism


  Concerns with the analysis of the clash of opposing social classes in society
• Reader-response criticism


  • Concerned with how the work is viewed by the audience
  • The reader creates meaning, not the author or the work
  • Once the work is published, the author is no longer relevant
• Some Benefits of Practicing and Reading Literary Criticism

  • Expands your worldview
  • Helps you better understand literature
  • Creates opportunities for new styles of writing
• Different kinds of criticism/approach:

  Formalist

  (Biographical)

  Feminist

  Marxist

  Moralist

  (Psychological)

  (Post-colonial)

  (Deconstructionist)

  Reader-response

  Historical

  New