WHAT I KNOW

Let us check your prior knowledge about this module’s coverage.

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer in your
notebook.

1. The New Critics were:

A. Feminist critics
B. Psychological Critics
C. Marxist critics
D. Formalist critics

2. What approach to literary criticism requires the critic to know about the author's life
and times?
A. All of these
B. Mimetic
C. Historical
D. Formalist

3. Formalist critics believe that the value of a work cannot be determined by the
author's intention. What term do they use when speaking of this belief?
A. The intentional fallacy
B. The affective fallacy
C. The pathetic fallacy
D. The objective correlative

4. Which poet popularized the term objective correlative, which is often used in
formalist criticism?
A. Virginia Woolf
B. C.S. Lewis
C. T.S. Eliot
D. Matthew Arnold

5. In a Freudian approach to literature, concave images are usually seen as:

A. Male symbols
B. Evidence of an Oedipus complex
C. Phallic symbols
D. Female symbols

6. He was an influential force in archetypal criticism.

A. Freud
B. Jung
C. Richards
D. Tate

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7. Seven is an archetype associated with:
A. Astrology
B. Perfection
C. Birth
D. Death

8. This feminist critic proposed that all female characters in literature are in at least
one of the following stages of development: the feminine, feminist, or female stage.
A. Virginia Woolf
B. Ellen Mores
C. Mary Wolstencraft
D. Elaine Showalter

9. A critic argues that in John Milton's "Samson Agonistes," the shearing of

Samson's locks is symbolic of his castration at the hands of Delilah. What kind of
critical approach is this critic using?
A. Mimetic approach
B. Psychological approach
C. Historical approach
D. Formalist approach

10. One archetype in literature is the scapegoat. Which of these literary characters
serves that purpose?
A. Billy Budd
B. Hamlet
C. Captain Ahab
D. Ophelia

11. One of the disadvantages of this school of criticism is that it tends to make
readings too subjective.
A. Reader Response Criticism
B. Formalist Criticism
C. Historical Criticism
D. These are all equally subjective

12. This literary critic coined the term "fancy."

A. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
B. Virginia Woolf
C. Matthew Arnold
D. Carl Jung

13. Michael Foucault was the major practitioner of this school of criticism.
A. Structuralism
B. Mimetic Criticism
C. Deconstructionism
D. Formalist Criticism

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14. This critical approach assumes that language does not refer to any external
reality. It can assert several, contradictory interpretations of one text.
A. Structuralism
B. Deconstructionism
C. Formalist Criticism
D. Mimetic Criticism

15. A critic examining John Milton's "Paradise Lost" focuses on the physical
description of the Garden of Eden, on the symbols of hands, seed, and flower, and
on the characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, and God. He pays special attention to the
epic similes and metaphors and the point of view from which the tale is being told.
He looks for meaning in the text itself, and does not refer to any biography of Milton.
He is most likely a critic.
A. Formalist
B. Mimetic
C. Reader Response
D. Feminist

16. This literary critic warned: "We must remember that the greater part of our
current reading matter is written for us by people who have no real belief in a
supernatural order . . . And the greater part . . . is coming to be written by people
who not only have no such belief, but are even ignorant of the fact that there are still
people in the world so 'backward' or so 'eccentric' as to continue to believe."
A. Matthew Arnold
B. C.S. Lewis
C. T.S. Eliot
D. G.K. Chesterton

17. A critic of Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserv'd" wishes to know why the play's
conspirators, despite the horrible, bloody details of their obviously brutish plan, are
portrayed in a sympathetic light. She examines the author's life and times and
discovers that there are obvious similarities between the conspiracy in the play and
the Popish Plot. She is most likely a critic.
A. Tory
B. Historical
C. Feminist
D. Psychological

18. This poet might be described as a moral or philosophical critic for arguing that
works must have "high seriousness."
A. T.S. Eliot
B. Virginia Woolf
C. Elizabeth Browning
D. Matthew Arnold

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19. A critic examining Pope's "An Essay on Man" asks herself: How well does this
poem accord with the real world? Is it accurate? Is it moral? She is most likely a
critic.
A. Mimetic
B. Formalist
C. Feminist
D. Reader Response

20. One of the potential disadvantages of this approach to literature is that it can
reduce meaning to a certain time frame, rather than making it universal throughout
the ages.
A. Historical
B. Feminist
C. Formalist
D. Mimetic

LESSON 1

CRITICAL APPROACHES IN
WRITING A CRITIQUE

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

Learning Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners shall be able to
1. define critique;
2. identify the various approaches writing a critique;
3. criticize the texts using the different approaches of criticism; and
4. apply the appropriate critical approaches in writing your critique.

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 WHAT'S NEW

ACTIVITY 1. SAY SOMETHING ACTIVITY

Directions: Take a look at this picture and give at least five (5) points that you see in
the picture. Write your answers in your notebook.

Process Questions: Write your answers in your notebook.

1. How did you find the picture?

2. By looking at the picture, are you thinking about the beautiful nature?

3. What about the location?

4. Did it cross to your mind who is responsible of taking care of the nature?

5. What about the feeling of the lady jumping onto the water?

6. Did you ask yourself if you would want to do the same?

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 7. What about the reasons why God has created this nature for us?

8. Have you not wondered how God created the beautiful world?

All these questions will be answered critically by using different approaches.

This activity leads you to learn how to write criticism.

WHAT IS IT

What is critique?

A critique is a careful analysis of an argument to determine what is said, how

well the points are made, what assumptions underlie the argument, what issues are
overlooked, and what implications are drawn from such observations. It is a
systematic, yet personal response and evaluation of what you read.

It is a genre of academic writing that briefly summarizes and critically

evaluates a work or concept.

Critiques can be used to carefully analyze a variety of works such as:

Creative works – novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry

Research – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories
Media – news reports, feature articles

Like an essay, a critique uses a formal, academic writing style and has a clear
structure, that is, an introduction, body and conclusion. However, the body of a
critique includes a summary of the work and a detailed evaluation. The purpose of
an evaluation is to gauge the usefulness or impact of a work in a particular field.

Why do we write critiques?

Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:

A knowledge of the work’s subject area or related works.
An understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience, development of
argument, structure of evidence or creative style.
A recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

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How to write a critique

Before you start writing, it is important to have a thorough understanding of

the work that will be critiqued.

Study the work under discussion.

Make notes on key parts of the work.
Develop an understanding of the main argument or purpose being expressed
in the work.
Consider how the work relates to a broader issue or context.

Read about the critical approaches. You can highlight some important ideas.
You can use these in expressing your views.

The following are the different approaches in writing a critique:

1. Formalist: This approach regards literature as “a unique form of human

knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms.” All the elements necessary
for understanding the work are contained within the work itself. 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.

Questions to be Asked for Formalistic Approach

A. How is the work’s structure unified?

B. How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning?
C. What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) can you find?
D. What is the effect of these patterns or motifs?
E. How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?
F. How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?
G. What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?
H. What figures of speech are used? (metaphors, similes, etc.)
I. Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style
of narration.
J. What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another or to the
theme?
K. Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?
L. What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?
M. How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is there
between tone and mood and the effect of the story?
N. How do the various elements interact to create a unified whole?

2. Gender Criticism: This approach “examines how sexual identity influences the
creation and reception of literary works.” Originally an offshoot of feminist
movements, gender criticism today includes a number of approaches, including the
so-called “masculinist” approach recently advocated by poet Robert Bly. The bulk of
gender criticism, however, is feminist and takes as a central precept that the

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patriarchal attitudes that have dominated western thought have resulted, consciously
or unconsciously, in literature “full of unexamined ‘male-produced’ assumptions.”
3. Feminist criticism attempts to correct this imbalance by analyzing and
combatting such attitudes—by questioning, for example, why none of the characters
in Shakespeare’s play Othello ever challenge the right of a husband to murder a wife
accused of adultery. Other goals of feminist critics include “analyzing how sexual
identity influences the reader of a text” and “examining how the images of men and
women in imaginative literature reflect or reject the social forces that have historically
kept the sexes from achieving total equality.”

Feminist Criticism examines images of women and concepts of the feminine

in myth and literature; uses the psychological, archetypal, and sociological
approaches; often focuses on female characters who have been neglected in
previous criticism. Feminist critics attempt to correct or supplement what they regard
as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective.

Questions to be asked for Feministic Approach

A. How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?

B. Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?
C. How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these
relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?
D. Does the work challenge or affirm traditional views of women?
E. How do the images of women in the story reflect patriarchal social forces that
have impeded women’s efforts to achieve full equality with men?
F. What marital expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?
G. What behavioral expectations are imposed on the characters? What effect do
these expectations have?
H. If a female character were male, how would the story be different (and vice
versa)?
I. How does the marital status of a character affect her decisions or happiness?

4. Historical: This approach “seeks to understand a literary work by investigating the

social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it—a context that necessarily
includes the artist’s biography and milieu.” A key goal for historical critics is to
understand the effect of a literary work upon its original readers.

Questions to be Asked for Formalistic Approach

A. How does it reflect the time in which it was written?

B. How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?
C. What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of
the work?
D. How does the story reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the time in which it was
written or set? (Consider beliefs and attitudes related to race, religion, politics,
gender, society, philosophy, etc.)
E. What other literary works may have influenced the writer?
F. What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?

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 G. How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the
writer’s contemporaries?
H. Does the story reveal or contradict the prevailing values of the time in which it
was written? Does it provide an opposing view of the period’s prevailing
values?
I. How important is it the historical context (the work’s and the reader’s) to
interpreting the work?

5. Reader-Response Criticism: This approach takes as a fundamental tenet that

“literature” exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction between
the physical text and the mind of a reader. It attempts “to describe what happens in
the reader’s mind while interpreting a text” and reflects that reading, like writing, is a
creative process.

6. Structuralism focused on how human behavior is determined by social, cultural

and psychological structures. It tended to offer a single unified approach to human
life that would embrace all disciplines. The essence of structuralism is the belief that
“things cannot be understood in isolation, they have to be seen in the context of
larger structures which contain them. For example, the structuralist analysis of
Donne’s poem, Good Morrow, demands more focus on the relevant genre, the
concept of courtly love, rather than on the close reading of the formal elements of the
text.

7. Sociological focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion,

and business.

Questions to be asked for Sociological Approach

A. What is the relationship between the characters and their society?

B. Does the story address societal issues, such as race, gender, and class?
C. How do social forces shape the power relationships between groups or classes
of people in the story? Who has the power, and who doesn’t? Why?
D. How does the story reflect the Great American Dream?
E. How does the story reflect urban, rural, or suburban values?
F. What does the work say about economic or social power? Who has it and who
doesn’t? Any Marxist leanings evident?
G. Does the story address issues of economic exploitation? What role does
money play?
H. How do economic conditions determine the direction of the characters’ lives?
I. Does the work challenge or affirm the social order it depicts?
J. Can the protagonist’s struggle be seen as symbolic of a larger class struggle?
K. How does the microcosm (small world) of the story reflect the macrocosm
(large world) of the society in which it was composed?
L. Do any of the characters correspond to types of government, such as a
dictatorship, democracy, communism, socialism, fascism, etc.? What attitudes
toward these political structures/systems are expressed in the work?

Now, you have learned the basic principles of writing criticisms. Let’s apply
our skill by doing these activities.

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 WHAT I CAN DO

ACTIVITY 2

Directions: Summarize what you have read by completing the table with what you
understood. Write your answers in your notebook.

APPROACHES IN
LITERARY WHAT IT IS HOW IT IS DONE
CRITICISM (DEFINITION) (TECHNIQUE IN WRITING)
Example: This approach regards A primary goal for formalist
literature as “a unique form critics is to determine how
Formalism of human knowledge that elements of form (style,
needs to be examined on structure, tone, imagery,
its own terms.” etc.) work together with the
text’s content to shape its
effects upon readers.

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