LITERARY

CRITICISM
Literary Criticism
defined…
 It carefully examines a
text, or one element of a
text, such as character,
setting, plot or theme of a
story.
Literary criticism (or literary
studies) is the study, evaluation,
and interpretation of literature.
Modern literary criticism is often
influenced by literary theory, which
is the philosophical discussion of
literature's goals and methods.
 THE
ELEMENTS
OF
LITERATURE
1. Characters
 The people who act and are acted upon in a
literary work.
 A story’s characters are the doers of the actions.
Characters most often take human form but, on
occasion, a story can employ animals, fantastical
creatures, and even inanimate objects as
characters.
Forms
A. Protagonist- the protagonist is
the story’s main character. The
story’s plot centers around this
character and they are usually
sympathetic and likable for the
reader, that is, they are most often
the ‘hero’ of the story.
B. Antagonist- the
antagonist is the bad guy
or girl of the piece. Most
of the action of the plot is
borne of the conflict
between the protagonist
and the antagonist.
C. Deutoragonist-
this is the character
who’s not exactly
in the spotlight, but
pretty close to it.
D. Confidant-
confidants are often
best friends, but they
may also be a potential
love interest or even a
mentor.
E. Foil Character- a foil
character is someone whose
personality and values
fundamentally clash with the
protagonist’s. This clash
highlights the MC’s defining
attributes, giving us a better
picture of who they truly are.
TYPES OF CHARACTERS ACCORDING TO
DEVELOPMENT

DYNAMIC/CHANGING STOCK CHARACTER

CHARACTER

STATIC/UNCHANGING SYMBOLIC CHARACTER

CHARACTER
2. Setting
 Setting consists of
two key elements:
space and time.
 It answers the where
and when in the story.
3.Conflict
 The conflict of the story
serves as the focus and
driving force of most of the
story’s action. Essentially,
conflict consists of a central
(and sometimes secondary)
problem.
Types:
 Man vs. Man
 Man vs. Animal
 Man vs. Nature
 Man vs. Society
 Man vs. Himself
4. Plot
 Plot refers to all of the related things that
happen in sequence in a story. The shape
of the plot comes from the order of these
events and consists of several distinct
aspects that we’ll look at in turn.
THE “PLOT” STRUCTURE
5. Point of View
 The point of view in literature
refers to the perspective
through which you experience
the events of the story.
Forms:
1. First Person- the key to
recognizing this point of
view lies in the use of
pronouns such as I, me,
my, we, us, our, etc.
Example:

“Only today I wish I didn’t have only eleven years

rattling inside me like pennies in a tin Band-Aid box.
Today I wish I was one hundred and two instead of
eleven because if I was one hundred and two I’d have
known what to say when Mrs. Price put the red sweater
on my desk” (Cisneros).
2. Third person- With third-person
point of view, the narrator is describing
what’s seen, but as a spectator. If the
narrator is a character in the story, then
we are reading what he or she observes
as the story unfolds.
1. Limited – In limited third-person, the
narrator sees only what’s in front of him/her,
a spectator of events as they unfold and
unable to read any other character’s mind.

Example: “Bring me the prisoner,” she told

her chief of police.
2. Omniscient – An omniscient narrator sees
all, much as an all knowing god of some
kind. He or she sees what each character is
doing and can see into each character’s mind.

Example: He thought the witness was honest,

but she didn't think the same of him.
6. Theme
 The theme is the big ideas that are
explored in a work of literature. The
theme is the deeper meaning behind
the events of the story.
Here are some examples of thematic concepts
commonly found in literature:
 Love
 Revenge
 Justice
 Betrayal
 Jealousy
 Forgiveness
7. Imagery
 Language that appeals to the
senses, representing things that
can be seen, smelled, heard,
tasted, or touched.
8. Figurative language
 Language that is not meant to be interpreted
literally. The most common types of
figurative language are metaphors and
similes, which compare two unlike things in
order to suggest a similarity between them.
LITERARY THEORIES
1. Formalism
 It compels readers to
judge the artistic merit of
literature by examining
its formal elements, like
form and technical skill.
2. Structuralism
 It is a method of interpreting and
analyzing such things as language,
literature, and society, which
focuses on contrasting ideas or
elements of structure and attempts
to show how they relate to the
whole structure.
3. Feminism
 It is concerned with "the ways in
which literature (and other
cultural productions) reinforce
or undermine the economic,
political, social, and
psychological oppression of
women".
4. Marxism
 Socialist thinker Karl Marx
established this branch of literary
theory alongside Marxism, his
political and sociological
ideology. Marxist theory examines
literature along the lines of class
relations and socialist ideals.
5. Deconstruction
 Deconstruction, in essence,
allows the reader to “take apart”
a text in order to decipher a new
meaning. It rejects traditional
readings and instead, calls
readers to seek out contradictory
viewpoints and analysis.
6.Psychoanalytic Criticism
 Using Sigmund Freud’s
principles of psychoanalysis—
like dream interpretation—
psychoanalytic criticism looks to
the neuroses and psychological
states of characters in literature to
interpret a text's meaning.
7.Reader-Response Criticism
 The reader-response criticism
is rooted in the belief that a
reader's reaction to or
interpretation of a text is as
valuable a source of critical
study as the text itself.
8. Cultural Studies
 It represents the study
of the different forces
from which the whole
of humankind
construct their daily
lives.
9.Archetypal Criticism
 It is a type of analytical
theory that interprets a text
by focusing on recurring
myths and archetypes in
the narrative, symbols,
images, and character types
in literary works.