British Literature

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British Literature
Its a weeping willow Wednesday! April 30,
2008 Mr. Houghteling
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Agenda

• Review Literary Criticism definitions and
  examples
• Storytime
• Literary Criticism groups
• Storytime revisited
• Analysis of The Giving Tree using different
  Literary Criticism perspectives

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Literary Criticism some types

• Historical Criticism
• Archetypal Criticism
• Feminist Criticism

• Marxist Criticism
• Eco-Criticism
• Reader Response Criticism

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Feminist Critical Perspective

• Feminist interpretation focuses on relationships
  between genders. It examines the patterns of
  thought, behavior, values, enfranchisement, and
  power in relations between and within the sexes.
  For example, a Feminist reading of Cinderella may
  take into account the idea of power relationships
  between the men and women of the novel.

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Some common assumptions in the use of Feminist
criticism

• A pervasively patriarchal society conveys the
  notion of male dominance through the images of
  women in its texts.
• Many literary texts lack complex female figures
  and deem the female reader as an outsider, or
  require her to assume male values in terms of
  perception, feelings, and actions.
• Issues of gender and sexuality are central to
  artistic expression.
• Fictional portrayals of female characters often
  reflect and create stereotypical social and
  political attitudes toward women.
• Texts authored by women may have different
  viewpoints than texts authored by men.

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Eco-Criticism
Eco-criticism is a form of literary criticism
based on an ecological perspective. The
eco-criticism investigates the relation between
humans and the natural world in literature.
Attitudes towards nature and the environment are
presented and analyzed. One of the main ideas in
eco-criticism is to study how individuals in
society behave and react in relation to the
nature and ecological aspects.
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Eco-Criticism
This form of criticism has gained a lot of
attention during recent years (approximately
since 2000) due to higher social emphasis on
environmental destruction and increased
technology. Hence, it is a fresh way of analyzing
and interpreting literary texts, bringing new
dimensions to the field of literary criticism.
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Marxist Criticism
Marxist criticism asserts that economics provides
the foundation for all social, political, and
ideological reality. The presence of economic
inequalities is a power structure that drives
history and influences differences in religion,
race, ethnicity, and gender. For example, status
in the community of Lord of the Flies can be
examined from an economic point of view.
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Some common assumptions in the use of Marxist
Criticism

• All aspects of humanity are based on the struggle
  for economic power.
• The basic struggle in human society is between
  the haves and the have-nots.

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Storytime

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• Pay close attention!

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Literary Criticism Circles

• Meet in groups of four.
• Review the criticism your group has been given.
  Solidify your understanding of the criticism.
• Reread The Giving Tree, analyzing the text
  through the perspective of your criticism.
• Write down at least five observations or
  conclusions that your group has made relative to
  your literary criticism perspective.
• On chart paper, label the type of literary
  criticism you used and write your observations on
  the chart paper.

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Homework

• Write a short personal reflection about how the
  criticism affected your interpretation of the
  story.
• Finish inputting information on the College
  Research Brainstorming sheet.
• Bring your British Literature textbook tomorrow!