Final Output in English 23 (Literary Criticism)

Submitted by: Mitch S. Torres

BSED-English Student

Submitted to: Ms Jeannyrose I. Goyha

English 23 Instructress
 Psychoanalytic Criticism Theory
Reflection:
To be honest, at first, I was not really familiar with the psychoanalytic criticism theory,
but from the word psychoanalytic, I came up with the idea that it is more in the mind of the
author, the unconscious and conscious mind of an individual. When the class started, I found out
that psychoanalytic criticism is mainly focused on the personality of an author since we are
talking about literature. As the discussion continued, I learned that this theory examines the
author's personality through his or her literary work, so I think that it deals with the author's
personal experiences, desires, and emotions.
This theory captures my attention and I got interested to learn more about psychoanalytic
theory because it can challenge our understanding of a literary piece since it is an analysis of an
authors unintended message. It was also mentioned during the discussion that psychoanalytic
criticism focuses on the mind of the author, the mind of the characters, the mind of the audience
and the text itself. It’s important for us to consider these things when we do a critic of a literary
piece and we use the psychoanalytic approach since it is a big help for us to understand ourselves
by exploring desires and impulses that are often hidden in our unconscious. On the other hand,
Sigmund Freud thought of dreams as the ultimate insight into an individual's unconscious mind,
and he states that dreams have two types of content: the manifest and the latent. Speaking of
dreams, last week I had a very bad dream that all of my teeth were falling, and that was exactly
3:00 a.m. I woke up because I got nervous because I thought that the meaning of that dream was
negative, so when I woke up, I did some research on that dream to see what the meaning of it
was, and I found out that a vivid dream of teeth falling out can symbolize a recent loss of
something important like a job or a loved one. That experience of mine is an example of manifest
content because those are the memories that have materialized in my dream, and the latent
content is the symbolic or underlying interpretation of that dream.
As we went along with the discussion, I learned that the unconscious mind stores all the
thoughts, memories, and feelings that are traumatic, links our behavior to our childhood
experiences, and is part of our mind that we are not aware of. While exploring Sigmund Freud's
theory, I learned that the id is like our inner child, always seeking pleasure and avoiding pain,
while the ego is our rational side, helping us make balanced decisions based on reality, and the
super ego is our moral compass; it is a guide for us towards what is right and what is wrong.
 Romanticism
Reflection:
During the first day of our English 23 subject, I was a little bit nervous because this
subject is all about literary criticism, and the first thing that came to mind was that this subject is
all about literature. The reason why I was nervous was because I am not really fond of reading
books, and this subject will be talking about different literature and written works. We all know
that literature is concerned with writing, what we read is written by an author who’s aimed is to
give us his or her perspective about something. By reading literature we can visualize what the
writer is trying to convey and it can broaden our knowledge about the literary piece.
As a student, I realized that it's important to know and understand what literary criticism
is all about because it can widen our understanding of an author's work by evaluating,
summarizing, interpreting, and exploring its value. I found out that the purpose of literary
criticism is to help us readers better engage with literature. My chosen theory among the
different literary theories is romanticism. When I heard this theory, the first thing that came to
mind was that this literature deals with romantic feelings or love stories. I instantly connected the
word romanticism with romance and love. But listening to the reporter and taking down notes, I
found out that this topic is literally different from what I think. The father of Romanticism is
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and this theory is all about a literary movement that emphasized
imagination, emotion, and individualism. Through the handouts provided by the reporter, I
gained an understanding of this theory and the different ideas that were discovered about
romanticism. Romanticism took place in Europe and America around 1780–1850. During the
discussion, I learned that there are different elements of romanticism, and I got interested
because I wanted to learn more about this theory. Romantic writers found out that most of their
readers understand and enjoy their works because people can relate to the characters they created
and they will represent certain female characters as innocent and naive bundles of perfection, and
their admirers will be more interested in them. Romantic writers also include individuality in that
they give the readers access to the characters innermost thoughts and desires. Nature is also an
important element of romanticism because it is a source of inspiration for romantic writers.
I learned that the main ideas concerning romanticism were individuality, emotions, the
beauty of nature, and imagination. I'm excited to read novels or stories that deal with
romanticism since I can already determine what elements are used in the story, and it can expand
our imagination, knowledge, and perspective about a literary piece. It can improve our critical
thinking skills and reading comprehension as well by interpreting what we are reading, and we
can also acquire insights and learn to appreciate every literary piece. After reading, we can apply
what we have learned to a real-life situation based on our interpretation of the literary piece.
 Reader Response Criticism
Reflection:
Way back in my junior and senior high school years, when our teacher would give us a
task to make a reaction paper or reflection paper on the story that we read, we would write about
our understanding of the text, our interpretation of the story, and most importantly, the lesson
that we could get from the story and how we could use it in a real-life scenario. When I heard
reader response criticism, I directly came up with the idea that it was all about expressing the
reader's understanding and interpretation of what he or she read. Giving his or her opinion about
the text and explaining his or her personal reaction to the text. Well, I found out that reader
response criticism believes that a reader's interaction with the text gives its meaning.
I personally believe that a text cannot exist without the reader, because the reader's
interaction and interpretation of the text are very important since they are the ones who can give
a text sufficient meaning based on their own understanding of what they read. I learned that
reader response critics are more focused on looking for meaning in the act of reading a literary
piece. Based on what I understand about this theory, a successful reader response critic does not
just simply respond to a text because anyone can do that, I but we also need to analyze our
responses carefully and the responses of others as well. I also got the idea of the difference
between subjective and objective reader response criticism. When we say subjective reading of a
text, it is one that emphasizes the attitude, mood, and opinions of the readers, while objective
reading of a text is one that is influenced by emotion or personal prejudices. Additionally, in this
theory, there is an interaction between the structures of the text and the reader's response to a text
because every individual will interact with the text differently and we have different
interpretations of the text.
To sum everything up, reader response criticism is all about when the reader creates
meaning in the text rather than just finding it. It is more focused on the readers understanding
and interpretation of the text, how they create meaning from it, and how they explain their
personal reaction to the text. As a student, I realized that we readers are not just passive readers
of a text's meaning, we should actively engage in the creation of meaning in a text. Readers can
create their own unique meaning of a text, but that doesn't mean they can just give random
interpretations; they should always consider that the response should be connected to the text that
they are reading and that the thought is still there, or that we should have a textual support.
 Marxist Criticism
Reflection:
At first, I didn’t have any idea what Marxist criticism was all about since this was new to
me. I just heard this word in our English 23 class. When the reporter introduces this topic, I am
like an empty can. I am really clueless what this is all about. As the discussion continued, I found
out that Marxist criticism is all about the uncovering of relationships of domination and
exploitation, even when they are disguised in idealistic terms.
It's very important for us to understand the social world since Marxist criticism focuses
on socioeconomic relationships. Marxist criticism emphasizes how social class establishes
hierarchical power structures. I also learned that societies have been characterized by class
struggles. During that time, the class struggle is between the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class) and
the proletariat (the working class). The bourgeoisie are the capitalist-owning class, and they
control the means of production and hold economic and political power, while the proletariat are
the working class, who sell their labor to the bourgeoisie in exchange for wages.
In conclusion, Marxist criticism is a tool for us to analyze literature and culture,
emphasizing the socioeconomic and class dynamics that shape the narratives and characters of a
literary piece. Marxist criticism encourages us to think critically about the broader implications
of literature and to examine the power structure, inequalities, and societal issues present in the
literary works so that we can also reflect on the real world that we are facing right now.