Literary Criticism, Devices, and Elements of Short Story Quiz

Literary Criticism

The method used to interpret any given work of literature.

The Different Schools of Thought

The various “lenses” you can use to look at a piece of literature.

Schools of Literary Criticism

Marxist, Psychoanalytical, Archetypal, New Criticism, New Historicism, Gender, and Cultural Criticism.

Marxist Criticism

Focuses mainly on social class and political ideologies within a text.

question for Marxist

What role does class play in the work?

Psychoanalytical Criticism

Focuses on the characters and what is going on internally.

questions for psychoanalytical

What is the characters motivation?

Archetypal Criticism

analyzes recurring myths, symbols, and character types across different cultures.

questions for archetypal criticism

Which archetypes are presented in the text and how do they deepen the understanding of a particular theme?

New Criticism (Formalist)

Focuses on the literary elements of the text, like metaphor, plot structure, symbolism, etc.

questions for New Criticism

What are some most focus on in English class?

New Historicism

treats literature as a product of its specific time, directly shaped by the political, social, and cultural climate of that period.

question for New Historicism

How has the interpretation of the poem changed over time?

Gender Criticism

Examines how gender and sexual roles are reflected and contradicted in a literary text, or how the authors gender and sexuality impact their work. The differences between women and men are cultural, not sexual.

Cultural Criticism

Examines how different religions, ethnicities, class identifications, political beliefs, and views affect the ways in which texts are created and interpreted.

Alliteration

Repetition of sounds or syllables

Archetype

A common character, symbol, or situation that’s appears across many stories or cultures

Audience

The person or group a text is intended for

Colloquialism

The usage of informal or everyday language in literature

Conflict

The struggle or problem between opposing forces in a story

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues about something that will happen later in the story

Hyperbole

An exaggeration used for effect

Irony

A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses

Metaphor

A comparison saying one thing is another without using “like” or “as.”

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates a sound

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words placed together

Personification

Giving human qualities to something inanimate

Pun

A play on words, often using words with multiple meanings or similar sounds

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as.”

Symbolism

When something represents a deeper meaning or idea.

Theme

The central message or lesson of a story

Understatement

Making something seem less important or serious than it really is

Point of View

The perspective from which a story is told

Elements of a Short Story

Character, Setting, Plot, Conflict, and Theme.