1) Summarise the essay The Chaos of Critical Theory.

In the chapter “The Chaos of Critical Theories”, Richards points out that the literature of
criticism is a rather significant field of study, which dates back to the contribution of the great
scholar Aristotle, who is probably the first intellectual to have followed the practice in his
age. The critics seek to answer several questions such as the nature of value that would be
obtained from the experience of reading a poem; the difference between experiences felt; a
picture being given preference over the others; the quality of music to be listened to in order
to obtain the most valuable moments; and the difference in quality about works of art. These
fundamental questions could be compared to certain basic questions such as what would
constitute a picture, a poem, a piece of music; the process of comparison of experiences and
the value of experiences. This chapter focuses on the act of getting worth from the arts,
particularly the craft of writing. This reasoning, which serves as the foundation for all of
Richards' comments on critique, puts into practice the basic critical and creative theories in an
effort to determine the worth of art. He lists a number of obstacles at the outset of this lengthy
study, many of which frequently prevent legitimate critique. The first is "experimental
aesthetics" in the arts, which involves fruitless efforts to manipulate human preferences and
behaviour to accommodate laboratory testing. Second, critique frequently overlooks the topic
of worth in favour of focusing on ancillary elements of the arts. Third, the ambiguous,
frequently misleading lexicon of critique leads to misunderstandings. An appropriate example
would be reviewers who describe works of art as though they have characteristics when, in
fact, they should state that they have an impact on us.

Submitted By- Manya Shivendra