Lesson-6_Critique (1).pptx

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  It is a systematic, yet personal re...

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  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.  VARIETY OF WORKS THAN CAN BE CRITIQUED  Creative works – novels, exhibits, film, images, poetry  Research – monographs, journal articles, systematic reviews, theories  Media – news reports, feature articles 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. Why do we write critiques? Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:  An understanding of the work’s purpose, intended audience, development of argument, structure of evidence or creative style. Why do we write critiques? Writing a critique on a work helps us to develop:  A recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of the work. 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.  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.” 1. FORMALIST 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  How is the work’s structure unified?  How do various elements of the work reinforce its meaning? What recurring patterns (repeated or related words, images, etc.) Can you find?  What is the effect of these patterns or motifs?  How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?  How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?  What is the effect of the plot, and what parts specifically produce that effect?  What figures of speech are used? (Metaphors, similes, etc.)  Note the writer’s use of paradox, irony, symbol, plot, characterization, and style of narration.  What effects are produced? Do any of these relate to one another or to the theme?  Is there a relationship between the beginning and the end of the story?  What tone and mood are created at various parts of the work?  How does the author create tone and mood? What relationship is there between tone and mood and the effect of the story?  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.”  It is 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. 3. FEMINIST CRITICISM 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.”  It 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.  QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED FOR FEMINISTIC APPROACH  How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?  Is the form and content of the work influenced by the writer’s gender?  How do male and female characters relate to one another? Are these relationships sources of conflict? Are these conflicts resolved?  DOES THE WORK CHALLENGE OR AFFIRM TRADITIONAL VIEWS OF WOMEN?  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?  WHAT MARITAL EXPECTATIONS ARE IMPOSED ON THE CHARACTERS? WHAT EFFECT DO THESE EXPECTATIONS HAVE?  WHAT BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS ARE IMPOSED ON THE CHARACTERS? WHAT EFFECT DO THESE EXPECTATIONS HAVE?  IF A FEMALE CHARACTER WERE MALE, HOW WOULD THE STORY BE DIFFERENT (AND VICE VERSA)?  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  How does it reflect the time in which it was written?  How accurately does the story depict the time in which it is set?  What literary or historical influences helped to shape the form and content of the work?  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.)  What other literary works may have influenced the writer?  What historical events or movements might have influenced this writer?  How would characters and events in this story have been viewed by the writer’s contemporaries?  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?  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  It focuses on how human behavior is determined by social, cultural and psychological structures.  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. 7. SOCIOLOGICAL It focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and business.  QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED FOR SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH  WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR SOCIETY?  DOES THE STORY ADDRESS SOCIETAL ISSUES, SUCH AS RACE, GENDER, AND CLASS?  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?  How does the story reflect urban, rural, or suburban values?  What does the work say about economic or social power? Who has it and who doesn’t? Any marxist learnings evident?  Does the story address issues of economic exploitation? What role does money play?  How do economic conditions determine the direction of the characters’ lives?  DOES THE WORK CHALLENGE OR AFFIRM THE SOCIAL ORDER IT DEPICTS?  CAN THE PROTAGONIST’S STRUGGLE BE SEEN AS SYMBOLIC OF A LARGER CLASS STRUGGLE?  HOW DOES THE MICROCOSM (SMALL WORLD) OF THE STORY REFLECT THE MACROCOSM (LARGE WORLD) OF THE SOCIETY IN WHICH IT WAS COMPOSED?  DO ANY OF THE CHARACTERS CORRESPOND TO TYPES OF GOVERNMENT, SUCH AS A DICTATORSHIP, DEMOCRACY, COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, FASCISM, ETC.?