Approaches in Literary Criticism (App 1)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on approaches to literary criticism.

Formalism Criticism

An approach that treats literature as a self-contained work; analyzes form—style, structure, tone, imagery—and how these elements interact with content to shape meaning and effects.

Interpretation Relay

An in-class activity where teams interpret the same text in multiple ways and express interpretations through creative outputs like skits, drawings, or memes.

Text for Interpretation Relay

The short poem, excerpt, meme, or comic strip used as the basis for the Interpretation Relay activity.

The Good-Morrow (John Donne)

A text used as an example in Structuralist analysis to illustrate focusing on genre and larger literary traditions rather than solely on formal features.

Structuralism

A theory that seeks to understand texts by analyzing underlying structures and codes within larger social or cultural systems, emphasizing connections within patterns.

Historical Criticism

A method that reads a work through its social, cultural, and intellectual context, including the author’s biography and environment, to understand its effect on original readers.

Noli Me Tangere (José Rizal)

A Rizal novel analyzed in its historical context (Spanish colonial Philippines), considering Rizal’s life and the 19th‑century reform movement.

Gender Criticism

A critique focusing on how gender identities shape the creation and reception of literature; rooted in feminism and exploring patriarchy, gender roles, power, and inequality.

Gender Roles

Societal expectations about behavior and power assigned to genders; analysis of how texts portray, challenge, or reinforce these roles.

Reader-Response Criticism

A theory that treats reading as an active transaction between the text and the reader’s mind, focusing on readers’ emotional and cognitive responses.

Media Criticism

An approach that analyzes media content for bias, representation, and the influence of media on audiences.

Media Bias

A tendency to promote a particular viewpoint or omit key details, resulting in partial or skewed reporting.

Marxist Criticism

An approach that examines economic and political forces in literature, highlighting class struggle, power, and ideology within art.

Form

The organized features of a literary work—style, structure, rhythm, tone, imagery—that contribute to meaning and aesthetic effect.

Context

The surrounding social, cultural, and intellectual environment of a work, including its historical setting and author biography.

Thematic Focus: Interdisciplinary Contexts

Acknowledging how literature is shaped by and reflects larger structures (culture, politics, economics) as seen in methods like structuralism and Marxist criticism.