Literary

Criticism
Reporter: Nina Romina G. Navalta
Structuralism
Approach
P A R O L E
S I G N
O P P O S I T I O N
C U L T U R E
 Structuralism
Structuralism is a term which refers to the
relationships between the elements in
language, literature, and other fields in
which linguistic, social, or cultural structures
are built within a particular person, system,
or culture.
 Ferdinand de Saussure

Father of Linguistics
He was the founding figure of
modern linguistics, made his mark
on the field with a book he
published a month after his 21st
birthday, in which he proposed a
radical rethinking of the original
system of vowels in Proto-Indo-
European.
Tenets of
Structurali
sm
1 Sign
Sign is any word you may see in English
language.

Signified Signifier
Is the mental concept Is a marker (word)
 Sign

There is no fixed meaning attached to the word.

 2. Arbitrary Relationship
between signified and
signifier
The meaning of the word is culturally constructed.
 3. Binary Relationship
Between Words
Signs gain their meaning from their relationships
and contrasts with other signs
 4. Basic Elements/Structure

Elements of Poetry/ Figures of

01 Short Story
Lines Setting
02 Speech
Simile
Character Metaphor
Stanzas
Point of View Personification
Rhyme
Theme Irony
Rhyme Scheme
Plot Hyperbole
Rhythm Euphemism
Meter
Sound Devices

e moments
Remember th
 Sonnet 18
is one of the best-
known of the 154
sonnets written by
the English
playwright and poet
William
Shakespeare.
Summary of
Sonnet 18
 Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? A
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: B
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A
B
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, C
And often is his gold complexion dimmed; D
C
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
D
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade, E
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; F
E
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade F
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G
G
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
 Analysis Question

1. What patterns in the text reveal

its similarities to other texts?

All sonnets of William Shakespeare have

the same pattern such as the kind of
poem, rhyme scheme and rhythm.
 Analysis Question

2. What binary oppositions operate in

the texts?

1. Life/Death 4. Temporary/eternal
2. Hot/cold 5. Summer/Spring
3. Bright/dark
 Analysis Question

3. What are the imagery used in the

poem?

Visual and tactile

 Analysis Question

4. What type of poetry was used by

the poet?

The poet used Shakespearean

sonnet.
 Analysis Question

5. How many lines does the poem

have?

The poem consisted of 14 lines.

 Analysis Question

6. What rhyme scheme was used in

the poem, Sonnet 18?

ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

 Analysis Question

7. How many syllables does the poem

have?

The poem has 10 syllables in each

line.
 Analysis Question

8. What is the iambic pentameter of

Sonnet 18?
 Analysis Question

9. What figures of speech were

presented?

Shakespeare employs the use of metaphor, imagery,

personification, hyperbole, and repetition as
literary devices in "Sonnet 18"
 Analysis Question

10. What is the theme in the poem?

Love & Nature: Nature fades/beauty

fades, but art is forever.
 Main
Task
Look for the binary opposition in
the story entitled “Ballad of a
Mother’s Heart” by Jose La Villa.
 Extended
Task
Analyze the structure of the poem
entitled “The Arrow and the Song” by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, then
compare its structure to Sonnet 18.