8 CRITICAL APPROACHES FOR STUDYING LITERATURE :

Biographical – Focuses on connection of work to an author’s personal experiences

Historical – Focuses on connection of the work to the historical background and period
in which the text was written.

Formalistic – Focuses on form. Analysis stresses symbolism, imagery, structure, and

how parts relate to entire work.

Archetypal – Focuses on connections to other literature, mythological/biblical allusions,

archetypal images, symbols, characters, themes.

Psychological – Focuses on the inner motivations of the characters.

Philosophical – Focuses on themes, views of the world, moral statements, philosophy.

Sociological – Focuses on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion, and

business.

Feminist – Focuses on female characters, images of women, and concepts of the

feminine in myth and literature.

1. BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH

Analyzes the literary work by focusing on the author. It looks at the author’s background
and how it impacted the literature.

-Considers the following:

-the author’s stated beliefs

-the author’s personal life and experiences

-the values of the author’s contemporaries

Biographical Approach: Questions for Literary Analysis

What aspects of the author’s personal life are related to or important in this story?

Which of the author’s stated beliefs are shown?

Does the writer challenge or reflect the values of his/her contemporaries?

What appear to be the author’s major concerns?

Do you see any of the writer’s personal experiences in the text?

Do any of the events or characters in the story correspond to real events or people?

2. HISTORICAL APPROACH

Analyzes the literary work based on the historical time period in which the work was
written. Considers the historical conditions and how this context impacted the literature.

Considers the following:

time period of the writing and/or setting

literature of the time

attitudes and beliefs of a society, especially related to race, religion, politics, gender,
society, and philosophy

major historical events, influences, or movements

prevailing societal values (and opposition to the values)

HISTORICAL APPROACH: QUESTIONS FOR LITERARY ANALYSIS

How does the work (and how accurately) reflect the time in which it was written?

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? (race, religion, politics, gender, society, philosophy, etc.)

What literary works, historical events, or movements might have influenced this writer?

How would the writer’s contemporaries view characters and events in the story?

Does the story show or contradict prevailing values of the time period?

3. Formalistic Approach

Analyzes the literary work with its form, structure, and literary elements in focus. The critic
looks at the structure and elements of the entire literary work.

Considers the following:

structure, elements, meaning

how the entire structure is unified

literary elements (including repetition, theme, motif, imagery, diction, syntax, plot, figures
of speech, paradox, irony, symbol, characterization, plot, style of narration, tone, mood,
etc.)

FORMALISTIC APPROACH: QUESTIONS FOR LITERARY ANALYSIS

How is the work’s structure unified?

What are the recurring patterns of words or images? What is the effect?

How does repetition reinforce the theme(s)?

How does the writer’s diction reveal or reflect the work’s meaning?

What is the plot, and how do its parts produce a certain 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 these relate to one another or to the theme?

Is there a relationship between the story’s beginning and end?

How does the author create tone and mood? How do tone and mood affect the story at
various parts?

4. ARCHETYPAL APPROACH

Archetypal criticism argues that archetypes determine the form and function of literary
works, that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths. Archetypes
are the unknowable basic forms personified or concretized in recurring images, symbols,
or patterns which may include motifs such as the quest or the heavenly ascent,
recognizable character types such as the trickster or the hero, symbols such as the apple
or snake, or images such as crucifixion (as in King Kong, or Bride of Frankenstein)--all
laden with meaning already when employed in a particular work.

5. Psychological Approach

Analyzes literature by focusing on the psychology of the writer and characters. This
approach evaluates the thoughts, motives, actions, development and subconscious of the
characters.

Considers the following:

motivating forces, emotions, and dimensions of the mind

conscious and unconscious behaviors

internal and external conflicts

application of Freudian or other psychological theories

tripartite self: id (basic desires), superego (morality), and ego (balance of id and
superego)

psychological disorders and dreams

Psychological Approach : Questions for Literary Analysis

What forces motivate the characters?

Which behaviors or conflicts are conscious and unconscious?

Given their backgrounds, how believable are the characters’ behaviors?

Are Freudian or other psychological theories applicable?

Do any of the characters correspond to the tripartite self? (Id, ego, superego)

What roles do psychological disorders and dreams play?

What do the characters’ emotions and behaviors reveal about their psychological states?

How is the writer’s personal psychology or unconscious dimensions of his/her mind

reflected?

6. Philosophical Approach

Analyzes literature by focusing on themes, view of the world, moral statements, and the
author’s philosophy.

Considers the following:

Human nature

Mankind’s relationships with God and with the universe

Morality, good vs. evil

Reward and punishment

Philosophical Approach : Questions for Literary Analysis

What view of life does the story present? Which character best articulates this?

What moral statement does this story make? Is it explicit or implicit?

What is the author’s attitude toward his world? Toward fate? Toward God?

What does the work say about the nature of good or evil?

What does the work say about human nature?

Is good rewarded? Is evil punished?

Is the world ordered or random?

7. Sociological Approach

Analyzes literature by focusing on man’s relationship to others in society, politics, religion,

and economics.

Considers the following:

Economic power and money

Urban, rural, and suburban values

Societal, race, gender, and class issues

Social power and forces

Government structures and systems, such as dictatorship, democracy, communism,

socialism, fascism, Marxism, etc.

Sociological Approach : Questions for Literary Analysis

What is shown about economic or social power?

Who has it and who doesn’t?

What is the impact on characters’ lives?

What role does money play?

How are urban, rural, or suburban values shown?

Are societal forces or issues (race, gender, and class) addressed?

How do they shape power relationships between groups or classes?

Who has power, and who doesn’t? Why?

What is the relationship between the characters and society?

Does it challenge or affirm the social order presented?

Is the protagonist’s struggle symbolic of a larger class struggle?

How does the story’s small world (microcosm) reflect the larger world (macrocosm) of the
society in which it was composed?

Do any of the characters correspond to government structures? What are the attitudes
toward these political structures/systems?