ALAGON, JOHN MARK S.

LITERARY CRITICISM

Literary Criticism
● is the comparison, analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation
of works of literature.
● is essentially an opinion, supported by evidence, relating to
theme, style, setting or historical or political context.
● includes discussion of the work’s content and integrates your
ideas with other insights gained from research.
● may have a positive or a negative bias and may be a study of
an individual piece of literature or an author’s body of work.

Although criticism may include some of the following elements in

order to support an idea, literary criticism is NOT a plot summary,
a biography of the author, or simply finding fault with the
literature.

Researching, reading, and writing works of literary criticism will

help you to make better sense of the work, form judgments about
literature, study ideas from different points of view, and determine
on an individual level whether a literary work is worth reading.

Examples of some types of literary criticism are:

● Biographical
● Comparative
● Ethical
● Expressive
● Feminist
● Historical
● Mimetic
● Pragmatic
● Psychological
● Social
● Textual
● Theoretical
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LITERARY INTERPRETATION vs. LITERARY

ANALYSIS vs. LITERARY DISCUSSION

1. LITERARY INTERPRETATION
● Interpretation is an explicit argument about a text’s deeper
meanings—its implied themes, values, and assumptions. It pays
special attention to the text’s contradictions, tensions, and
ambiguities. Interpretation also recognizes how the cultural
context of the text and the reader might influence our
interpretive conclusions.
● The reader acts as a meaning-maker, drawing personal
insights, emotions, and responses from the text.
● They focus on how the literary work resonates with their
individual experiences or worldview.
● The primary material is the text itself, but interpretation may
also rely on the reader’s background knowledge, cultural
context, and personal beliefs.
● The reader reflects on the themes, characters, and events in
the story to form subjective conclusions. The process is more
intuitive, involving:
- Reading the text deeply.
- Relating it to personal feelings and thoughts.
- Drawing a unique interpretation based on personal
experiences.

The literary interpretation focuses on the skills of:

1. Criticism - is the art of analyzing and questioning a text’s
themes, values, and assumptions (identified in the process of
interpretation).
2. Research - Literary critics do research in order to participate in
the conversation scholars are having about a certain text.
3. Revision - Will write regularly throughout the entire course, but
focus especially on drafting and sharing with peers to help you
develop a paper that engages a community of scholars.

2. LITERARY ANALYSIS
● Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its
meanings, and exploring why the author made certain
choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems,
or any other form of literary writing.
● The reader functions as a critic or investigator, focusing on the
structure, style, and literary devices used in the text.
 ALAGON, JOHN MARK S.

● The goal is to dissect the work to uncover deeper meanings,

themes, or patterns.
● Along with the text itself, analytical tools such as literary
theories, historical context, and scholarly sources are essential
to understand the work on a deeper level
● Close reading of the text, paying attention to symbols, motifs,
and literary techniques (e.g., metaphor, irony, point of view).
● Identifying and analyzing themes, character development, and
narrative structure.
● Using literary theory (e.g., psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism)
to inform a structured analysis.

Types of Literary Analysis:

1. Cultural Analysis - seeks to explain a new understanding of a
text using objects, practices, and ideologies representative of a
culture’s values, beliefs, and laws.
2. Feminist Analysis - focuses on feminist theories based on
society’s unequal treatment of men and women.
3. Historical Analysis - looks at a text through a historical lens.
By forming an understanding of the time period in which the
text takes place and is written, historical critics translate new
meaning from the text based on its roots, the social events,
and the historical elements of the time period that impacted
the author’s writing.
4. New Criticism - analyzes text based solely on the text itself.
Ignoring historical, biographical, cultural, and additional
outside contexts, new criticism focuses on internal contexts.
5. Psychological Analysis - seek to understand a text by
examining and postulating on the author’s intentions, the
reader’s responses, and the psychological state of the
characters in the piece.
6. Readers Response Analysis - shifts the focus away from the
author and other outside elements of the text and analyzes the
reception of the text through the various lenses of its readers.

3. LITERARY DISCUSSION
● Literature discussion groups help readers develop and practice
these skills. The overall objectives are for students to deepen
their comprehension skills, construct meaning together as a
group, debate and challenge each other, and ultimately
connect with books on a deeper level.
● The reader acts as a participant in a dialogue, sharing
interpretations and analyses with others.
 ALAGON, JOHN MARK S.

● The focus is on collective meaning-making and exploring

different perspectives on the text.
● The primary material is still the text, but the discussion might
also include shared interpretations from multiple readers, as
well as their analysis, opinions, and additional resources
(articles, criticism, etc.).
● As to the process:
- Engaging with a group to share ideas, insights, and
interpretations.
- Listening to and considering others’ viewpoints.
- Building on or challenging other participants' thoughts,
leading to a more nuanced understanding of the text.

FICTION AND NONFICTION

FICTION (UNREAL) is any creative work, chiefly any narrative

work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary or
in ways that are imaginary.

COMMON FICTION GENRES

● Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that contains
imagined elements that don't exist in the real world.
● Fantasy works are set in imaginary magical worlds and include
mythical creatures like dragons, witches, vampires, and more.
● Mystery is a genre of fiction that focuses on solving crimes and
mysterious events.
● Horror genre relies on theme, plot, or setting to scare, startle,
shock, and wreak discomfort.
● Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping,
subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction.
● Romance is any writing that primarily focuses on the love story
between two (or more) people.
● Historical fiction features fictional stories set in the past.
● Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or
works intended to be humorous or amusing.

NON-FICTION (REAL) is any document or media content that

attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real
world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction
typically aims to present topics objectively based on historical,
scientific, and empirical information.
 ALAGON, JOHN MARK S.

COMMON FICTION GENRES

● Journalism is the gathering, assembling, and presentation of
news.
● Travel writing describes a location and its people, customs,
and culture.
● Memoirs focus on an event, such as childhood or an
experience.
● Autobiography is written by the person himself.
● Biography is written by someone else.
● Philosophy includes exploring topics like the purpose of life,
ethics, and a deeper understanding of humanity.
● Textbooks provide comprehensive information to help readers
learn about a particular subject.

LITERARY DEVICES

In English literature, literary devices are techniques that writers use

to convey meaning, evoke emotions, or enhance their storytelling.

Alliteration
This is the use of the same letter or sound at the beginning of closely
connected words.
Example: The hare habitually hibernates.

Antithesis
This shows contradicting ideas in a grammatically parallel
expression. In other words, this uses contradicting concepts.
Example: It was the best of experience. It was the worst of
experience.

Apostrophe
This is an expression addressed to someone who is dead, to a
non-existent or an inanimate object.
Example: Oh death, take me.

Assonance
This is an expression composed of several words having the same
vowel sounds.
Example: “make or break”
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Asyndeton
This omits the use of conjunctions between parts of the sentence.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Elipsis
This is the omission of an unnecessary word or words in the middle
of the sentence to produce a dramatic effect. This is usually followed
by three periods (…)
Example: I did not believe everything until…

Euphemism
This is an indirect or a mild word or expression substituted for one
that is considered to be too blunt or harsh.
Example: The people in the Narcolist were put to correctional facility.
(instead of jail.)

Hyperbole
This is an exaggerated statement or claim.
Example: I think of you every minute of every day.

Irony
This is typically an expression that normally signifies the opposite,
typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Example: “You gave me the best plan. Its only problem is that it is
very impossible to be done”

Litotes
This is an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by
the negative of its contrary.
Example: A concept of no small importance.

Metaphor
A direct comparison of objects or persons. It is not stated, therefore
it is implied and unlike the simile, It does not use “like” or “as”
Example: You are the only hope I have.

Metonymy
This expression uses substitution or representation of something that
it is associated with.
Example: “The pen and the plume” represents a writer.
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Onomatopoeia
This is a word derived from a sound made by an animal, a person, or
nature.
Examples: Splash of water, Neigh of the horse

Oxymoron
This expression uses contradictory terms in the same phrase.
Example: This is the right-mistake

Paradox
This is a seemingly contradictory or absurd statement which when
investigated may prove to be true or well founded.
Example: The French are thought to have an unhealthful lifestyle, yet
have a long life expectancy.

Personification
This assigns actions done by humans to something non-human or
abstract.
Example: The wind howled furiously last night.

Polysyndeton
This uses the repetition of conjunctions for rhetoric effect.
Example: This is painful, but I know it will give me the best price, but
then again, it’ s painful but I really like this.

Rhetorical Question
This asks a question not to be answered but only to express a
distinct message.
Example: How could you do such thing?

Simile
This is used to compare two different ideas or objects, making them
the same by using “as”, “like”, “as if” or “as though”
Example: My love’s scent is like the sweetness of cherries.

Synecdoche
This states a part to represent a whole or vice versa.
Example: “Ten brilliant minds” to mean, ten intelligent people.
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TONE
● The authors’ attitude, stated or implied toward his or her
subject.

MOOD
● The readers’ attitude towards the literary work.

IMAGERY
● Descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound,
touch, taste, or small), helping readers visualize the scene.

5 SENSES
● Tactile (touch)
● Auditory (hear)
● Visual (sight)
● Gustatory (taste)
● Olfactory (smell)