Introduction to

Literary Criticism
Lesson 1

Whilmark T. Muca
Reminders:

• Mute your microphone 🎤🔊, only unmute when you are

called or for immediate queries;
• YOUR VOICE MATTER! (participate whenever it is
needed);
• Be courteous! Be respectful!

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Learning competencies:

• Review literary studies focusing on literary genres;

• Define literary criticism and identify its purposes;
• Differentiate significant terms related to literary criticism; and
• Show interest in acquiring a deeper understanding of texts through
literary criticism.

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Lesson content:

• Review of Purposes and benefits of Literature Studies;

• Review of literary genres and techniques;
• Literary criticism (definition, purpose); and
• Literary Criticism vs. Literary Theory

4
Formative assessment - recitation

• WHAT is Literature?
• WHY do we study
Literature?
• HOW do we study
Literature?

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Literature

• Comes from a Latin word “litera” which means letter;

• Any printed materials provided they are related to the ideas and
feelings of people giving factual or imaginary;
• Any written work that is undying (timeless, lasting, prominent); and
• Story of life, story of man’s culture.

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Purpose and Benefits

• Strengthen critical thinking skills;

• Broaden our horizon;
• Learn about other people (author);
• Develop empathy towards others; and
• Build our imaginations.

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We do slow reading or close reading
(Nietzsche)
- spend time in studying HOW
it was said, than WHAT was said
from a text.
- (Novel) you look the ‘tone of
the author’ in the text

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In studying literature…

• Analysis, debate and critical theorizing

about a large number of published works
(novel, poem, short story, etc.)

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Review of Literary Genres

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Main genres/forms

•Poetry
•Prose
•Drama

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Poetry
• Poetry is the most intense form of
writing. It allows a writer to express
his or her deepest emotions and
thoughts in a very personal way. It
relies heavily on figurative
language, rhythm, and imagery to
relay its message to readers.

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Sub – genres of Poetry

• Songs and Ballads

• Lyric
• Epic
• Dramatic
• Narrative

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 Prose

• Prose is the most common form of

writing. It is not restricted by rhythm
or dialogue, and it most closely
resembles everyday speech.

It is usually straightforward, and may utilize figurative

language, dialogue, characters, and imagery.

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Two main category of Prose

FICTION NONFICTION

• Novel and novella • Autobiography and biography

• Short story • Essays
• Myths and legends • Diaries and journals
• Fables • Narrative nonfiction

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Drama

• Drama is a literary work written to be

performed in front of an audience. It
contains dialogue, and actors
impersonate the characters. It is
usually divided into acts or scenes,
and relies on props or imaginative
dialogue to create a visual experience
for the audience.
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Sub – genre of Drama

• Tragedy
• Comedy
• History
• Melodrama
• Musical

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Review of Literary Devices – Techniques
and Elements

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Guess the literary device used in the text.

https://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm
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"The sun was like a large ball of
butter" is an example of what literary
technique?

Simile
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Simile

• Similes are a type of metaphorical language which

make comparisons between two basically unlike
things, normally using the words "like" or "as" to
make the comparison. In this example, the sun is being
compared to a large ball of butter.

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"The wall stared at me silently" is an
example of what type of literary tool?

Personification
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Personification

• Personification is a literary device employed to give human

characteristics to non-human things.
• You can clearly see in this example that walls cannot really
stare at people, and thus they are given that characteristic
using personification.

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"If I do not eat my daily papaya, I will
surely die" is an example of what type
of literary device?

Hyperbole
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Hyperbole

• A hyperbole is usually an overstatement used to more easily

get a point across to someone. In this example, whoever this
person is speaking will (almost certainly) not really die if
they do not eat a papaya everyday, but they are using
hyperbole to get across the point that they love that papaya.

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"The road was a ribbon of moonlight,"
is an example of which of these literary
techniques?

Metaphor
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Metaphor

• A metaphor is one of the most general types of literary techniques,

branching off into several more specific types. But in its purest form,
it is basically a comparison between two unlike things (usually
inanimate things-when those come into play, similes and
personification are more often used). In this example, roads and
ribbons of moonlights are two quite unlike things, rendering this one a
metaphor.

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"The wise fool is burning my taco"
employs what kind of literary device?

Oxymoron
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Oxymoron

• An oxymoron combines two completely opposite

things into one phrase. In this example, a fool is not
very often wise; therefore, it is an oxymoronic
expression.

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 Literary
devices

Techniques Elements

Aspects of the whole

Single word Phrase
text
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Literary Devices

• Any specific aspect of literature, or a particular work,

which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or
analyze. Both literary elements and literary techniques
can rightly be called literary devices.

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Literary Techniques

• Are specific, deliberate constructions of language which an

author uses to convey meaning.
• An author’s use of a literary technique usually occurs with a
single word or phrase, or a particular group of words or
phrases, at one single point in a text

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Literary Techniques

• Alliteration • Foreshadowing
• Anthropomorphism • Iambic pentameter (poetry)
• Blank verse (poetry) • Imagery
• Creative license • Symbolism
• Dialogue
• Figurative language
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Literary Elements

• Aspects or characteristics of a whole text. They are not

“used,” per se, by authors; we derive what they are
from reading the text. Most literary elements can be
derived from any and all texts

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Literary Elements
• Allegory • Point-of-view
• Antagonist • Protagonist
• Characterization • Setting
• Context • Structure
• Mood • Theme
• Motif • Tone
• Plot
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Exercise Activity 2
Function of criticism

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Breakout room
rules and tips
• Participate actively in the discussion;
• Take down notes of the following ideas gathered;
• Never disrupt the group discussion of unrelated
business;
• Filter your words while in the breakout room;
and
• Prepare yourself for random pick of recitation.
Literary Criticism as
“INTERPRETATION”

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Literary Criticism
as
“EVALUATION”

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Literary
Criticism as
“JUDGEMENT
”

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Literary Criticism

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Criticism

• The term criticism originates from the Greek term

kritikos, which was used in the 4th century B.C. it, means
“a judge of literature”.
• In the 2nd century A.D. its place was taken by the term
criticus, aimed at the interpretation of texts and words and
improvement of the works of writers in Greek or Latin.

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Examine this
illustration

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Literary Criticism
• Literary Criticism is the study, evaluation
and interpretation of literature;
• Interpretation, analysis, classification and
ultimately the judgment of literary works;
• Evaluation of literary works; and
• As what literature is, what does, and what it
is worth?

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Purpose
• Researching, reading, and writing
works of literary criticism will help
you to make better sense of the work,
form judgments about literature,
study ideas from different points of
view, and determine on an individual
level whether a literary work is worth
reading.

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Literary Analysis
vs Literary
Interpretation

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 What is analysis?

What is
interpretation?

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Literary Analysis

•  a careful examination of
the mechanism of a literary
work
•  a discussion of how that
mechanism functions to
reveal meaning.

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Literary
Interpretation
• logical analytical conclusion
about a work based on the facts
of the story.
• an explicit argument about a
text’s deeper meanings—its
implied themes, values, and
assumptions.

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You interpret by using FACTS

• You have nine dogs. Five are white, and four are
black.
• The logical conclusion you can make from this set
of facts is that you have more white dogs than
black dogs.

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For example, you might write:

• He had short black hair and steely gray eyes. His

face was square, his nose Roman. He was a
ruggedly handsome fellow.
• The first two sentences provide the facts, and the
third sentence presents the interpretation.

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Literary
Theory

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 Hypotheses

Principles

Speculation

Predictions
Guess
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 • The study of principles which
inform how critics makes sense of
literary works.
• A school of thought or style of
literary analysis that gives readers a
means to critique the ideas and
principles of literature.

Literary Theory
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Literary Theory

• Examines a cross-section of literature from a

specific era, geographic location, or from
writers of specific backgrounds or identities to
draw conclusions about the similarities and
differences in similar kinds of literary works.

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QUESTIONS???

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https://www.storyboardthat.com/articles/e/literary-genres
https://www.pittsfordschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?
moduleinstanceid=542&dataid=4672&FileName=Literary%20Devices.pdf
https://libguides.dickinson.edu/criticism#:~:text=Researching%2C%20reading%2C%20and%20writing
%20works,literary%20work%20is%20worth%20reading.
https://www.austincc.edu/dws/analysis02.html#:~:text=An%20interpretation%20is%20a%20logical,mechanism
%20functions%20to%20reveal%20meaning.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/evaluating-structure-aesthetics-significance-of-texts.html#:~:text=Three
%20important%20elements%20in%20evaluating,how%20to%20evaluate%20these%20elements.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/literary-theory-explained#what-is-literary-theory

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