IS A BRANCH OF LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM WHICH DEALS WITH THE STRUCTURES OF TEXT

THE FOCUS IS ONLY ON THE TEXT AND THE CONTENTS WITHIN THE TEXT SUCH AS GRAMMAR, SYNTAX, SIGNS, LITERARY TROPES, ETC

literary devices

figure of speech

THE USE OF VISUALLY DESCRIPTIVE OR FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN WRITING

ONE WAY TO DESCRIBE THIS IS SHOWING VERSUS TELLING.

HOW YOUR STORY IS TOLD AND THROUGH WHOSE PERSPECTIVE IS WHAT YOUR POINT OF VIEW IS.

THIS COULD BE FIRST PERSON, SECOND PERSON, THIRD PERSON.

IT IS THE PLACEMENT OF CLUES ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE OF YOUR STORY

IT IS A LITERARY DEVICE THAT’S THE CHOICE OF WORDS OR STYLE USED BY THE WRITER IN ORDER TO CONVEY THEIR MESSAGE.

IN LITERATURE ARE WHEN THE NARRATOR GOES BACK IN TIME FOR A SPECIFIC SCENE OR CHAPTER IN ORDER TO GIVE MORE CONTEXT FOR THE STORY.

OF A BOOK IS SOMETHING THAT CONVEYS THE NARRATOR’S OPINION, ATTITUDE, OR FEELINGS ABOUT WHAT IS WRITTEN

TRACKING INFLUENCE, ESTABLISHING THE CANON OF MAJOR WRITERS IN THE LITERARY PERIODS, AND CLARIFYING HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND ALLUSIONS WITHIN THE TEXT.

THE CRITIC EVALUATES THE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION OF THE AUTHOR IN RELATION TO THE TEXT.

THEY ALSO CONSIDER PATTERNS WITHIN THE AUTHOR'S WORKS TO IDENTIFY STYLE, STRUCTURE, OR TONE FOR EXAMPLE.

THIS THEORY HOLDS THAT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO INTERPRET THE TEXT BASED ON THE READER’S CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS, ECONOMIC BACKGROUND

IN OTHER WORDS, READERS BRING THEIR OWN THOUGHTS, VIEWS, EXPERIENCES AND ATTITUDES TO THE TEXT AND INTERPRET THE STORY THROUGH A PERSONAL LENS.

THIS CRITICAL THEORY IS OFTEN USED TO DISCUSS A TEXT IN A CLASSROOM SETTING WHERE STUDENTS ARE SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE THEIR OWN INSIGHTS ON THE LITERATURE READ.

THE CLOSED-READING APPROACH WAS A METHOD DEVELOPED BY I.A. RICHARDS IN WHICH ONLY WORDS ON-PAGE WERE ANALYZED VERY CLOSELY IN A TEXT.

IT ARGUED THAT A TEXT SHOULD BE VERY CLOSELY READ AND ANALYZED WITHOUT REFERRING TO EXTERNAL MATERIALS AND ISSUES SUCH AS CULTURAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC AND OTHERS.

TEND TO FOCUS ON THE REPRESENTATION OF CLASS CONFLICT AS WELL AS THE REINFORCEMENT OF CLASS DISTINCTIONS THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF LITERATURE.

USE TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES OF LITERARY ANALYSIS BUT SUBORDINATE AESTHETIC CONCERNS TO THE FINAL SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MEANINGS OF LITERATURE.

OFTEN CHAMPION AUTHORS SYMPATHETIC TO THE WORKING CLASSES AND AUTHORS WHOSE WORK CHALLENGES ECONOMIC EQUALITIES FOUND IN CAPITALIST SOCIETIES.

IN KEEPING WITH THE TOTALIZING SPIRIT OF ____, LITERARY THEORIES ARISING FROM THE _____ PARADIGM HAVE NOT ONLY SOUGHT NEW WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC PRODUCTION AND LITERATURE, BUT ALL CULTURAL PRODUCTION AS WELL.

CAN BE VIEWED AS AN EXTENSION OF “FORMALISM” IN THAT BOTH _____ DEVOTED THEIR ATTENTION TO MATTERS OF LITERARY FORM (I.E. STRUCTURE) RATHER THAN SOCIAL OR HISTORICAL CONTENT; AND THAT BOTH BODIES OF THOUGHT WERE INTENDED TO PUT THE STUDY OF LITERATURE ON A SCIENTIFIC, OBJECTIVE BASIS.

BASED ON THE THEORIES OF FREUD, THIS CRITICISM CENTERS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CHARACTERS AND ANALYZES CHARACTER MOTIVATION, BEHAVIOR AND ACTIONS

IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT THE PROTAGONIST’S PSYCHOLOGY, THEN YOU CAN USE THAT TO INTERPRET THE TEXT. THE THEORY IS ALSO USED TO ANALYZE THE AUTHOR’S STATE OF MIND.

IT INVESTIGATES THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PARTICULAR WRITER FOCUSING HOW AN AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHICAL SITUATIONS AFFECT OR INFLUENCE THEIR SELECTION OF THEME AND USE OF LITERARY TECHNIQUES.

IT ANALYZES FICTIONAL CHARACTERS USING THE CONCEPTS, TERMS AND METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES.

ID, EGO, SUPEREGO

THIS THEORY LOOKS AT THE CULTURAL MAKEUP OF A CERTAIN ERA AND THE IDEAS AND VALUES THAT DEFINE THAT ERA

THE TEXT SERVES AS A “RETELLING OF HISTORY” AND, IF VIEWED AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, CAN SUPPLY A RADICALLY DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT THAN WHAT IS COMMONLY KNOWN ABOUT AN EVENT, ERA AND/OR PERSON.

ALSO PROVIDES CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL CRITIQUE AS WELL AS HELPING THE READER TO FIND NEW MEANINGS IN A TEXT.

THIS THEORY INCLUDES THE DYNAMICS OF RACISM AND THIRD WORLD POLITICS

IS AN EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORY, CULTURE, AND ESPECIALLY LITERATURE OF CULTURES OF AFRICA, ASIA (INCLUDING THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT), THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, AND SOUTH AMERICA AS THEY ARE PRODUCED BY PEOPLE FROM THESE AREAS DURING THE COLONIAL ERA OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES.

IS AN ANALYSIS OF THE POWER AND POLITICAL STRUCTURES THAT PERVADED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLONIAL POWERS AND COLONIZED AREAS IN THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES

CAME TO THE FOREFRONT OF THE THEORETICAL SCENE FIRST AS FEMINIST THEORY BUT HAS SUBSEQUENTLY COME TO INCLUDE THE INVESTIGATION OF ALL GENDER AND SEXUAL CATEGORIES AND IDENTITIES

FOLLOWED SLIGHTLY BEHIND THE REEMERGENCE OF POLITICAL FEMINISM IN THE UNITED STATES AND WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE 1960S.

POLITICAL FEMINISM OF THE SO-CALLED “SECOND WAVE” HAD AS ITS EMPHASIS PRACTICAL CONCERNS WITH THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES, WOMEN’S IDENTITY, AND THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN MEDIA AND CULTURE.

THESE CAUSES CONVERGED WITH EARLY LITERARY FEMINIST PRACTICE, CHARACTERIZED BY ELAINE SHOWALTER AS “GYNOCRITICISM,” WHICH EMPHASIZED THE STUDY AND CANONICAL INCLUSION OF WORKS BY FEMALE AUTHORS AS WELL AS THE DEPICTION OF WOMEN IN MALEAUTHORED CANONICALTEXTS.

IS POSTMODERN IN THAT IT CHALLENGES THE PARADIGMS AND INTELLECTUAL PREMISES OF WESTERN THOUGHT, BUT ALSO TAKES AN ACTIVIST STANCE BY PROPOSING FREQUENT INTERVENTIONS AND ALTERNATIVE EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITIONS MEANT TO CHANGE THE SOCIAL ORDER.

LITERATURE APPEALS TO EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF CULTURE, RACE, GENDER, AND TIMES WHICH ARE ALL CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT.

LITERATURE HAS AN AESTHETIC APPEAL AND THUS POSSESSES A SENSE OF BEAUTY

LITERATURE STIMULATES CRITICAL THINKING THAT ENRICHES MENTAL PROCESSES OF ABSTRACT AND REASONING, MAKING MAN REALIZE THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF LIFE AND ITS NATURE.

LITERATURE UNRAVELS AND CONJURES MAN’S EMOTIONAL POWER TO DEFINE SYMBOLISMS, NUANCES, IMPLIED MEANINGS, IMAGES AND MESSAGES, GIVING AND EVOKING VISIONS ABOVE AND BEYOND THE PLANE OF ORDINARY LIFE AND EXPERIENCE.

LITERATURE ELEVATES THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL, AND THIS HAS THE POWER TO MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE, DRAWN FROM THE SUGGESTED MORALS OR LESSONS OF THE DIFFERENT LITERARY GENRES.

LITERATURE ENDURES ACROSS TIME AND DRAWS OUT THE TIME FACTOR: TIMELINESS, OCCURRING AT A PARTICULAR TIME, AND TIMELESSNESS, REMAINING INVARIABLE THROUGHOUTTIME.

LITERATURE PRESENTS PECULIAR WAY/S ON HOW MAN SEES LIFE AS EVIDENCED BY THE FORMATION OF HIS IDEAS, FORMS, STRUCTURES, AND EXPRESSIONS WHICH ARE MARKED BY THEIR MEMORABLE SUBSTANCES.