Critique Paper - Literary Criticism Theories PDF

# **Critique Paper** Critique/Reaction Paper is an example of an academic text which is the product of critical assessment, analyses, and evaluation of different works such as scholarly works, literary texts, films, books, game, or any work of art. Criticism is not about finding fault on the subje...

# **Critique Paper** Critique/Reaction Paper is an example of an academic text which is the product of critical assessment, analyses, and evaluation of different works such as scholarly works, literary texts, films, books, game, or any work of art. Criticism is not about finding fault on the subject but elucidating both the strengths and weaknesses of the material. # **Critical Approaches/ Literary Criticism Theories** <start_of_image> breakdowns of various theoretical approaches used to analyze literary texts. - **Reader Response Theory** - **Formalism/ Formalist Criticism** - **Feminism/ Feminist Criticism** - **Marxism/ Marxist Criticism** # **Formalism** Focuses on the form of the work, the relationships between the parts, the construction of the plot, the contrasts between characters, the point of view, narrative techniques used, relationship of the form and the content, the function of rhymes, and so on. # **Sample reader-response of Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez** > The title gives a melancholic atmosphere because of the word "dead". It shows how love works in ways no one can totally take in control. Although Alfredo was already engaged to Esperanza, he developed a whirlwind of emotion which can also be said to be love to Julia. The story is a picture of reality nowadays. There are people who are already committed to a person who eventually develop feelings toward another person. Though the way each and every person deals with the situation differs. # **Feminism** Focuses on how literature presents women as subjects of socio-political, psychological, and economic oppression. - How culture determines gender? - How gender equality or the lack of it is presented in the text? - How gender issues are presented in literary works and other aspects of human production? - How patriarchal ideology is an overpowering presence? # **Sample Formalist critique of Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez** > The title of the work already gives an idea as to what it means. In Physics, it is stated that the light and energy of the stars must travel light years to reach us. Since they are millions of miles away and light has to travel this large distance, it is highly possible that the star has already exploded while its light is still travelling towards us. Therefore, it is possible that a bright light we see at night actually comes from a dead star. In the story, this metaphor is used to refer to Alfredo's love for Julia, a woman he meets and falls for one fateful summer. # **Raise Your Hand if You Agree** > "All right, I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool" > * From The Great Gatsby # **Marxism** Concerned with differences between economic classes and implications of a capitalist system, such as the continuing conflicts between the working class and the elite. Hence, it attempts to reveal that the ultimate source of people's experience is the socioeconomic system. The common aspects looked are the social class as represented in the work and social class of the writer and the characters. # **Reader Response Theory** Removes the focus from the text and is more concerned with the reviewer's reaction and understanding as an audience of a text. It is also interested in the reader's individual experience with a text rather than the correct interpretation.