Will This Really Help Me Understand Literature On a Deeper Level?

The word “criticism” puts off people (has a negative connotation)

Comes from kritikos, a Greek verb meaning to make a discernment, to distinguish, decide, or judge

In a classroom, kritikos simply means expressing a reasoned opinion about the meaning, value, truth, beauty or craft of something.

Literary Criticism or “Lit Crit” for short is the discipline of:

Interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating works of literature

Lasting works of literature will have multiple meanings, including: meanings the author intended, meanings readers have discovered over the years, and meanings encountered today

After reading “The Raven” we might ask: What was Poe trying to say in the poem? What does it say to me? What ways can we interpret the weird bird

perched over the door? Any other possible meanings? Insights into Poe’s psyche or human psyche

Does the poem tell us anything about relationships between men and women in Poe’s day?

How about today? How does “The Raven” fit into the

history of poetry? Discussion and meanings can meander

in many directions

Reading is like a potluck picnic to which the writer brings the words and the reader brings the meanings

Literature speaks to us in different ways, and talking about literature gives us a chance to check out the different tastes and tasty dishes different students bring to the picnic.

Analysis is technical: pulling things apart, examining relationships, mulling cause and effects,

We ask not “what a poem means” but “how it means” (Gillespie, p. 4).

We may ask ourselves how did Poe make “The Raven” so creepy?

We could look at how the rhythm of the poem seems like a ticking clock

The description of the dark room The final vowel sound in the refrain

“Nevermore” makes a long, low sound, a deep “ohhhhhh” that punctuates the end of each stanza

An analysis is our diagnosis of the craft the writer employs to give us goose bumps

Widening students’ knowledge of different writing strategies, moves, and possibilities

Form a personal judgment about the works value

Does “The Raven” grab me or bore me? Was I captured by the poem or felt

trapped? What value does it have? Is it a great poem or overrated? Does it add to the tradition of poetry? Does it add to the world?

Many students(readers) may like a piece of work and others abhor it

Do not have to agree with others’ judgments—even literary experts

But, you must offer to explain the reasoning and evidence to explain a judgment

Read and listen to others explanations

Use lenses with different powers for different perceptions and comprehension

EX: psychological lens-the way people’s psyches tick during the time the story was written or setting

Historical lens: history of the time-setting or author’s life

“Any way of seeing is also a way of not seeing.”

-Edmund Burke

Every theory (criticism) has it advantages and drawbacks

Gillespie, T. (2010).Doing literary criticism:

Helping students engage with challenging texts. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.