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Lesson 4

The document discusses different approaches to literary criticism including the formalist approach which examines elements of form such as style, structure and imagery; the moralist approach which judges the value of a work based on its moral lessons; and the Marxist approach which analyzes class differences and conflicts and how works benefit different social classes. Key questions are provided for each approach to guide analysis of works from different critical lenses.

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mari silvio
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63 views

Lesson 4

The document discusses different approaches to literary criticism including the formalist approach which examines elements of form such as style, structure and imagery; the moralist approach which judges the value of a work based on its moral lessons; and the Marxist approach which analyzes class differences and conflicts and how works benefit different social classes. Key questions are provided for each approach to guide analysis of works from different critical lenses.

Uploaded by

mari silvio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lesson 4

Literary Criticism:
Formalist Approach
Literary criticism is the study, discussion, evaluation,
and interpretation of literature.
Literary criticism is the evaluation of literary works.
This includes the classification by genre, analysis of
structure, and judgement of value."
Literary criticism is the method used to interpret any
given work of literature. The different schools of
literary criticism provide us with lenses which
ultimately reveal important aspects of the literary
work.
Formalist Criticism: This approach
regards literature as “a unique form
of human knowledge that needs to
be examined on its own terms.”
• Of particular interest to the formalist critic are
the elements of form—style, structure, tone,
imagery, etc.—that are found within the text.
• A primary goal for formalist critics is to
determine how such elements work together
with the text’s content to shape its effects
upon readers.
✓ How is the work structured or organized? How
does it begin? Where does it go next? How does
it end? What is the work’s plot? How is its plot
related to its structure?
✓ What is the relationship of each part of the
work to the work as a whole? How are the
parts related to one another?

Guide Questions for Formalist Criticism


✓ Who is narrating or telling what happens in the
work? How is the narrator, speaker, or
character revealed to the readers? How do we
come to know and understand this figure?
✓ Who are the major and minor characters, what
do they represent, and how do they relate to
one another?

Guide Questions for Formalist Criticism


✓ Who are the major and minor characters, what
do they represent, and how do they relate to
one another?
✓ What are the time and place of the work- its
setting? How is the setting related to what we
know of the characters and their actions? To
what extent is the setting symbolic?

Guide Questions for Formalist Criticism


Writing Formalist Criticism

Settings
Characters

You may include your insights


about the scenes in the story
Check the sample in your
materials
Moral criticism is not necessarily
censorious or ‘moralizing’ in its
approach, although it can be; nor
does it necessarily imply a Christian
perspective, although it often does.
Moralist Criticism is a type of
literary critique that judges the value
of the literature based on its moral
lessons or ethical teachings.
✓ Maturity, sincerity, honesty, sensitivity,
and/or courage become important
criteria in determining the worth of
literature and art. Is the author and
his/her treatment of subject (both
character and theme) mature, sincere,
honest, sensitive, or courageous? How
so, and how does knowing this help us
approach the text in a meaningful way?

Questions to consider when approaching a text with Moral


Criticism (or Neo Humanism or Christian Humanism)
✓ Does the text seek to corrupt or
negatively influence the reader? How so
and/or why?
✓ What moral lesson or ethical teaching is
the author presenting in the text/or
through character, plot, or theme?

Questions to consider when approaching a text with Moral


Criticism (or Neo Humanism or Christian Humanism)
✓ How do characters, settings, and plot
events represent or allegorize moral or
ethical principles?
✓ Does the work in question pose a
pragmatic or moral lesson or
philosophical idea?

Questions to consider when approaching a text with Moral


Criticism (or Neo Humanism or Christian Humanism)
Text Structure of a
Moralist Approach
1. Introduction of the text/ material
(includes the overview)
2. Discussion of background of the author.
3. Discussion of most notable scenes (can
be 3-5 paragraphs, including the moral
impacts of each scene.)
4. Overall moral of the whole text/ material
(Does it influence corruption? Or virtue?)
Check the sample in
your materials
Marxist
Criticism
proletariat (pro-le-tar-yat)- lowest or working class in the
society
bourgeoisie (borzh-wa-zee)- a class with social behavior
and political views held to be influenced by private-
property interest
fascist (fa-sist) is someone who supports or promotes
fascism—a system of government led by a dictator who
typically rules by forcefully and often violently suppressing
opposition and criticism
Based on the theories of Karl Marx (and so
influenced by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel), this school concerns itself with class
differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the
implications and complications of the capitalist
system: "Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in
which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate
source of our experience"
Theorists working in the Marxist tradition,
therefore, are interested in answering the
overarching question, whom does it [the work, the
effort, the policy, the road, etc.] benefit? The
elite? The middle class? Marxist critics are also
interested in how the lower or working classes are
oppressed - in everyday life and in literature.
Their beliefs include the following:
❑ Value is based on labor.
❑ The working class will eventually
overthrow the capitalist middle class.
❑ In the meantime, the middle class
exploits the working class.
❑ Most institutions—religious, legal,
educational, and governmental—are
corrupted by middle-class capitalists.
Marxist critics apply these economic and
social theories to literature by
analyzing:

❑ Ideologies that support the elite and


place the working class at a
disadvantage
❑ Class conflict
✓ Whom does it benefit if the work or effort
is accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
✓ What is the social class of the author?
✓ Which class does the work claim to
represent?
✓ What values does it reinforce?

Guide Questions in Writing Marxist Criticism:


✓ What values does it subvert?
✓ What conflict can be seen between the
values the work champions and those it
portrays?
✓ What social classes do the characters
represent?
✓ How do characters from different classes
interact or conflict?

Guide Questions in Writing Marxist Criticism:


Check the sample in
your materials
GROUP ACTIVITY:
Group 1: Shrek (2001) Marxist Approach
Group 2: A Bug’s Life (1998) Marxist
Group 3: Up (2009) Formalist Approach
Group 4: Moana (2016) Moralist Approach

Task: Watch and analyze the movies


assigned
Output: Power Point Presentation
Task assignments
• Plot Summary: 2 Members
• Characters & Settings: 1-2 Members
• Background of the story (if
needed)1-2 Members
• Theme: 1-2 Members
• Symbolism: 1-2 Members
• Application of LitCrit Approach: 1-
2 Members

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