Learning Objectives:: Source

Lesson 4.
1 Literary Theories
Learning Objectives:
 Identify different writing theories

 Analyze and appreciate a text using different writing theories
Essential Question: Why do we use different literary theories as we analyze literary texts?
Lesson Proper
Literary Theories
Literary Theories, which is also called Literary Criticism, is a collection of ideas and methods which acts different
lenses critics use to view and talk about art, literature, and even culture. Critics use these different lenses which allow
them to focus on particular aspects of a work they consider essential. Using these theories, they may examine any
elements of the text: character, conflicts, narrative point of view, to name a few.
It provides a framework for our discussion of a text; we use it a starting point for our own ideas and point of view.
Its functions are: to analyze, study, and evaluate works of literature and to form general principles for the examination of
works of literature.
Source: https://w w w .slideshare.net/LeonieKrieger/intro-to-literary-theory
Fundamentals of Literary Theories
 It’s the reader’s choice on how to read the text

 The meaning is constructed and not absolute
 We, the readers, can choose what lenses we apply and explore how each lens influences our interpretation of a
text (by doing this, we’ll be aware that there are different ways a text can be interpreted)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKGcwY9Ty NE
There are various types of literary theories, but we’ll be studying these 5:
A. Historical
This seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced
it—a context that necessarily includes the artist’s biography and milieu. This theory is often very similar to a biographical
analysis when it comes to analyzing a text, and it’s possible to view history, culture, and biography in a single essay.
1. What actual historical events did a writer refer to, and how was the event altered in the fictional account?
2. What social attitudes related to the action in the work were prevalent during the time it was written?
3. To what extent can we study the past as it is reflected in the literary work?
B. Formalism
This looks closely at the work itself. It analyzes the various elements of the work (set ting, characters, symbols and
point of view) as a way of explicating a text. Using this theory, there’s no need to bring in outside information about the
history, politics, society or time, or about the author’s life.
1. Who are the major and minor characters, what do they represent, and how do they relate to one another?
2. What literary devices does the author use to unite the parts into a whole?
3. What are the symbols and allusions, for example, that contributes to the total effect of the work?
C. Structuralism
This examines how a certain work is built. In literary theory, structuralism is an approach to analyzing a text by
examining the underlying invariant structure, which is based on the linguistic sign system. The literary texts are composed
of a series of signs that make up their hidden logic. It is a method of interpreting or analyzing a literary piece that focus es
on contrasting ideas and how they relate to the whole. In Structuralism, a piece is open to interpretation, and it solely
depends how the reader views the meaning of the text based on his or her understanding, which may involve personal
belief, environment, behavior, or moral perception.
There are "rules" that govern interpretation of texts.
1. How is the work put together to develop meaning?
2. What is the relevance of the flashback to its resolution?
3. What is the text’s genre?
D. Feminism
This focuses on how literature represented women and relationships between men and women. It also focuses on
the role of women or representations of women in the literary work.
1. To what extent does the representation of women (and men) in the work reflect the time and place in which the work
was written?
2. How are the relationships between men and women presented in the work?
3. Does the author present the work from within a predominantly male or female perspective?
E. Marxist
This emphasizes the role of class through a piece of literature. Karl Marx, the proponent of this theory, perceived
human history to have consisted of a series of struggles between classes —the oppressed and the oppressor.
1. What is the economic situation of the characters, and what happens to them as a result of this status?
2. To what extent are the lives of characters influenced or determined by social, political and economic forces?
3. What social forces and institutions are represented in the work?
Source: https://w w w .slideshare.net/ChamiePapersty/intro-toliterarycriticism

Relevance of Literary Analysis
Literary analysis involves reading poems, stories, plays, novels, and essays, thinking about them, discussing
them, and writing about them. Due to an increase in the desire for practical skills, the American university has in recent
years decided to emphasize business and technical education at the expense of the humanities. This decision stems from
the assumption that the study of literature has little or no utilitarian value. We believe, however, that with the right
instruction, the study of literature is a practical discipline. Furthermore, it cultivates other important abilities that mak e it an
indispensable part of university education.
Because literary study involves the four processes of reading, thinking, discussing, and writing, its practical
pedagogical value lies in its tendency to stimulate these activities and thereby improve the student’s ability to perform
them. Careful reading increases one’s vocabulary and general verbal sensitivity and sophistication. In the classroom, the
teacher can lead the student to think critically about what has been read. Classroom discussions sharpen reading and
thinking skills and increase the student’s ability to express thoughts orally. The teacher can then use these processes to
stimulate in students the desire to organize and record thoughts in writing. Thus the study of literature can be seen as
practical intellectual discipline. It directly involves the student in the analysis of difficult literary texts, and in doing so it
develops verbal skills which are transferable to other contexts. In other words, a person trained in the study of literature
will be better equipped than most to read, comprehend, and analy ze other kinds of texts (newspapers, reports, briefs,
etc.).

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Lesson 4.

 Identify different writing theories

Source: https://w w w .slideshare.net/LeonieKrieger/intro-to-literary-theory

Fundamentals of Literary Theories

 It’s the reader’s choice on how to read the text

There are "rules" that govern interpretation of texts.

1. How is the work put together to develop meaning?

2. What is the relevance of the flashback to its resolution?

3. What is the text’s genre?

3. What social forces and institutions are represented in the work?

Source: https://w w w .slideshare.net/ChamiePapersty/intro-toliterarycriticism

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