New Criticism vs Structuralism
New Criticism
· Focus on “the text itself”; don’t mind the author and his/her background/biography, trust the tale not the teller; must do a close reading; must be objective and put own ideas aside
· Don’t pay attention to your feelings
· Formal elements (plot, setting, characterization)
· Timeless verbal object
· Stick to the text, quote directly; NO paraphrasing
· Intentional Fallacy: trying to judge a work of art by assuming its intent/purpose of the artist who created it
· Affective Fallacy: supposed error of judging a text on the basis of its emotional effects on a reader
· Organic Unity: working together of all parts to make an inseparable whole
· Critics
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This so-called fallacy leads to relative interpretations. These ideas are complex because the reader must ask herself what gives a text its meaning? New criticism also calls for a “close reading”. This referred to that the reader examines the text itself and analyses the images, symbols, metaphors, rhymes, meters, point of view, setting characterization, plot, and so on. Ever since, New criticism believes a work is a timeless, autonomous verbal object. This is why changing one line or image of the poem is argues to be a different poem. Close reading is an examination of the complex relationship between a texts formal elements and its theme (formal elements being mentioned above). This is why often New Criticist’s were called formalists. They believed that the literary text can be understood entirely by understanding its form. Other than the formal elements discussed previously, linguistic devices of paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension form a more figurative language that …show more content…
Bressler- is chaotic and highly variable context-dependent systems. In their view, such structures could not have the coercive power over individuals that the structuralists attributed to them. Jacques Derrida(1930-), perhaps the originator of poststructuralism, has argued against the notion of logocentrism. By logocentrism Derrida meant the coercive, limiting effects of the search for universal systems of thought that would reveal "truth." Instead, Derrida attempts to deconstruct, or uncover, hidden differences that underlie logocentrism. At the heart of the notion of logocentrism is the silencing of voices by intellectual elites in the creation of the dominant discourse. Derrida argues for a decentering, so that previously excluded or silenced voices may contribute. While the ultimate result of this is unclear, Derrida privileges a movement away from any sort of silencing, a movement away from the fallacy of universal truth, and movement towards a society characterized by participation, play, and difference. Michel Foucault Perhaps the most recognizable figure associated with poststructuralism is Michel Foucault(1937-1984). Foucault incorporated a variety of theoretical insights, particularly from Karl Marx(1818-1883), Max Weber(1864-1920), and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).
In “How to Read Like a Writer,” Mike Bunn states that the most important part of reading is to find the writers technique of writing. He begins by saying in order to understand the meaning of “How toRead Like a Writer,” is to identify the choices of the writer and if the techniques that is used is one you want to use yourself. Bunn continues to say that instead of obtaining the context you should find how the writer pieced the work together. Bunn brought up a poet named Allen Tate who says that there are two different ways of reading.
Metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a line or verse in a poem. In Jessica Jopp’s poem, “Why poetry cannot be skimmed” these word manipulation tools are used to convey the importance and seriousness of poetry. Jopp opens the poems saying, “The barn was in the Netherlands, in a field where fierce night wind caught the straw as if to fuse the winter stars to their coldness.” Jopp paints a vivid picture of the setting of the poem; the realism creates a scene that doesn’t seem so foreign. “A farmer, woken by the sound, knowing his animals would be
Something that is left out a lot in the education system, is that it is okay to have a different interpretation. Students are accustomed to trying to find the “correct” interpretation of something. Christina Hags and Linda Flower in their text, found that more experienced readers used what they called rhetorical reading strategies to more efficiently come to an understanding of difficult texts. Average college students however, don’t implement this into their daily reads. At least some.
This forced me to begin to think outside of the box and greatly expanded my knowledge of deep thought. Soon I watched as my grades steadily rose with valiance, and as a reader I became part of the text that came into my path. Haas and Flowers’ rhetorical reading strategies make sense to me in a way that has been familiar for a long time. From this reading, I felt that though I have never read Haas and Flowers’ exert, I have experienced it through the teachings of others.
Thomas Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor, is a thought provoking guide to reading literature. This book helps with understanding the “language of reading” and the importance of details. Foster opens up a new side of literature where rather than reading emotionally, you dig deeper into the grammar of the literary work to discover the true meaning. How to Read Literature Like a Professor, is beneficial when reading any kind of literary work. It explains the particular “set of conventions and patterns, codes and rules” (Foster xxv) used when dealing with literary works.
This is why this literary device was not as good as other to better understand the
While reading there are various ways to gain a deeper understanding of the text. For example, one method a reader can apply to increase their understanding is rhetorical reading defined as “involves more than ‘agreeing’ or ‘disagreeing’” (Heasley et al. 89). Thus, requiring the reader to focus on the text and pay close attention to the rhetorical situation to comprehend how an argument is working. In detail, the rhetorical situation consists of the writer, reader, text/purpose, and context.
Such wording invokes curiosity in the reader, making the author’s argument more
This provides a time period in how fast our minds and patience can be affected by what we decide to do. Our brains are not to be played with, as we have billions of neurons to keep creating connections to; by learning and expanding our knowledge as their food source. Reading can expand our imagination and thought, as we should be questioning how the author provides information or detail, because there is a purpose to why the author places certain words and sentences to create such a piece. There was once a traditional way of reading which was simply understanding what was read. Now, we are learning a modern way, “our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged”.
Reading may seem like an run of the mill thing where you laugh at the funny jokes, glare into the abyss when the text possess a provocative quote. To Mike Bunn the author of “How to Read Like A Writer,” has a different interpretation of what reading should be. Mike Bunn emphasizes that reading should be more than just context, he argues that you need to question the authors’ choice of words, literary devices, sentence placement, in order to be able to become better readers and writers ourselfs. He presents it to the audience in a manner that is very interactive. He begins by explaining what he means to “Read Like a Writer”(Bunn, How to Read Like A Writer), followed by questions that should be asked about the text and writing style, and techniques that should be done to become a more proficient writer.
In Victor Erlich’s work Russian Formalism, he speaks of what Formalism is. Elich proclaims “The locus of peculiarly literary was to be sought in not in the author’s or the reader’s psyche, but in the work itself.” (Erlich 628) What Elrich is saying is that when you read a novel you should look for what is actually in the novel rather than looking at the
Sometimes, it’s possible to read between the lines without knowing exactly what is being stated in those lines. Take Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s poem “Yuba City School,” for instance. In this poem, Neeraj, a young boy, and his mother have recently immigrated to California from Punjab, India. At his new school, Neeraj’s teacher repeatedly insults and shames him for not understanding English, and it takes its toll. Through the use of figurative language, Divakurani conveys that one does not need to understand what a person is saying word for word in order to comprehend and be affected by what that person’s true message is.
Poetry is an important part of literature which conveys an author 's ideas across to the reader through the use of descriptive language. Poetry helps an author to express their inner emotions and often incorporates various poetic devices which enriches the text. Poetry gives the reader a different perspective and when read closely, can give the audience a look into the authors imagination. Likewise, poetic devices enhance the writing and can drastically change the mood of the poem, as well as, how the reader interprets the poem. Poetic devices are important in literature because they help to convey a message, add spontaneity to a poem, and give the reader a strong visual.
This is shown when the characters in this novel speak out against a concept they know nothing about. Therefore, the literary terms an author uses can make an immense impact to the connections the reader makes to a novel, and help to shape a theme that is found throughout
Paul- Michel Foucault was a French philosopher also known as a historian of systems of thoughts whose influence extended across a broad array of disciplines especially in the humanities and social sciences and a social critic. He created his own title when he was promoted to professorship at one of the most prestigious colleges in France “College de France” in 1970. He is perhaps best known for his ruminations on power, self identity, epistemology, and the evolution of systems of thought and meaning. He is often described as post-structuralist or post modernist, however Foucault himself rejected such titles, preferring to analyse their significance rather than identifying with them.