Literary criticism, sometimes called literary analysis or critical literary analysis, is the examination of a piece of literature. The purpose can be to examine a single aspect of the work or the work in its entirety, and involves analyzing the piece in its components and evaluating how these combine to convey the meaning of the piece. Literary criticism is commonly performed by students, scholars and literary critics, but anyone can learn how to do literary criticism by following these steps.
Steps
Step 1. Read the literary piece you intend to critique
Pay particular attention to the meaning of the title, which alludes to the central meaning of the book. Also, make sure you look up any words you don't know and re-read the passages you can't understand.
Step 2. Review the components of the literature
- Plot. It is the story told in the passage. A plot can be an abstract and psychological path or a simple chain of events.
- Setting. Evaluate how the choice of setting affects the theme and mood of the piece.
- Personages. Distinguish between main and secondary characters and identify their roles and objectives within the song. Take note of the main character's journey through the work (i.e. how the character changes, what challenges he faces, etc.).
- Conflict development, culmination and resolution. These elements are all part of the plot, but must be examined separately: their location in the development of the plot is a key factor that determines whether the author is able to convey the meaning of the work or not.
- Themes. Decipher what the writer is trying to communicate with that passage, and what the work is saying about human nature.
- Point of view. Consider who the narrator is and how his choices contribute to the purpose of the passage.
Step 3. Give an interpretation to the criticism, taking into consideration the different literary components
Decide what you think about the meaning given by the author and how much he was able to convey it.
Step 4. Summarize your interpretation by developing a concise thesis; the purpose of literary criticism is to support your thesis
Step 5. Prove your interpretation
Use specific examples from the text and supporting documentation from external sources to support your thesis.
- Find models in the literature that support the interpretation you are advocating in your literary analysis. Cite cases of repetition and metaphors.
- Shed some light on the symbolism of the literary work and explain how it works to support your interpretation.
- Include quotes and literature as evidence of your criticism.
- It uses arguments from other literary criticisms.
Advice
- If you feel that you have not fully understood all the literary components after the first reading of the work, read it again, with the components in mind, before starting the criticism.
- Be careful not to upset the work when you criticize. Your task is to evaluate the meaning of the work, not to outline its plot.
- You should always take into consideration how the writer's techniques contribute to the overall meaning of the text.
