Schools of criticism: Literary Theory “Lenses”
Microscope analogy (lens at which you can
analyze the literature)
*always refer from beginning to the end of
the novel in your analysis
(E.g. We would never try to analyze the Mona
Lisa from the shoulders up)
Literature is interactive. When you write your
essay in present tense the literature comes
alive again!
Formalism
Formalism:
Arrows go into the book
(study is of primary text)
Social Criticism
Conflict
Archetypes
(patterns)
Carl Jung
Hero’s Journey
Formalism: arrows go into the book (study is
of primary text
 After WWII there was a boom in science
and technology development (inventions of
plastics, warfare, etc).
 This spurred scholars to look at literature in
a scientific way (purposefully using
terminology). Asked “Why is it good?”
“What are the merits?”
 Deconstruction of the whole into its parts
(pulling it apart/dissecting)
 This is a good foundation because it seeps
over into the other criticisms
 What terminology do you have in your
repertoire to date? How would you
approach the study of a piece of literature?
(short story, film, play, novel, poem)?
 images – recurrence of images that appeal
to the five senses
 settings – how the setting influences the
storyline, plot, characters, etc.
 symbols -how strong symbols are
interwoven through the text to draw upon a
specific theme
 themes -a major controlling idea or
message in the text that have a specific
influence on character development
 plot
 characterization/development
 conflict
 climax
 imagery
 foreshadowing
 initiating incident
 metaphor
 allusion (biblical, historical, etc)
 any rhetorical device
 any short story term
 any poetic term
 BUT you must always connect your analysis
of the term to either character development
or theme. You must have a purpose for
analyzing the terminology and it must stay
close to the text in this way.
SOCIAL CRITICISM: Arrows point from
literature (book) outwardly towards society.
 Literature (fiction) reflects real society and
Science Fiction can lead to change as it
looks at possible futures (in fact some
authors of science fiction are considered
visionaries because they have invented
things that actually have become reality.
 Fiction Is the Mother of Invention: Five SciFi Ideas That Became RealityPublished
March 26, 2009
A communicator from the original 'Star
Trek' series, which ran from 1966 to 1969.
The moon with a rocket stuck in its eye in
Georges Melies 'A Voyage to the Moon.'
The Motorola StarTAC, the first 'flip' cell
phone from 1996. Wonder how they came up
with the name.
Some things have to be seen to be believed.
Others have to be believed before they can be
seen.
Sometimes the most interesting and useful
inventions don't come from the minds of
scientists, but from the minds of fiction
writers who create entire universes, as well
as the things that exist within them.
Writers have dreamed up ways to make the
impossible possible, often defying the laws of
science and pushing the bounds of reality.
While we're nowhere near being taken over
by the clone armies of "Star Wars," other
ideas that were created by science fiction's
dreamweavers have found their way into our
world.
FOXNews.com takes a look at some of reallife things that were "invented" first by
science fiction's finest.
1. Cell Phones
Beam me up, Scotty! Long before cell phones
became a must-have accessory for everyone
from middle schoolers to CEOs, one sciencefiction television show had its characters
talking across galaxies on hand-held wireless
communication devices.
The "communicators" that Capt. James T. Kirk
used to talk to the crew of the Starship
Enterprise on "Star Trek" influenced cellphone inventor Martin Cooper, who said he
was inspired by the flip-cover devices as he
was developing mobile-phone technology at
Motorola.
On April 3, 1973, while going boldly where no
man had gone before (well, he actually was
walking down a New York City street), Cooper
placed the first handheld cell-phone call —
the handset weighed more than two pounds
— to Joel Engel, his rival and head of research
at Bell Labs.
2. Submarines
Considered the father of science fiction, 19thcentury author Julies Verne was an
inspiration to the pioneers of undersea travel
when his 1870 novel "Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea" gave the world
Captain Nemo's Nautilus and a glimpse at
what submarines could be.
Primitive hand-cranked submarines had been
created — and even used in war — before
Verne's novel was published, but it was his
vision that spurred innovation of the modern,
mechanical sub.
The Nautilus, about 230 feet long and
powered by electricity generated using the
sodium in ocean water, was more akin to
today's submarines than to the small human-
powered ships of Verne's time. It also had a
galley kitchen, a library and a pipe organ.
3. Robots
The world "robot" was first used in 1921 in
Czech writer Karel Capek's play, R.U.R.
(Rossum's Universal Robots), and comes
from the Czech word "robota," meaning
"forced labor," according to the Oxford
English Dictionary.
Parts of the play take place in a factory that
makes artificial people. Created to work for
humans, the robots eventually rebel, leading
to the end of the human race.
Isaac Asimov coined the term "robotics," and
his 1942 short story "Runaround" listed the
Three Laws of Robotics, Asimov's rules that
robots must obey.
In order of priority: Robots must not hurt
humans or allow them to be hurt. Robots
must obey humans, unless that conflicts with
the first law. Robots must protect
themselves, unless that interferes with the
first or second law.
Films such as "Blade Runner," "2001: A Space
Odyssey" and "Terminator," and television
shows like "Battlestar Galactica" show what
happens when robots break the laws and run
amok.
It's usually some combination of chaos and
destruction, but so far the most advanced
robots -- like the latest model from Japan
that strolls down the catwalks of the fashion
world -- have yet to rebel.
4. Space Travel
Long before Yuri Gagarin left our atmosphere
behind and Neil Armstrong set foot on the
moon, science-fiction writers imagined ways
that human beings would break free from the
confines of boring old Earth and take to the
stars — or at least to the moon.
In fact, in novels and in film, man was
visiting the moon years before Wilbur and
Orville Wright were able to get an airplane off
the ground.
Jules Verne published "From the Earth to the
Moon" in 1865. In 1901, H.G. Wells' "The
First Men in the Moon" was published, and
the two inspired the first science fiction film,
Georges Melies' "A Trip to the Moon."
In the 14-minute film, made in 1902, six
astronomers build a bullet-shaped ship and
shoot themselves to the moon — out of a
cannon. In the film the moon watches the
ship approach, hitting it straight in the eye.
And what did the first men on the moon do
when they landed? They took a nap, of
course.
5. Home Entertainment Systems
Televisions were still black-and-white
behemoths in 1953 when Ray Bradbury wrote
"Fahrenheit 451." But his world, in which
books are banned and people watch "parlor
walls," presaged a society in which television
dominated.
The big-screened sci-fi entertainment
systems of his dystopian novel have found
their way into real-life homes across America,
with digital home theater systems, media
servers and video game systems played on
giant plasma and LCD screens.
Even though he foresaw the color TV panels
of the future, Bradbury told L.A. Weekly in
2007 — after being awarded the first Pulitzer
Prize given to a science-fiction writer — that
his novel reflected his fear that TV would kill
interest in reading and literature.
"They stuff you with so much useless
information, you feel full," he said.
However, noted the article, "he says this
while sitting in a room dominated by a
gigantic flat-panel television broadcasting the
Fox News Channel, muted, factoids crawling
across the bottom of the screen."
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510
866,00.html#ixzz1eaMfKQPE
KEY QUESTIONS:
 Are there institutionalized injustices that
cause suffering for the main character? (1-2
minor characters)
 The heart of the conflict is often referred to
as Individual versus society (term used in
university)
 Must refer from the beginning to the end of
the novel (progression)
 Deals with injustices due to “evils” in the
society / culture
 Is about the suffering of the individual due
to one or more of these “evils”
 “What does the individual do to overcome
prejudice? Pre-judgment?
 How is the conflict resolved?
 SOME SOCIETAL ISSUES ARE: (ills, evils,
issues, problems, etc)
 Racism (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite
Runner)
 Gender inequalities (Feminism) (KR)
 Religion (KR)
 Culture (KR)
 Social Status (KR)
 Politics / Economics ($) Marxist
SOCIAL STATUS: Money = POWER “Money
makes the world go around”
 Who has the power in society? How are the
ideals of those in power institutionalized so
that it keeps marginalized sector on the
fringes of society? Oppression
 Haves and Have Not’s
 Current protests in downtown Toronto are
precisely about this problem as many
people see capitalism as having gone too
far.
 The gap between the haves and have not’s
has substantially widened. Extreme wealth
in the face of Extreme poverty
 The protests are an attempt at correction.
The tides are changing.
 Marxist ideal is communist governed
society where the goods are distributed
equally based on need.
 Capitalist governed society (North
America) is based on the concept or
ideology of the fulfilling the American
Dream (rags to riches mentality)
everyone has the chance to succeed. But
does this truly work? Why do the
impoverished, marginalized, experience
such difficulty in surpassing their status
quo?
 Amir in The Kite Runner blossoms in
America as this is a place where he can
have a free identity. Whereas Baba suffers
in America as the old institutions of
Afghanistan no longer have influence or a
bearing in America. Therefore he cannot
rely on his status, reputation, wealth, and
must work hard to survive like every
other immigrant to America.
 Willy in Death of a Salesman is seduced
by the American Dream. He is dazzled by
the promising and impressive advertising
on products but the reality is he can’t
afford to buy anything out right and must
pay in installments.
 Willy is expected as the male head of the
household to be able to sustain his family
financially but he continuously struggles
with this reality.
 Willy dreams of and pursues (through his
suicide) an attempt at leaving his sons
with money.
 Linda acts as the protector of that dream
as she never challenges Willy. She is like
a drug for Willy that helps him continue
his pursuit of unrealistic dreams.
 Therefore Willy never faces reality and
thus never grows or experiences success
even in his suicidal death he cannot
accomplish success as the insurance
money is never to be received by his boys.
 60s literature and music mirrors and pulls
and ultimately creates change in real
society
 John Lennon’s musical lyrics is very
political (message of peace and love) in
the 60s
 ”Richard Cory” poem and Simon and
Garfunkel song “Richard Cory” from the
album entitled: Sound of Silence in 1966
http://www.last.fm/music/Simon%2B%252
6%2BGarfunkel/_/Richard+Cory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euuCiSY
0qYs
Richard Cory was adapted from a poem of the
same name by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It is
about a rich man, who seemed to have
"everything a man could want: power, grace
and style", and who everyone wants to be
like.
And yet, his life is so filled with loneliness,
because he only had his money. As poor as
the poor were, as much as they cursed their
lives in relation to this apparently deservedly
rich man, they had the things that mattered
in life, like family. Richard Cory did not. And
to escape his empty life, he killed himself.
Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went down
town,
We people on the pavement looked
at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to
crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he
talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he
said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered
when he walked.
And he was rich, yes, richer than a
king,
And admirably schooled in every
grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was
everything
To make us wish that we were in his
place.
So on we worked and waited for the
light,
And went without the meat and
cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer
night,
Went home and put a bullet in his
head.
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1897)
 In this poem and song, the
individual (Richard Cory) and
(factory workers) are isolated
from those of differing social






status. Each of them attempt to
seek to become part of each
other’s world and all the “riches”
it encompasses but to no avail.
Loneliness drives Richard Cory to
his death.
Current protests in downtown
Toronto are precisely about this
problem as many people see
capitalism as having gone too far.
The gap between the haves and
have not’s has substantially
widened. Extreme wealth in the
face of Extreme poverty
The protests are an attempt at
correction. The tides are
changing.
Marxist ideal is communist
governed society where the goods
are distributed equally based on
need.
Capitalist governed society (North
America) is based on the concept
or ideology of the fulfilling the
American Dream (rags to riches
mentality) everyone has the
chance to succeed. But does this
truly work? Why do the
impoverished, marginalized,
experience such difficulty in
surpassing their status quo?
 Why is there so much reality
television? In part, it could be
because people’s desire to achieve
the American Dream but have
difficulty doing it the “regular”
way through hard work, sweat,
and commitment. They see
celebrities enjoying the “good
life” and aspire to have their “15
minutes of fame”. This is an
attempt to taste success in the
form of fame and money. So in
many cases people are willing to
exploit their private lives and that
of their families and friends to
achieve this status. Why do
television producers like this idea
so much? It is a financially sound
prospect as they stand to gain so
much money without the hiring of
‘real’ actors and rehearsals.
 Amir in The Kite Runner blossoms
in America as this is a place where
he can have a free identity.
Whereas Baba suffers in America
as the old institutions of
Afghanistan no longer have
influence or a bearing in America.
Therefore he cannot rely on his
status, reputation, wealth, and
must work hard to survive like
every other immigrant to America.
 Willy in Death of a Salesman is
seduced by the American Dream.
He is dazzled by the promising
and impressive advertising of
products but the reality is he can’t
afford to buy anything out right
and must pay in installments.
Much like today’s society (on
credit, loan) has become
problematic for families and
countries in this economic
downturn.
 Willy is expected as the male head
of the household to be able to
sustain his family financially
“bring home the bacon” but he
continuously struggles with this
reality as he is not a successful
salesman.
 Willy dreams of and pursues
(through his suicide) an attempt
at leaving his sons with money. In
his mind, this is his way of finally
achieving the American Dream.
 Linda acts as the protector of that
dream as she never challenges
Willy. Her role as a female and
wife is to be passive and always
supportive of her husband’s
dreams and ideas. It is not her
place to correct him. Represents
the female of the times (50s). She
is like a drug for Willy that helps
him continue his pursuit of
unrealistic dreams.
 Therefore Willy never faces reality
and thus never grows or
experiences success even in his
suicidal death he cannot
accomplish success as the
insurance money is never to be
received by his boys. Hence Miller
creates the tragic hero in Willy
because his ideals and goals for
himself and his children are
admirable but they are based in a
false reality and are destined to
fail and do fail as a result.
GENDER (FEMINISM)
 History tells us facts that show many
instances of predominantly male power in
society
 PATRIARCHIAL - from Latin word Pater –
meaning father
 Patriarchy= male ruled society
 Prejudice and suffering due to gender
 Is society male-centered and controlled? Is
it structured in a manner that supports men
and subordinates women culturally?
Socially? Familial? Politically? Legally?
Artistically?
 Which gender has power in the
society/culture of the novel?
 Is their suffering due to patriarchy?
 No female based religions (females are not
the decision makers in the religion)
anthropologists have studied this and have
tried to prove otherwise and the closest
they came to it was an example of native
culture where the females choose the elder
that will become “chief” of their tribe. BUT
the elder is ALWAYS MALE.
 E.g. G20 summit meetings (all suits except
1-2 female leaders from countries)
 In the 1960s, a lot of women and men
began to write about patriarchy and
powerlessness of women. What did the
female character(s) do about their
suffering?
 60s was the onset of new technology eg.
Birth control now freed women to




determine when they could have children.
This was very liberating for the woman.
Women were always referred to as
“belonging” to the man eg. Mrs. Sean
Richardson instead of Mrs. Tara Richardson
was common practice.
Around 1914, women finally gained the
right to vote, before this they had no official
say in politics or distribution of power and
money in society. This affected all aspects
of a woman’s life (family, career,
relationships, and marriage).
Throughout time power was literally based
on the amount of muscle or brawn one
possessed. Therefore biology proved that
women were the “weaker” sex and this
ideology spilled over in all aspects of
society.
NOW – we are less and less reliant on
brawn or muscle power and more and more
reliant on technology and brain power. This
change in society gave way to an
opportunity for women to catch up to their
male counterparts. Since women were
potentially no longer ‘slave’ to their biology
(reproduction- birth control) or their lack of
brawn or muscle power they could do more!
They started to gain power and influence in
society because they were allowed to use
their ‘brains’.
 Current trends indicate that women are
surpassing males in the field of medicine,
and they make excellent doctors because
they can potentially combine typically
stronger communication skills and
nurturing personalities to the scientific
knowledge basis of being a good doctor.
 Also more women are going into law and
becoming lawyers (combining knowledge of
law and their strong communication skills
makes for powerhouse lawyer to contend
with in the court system.
 IBM is hiring more English graduates
because they recognize WORDS ARE
POWERFUL and women usually excel at
this. “The pen is mightier than the sword”.
ARCHETYPES: Arrows point between the
books or literature.
 "a typical or recurring image, character,
narrative design, theme, or other literary
phenomenon that has been in literature
from the beginning and regularly
reappears"
 Jung believes archetypes are inherited in
the "collective unconscious" of the human
race and are expressed in myths, religion,
dreams, and private fantasies, as well as in
the works of literature (Abrams, p. 10,
112). Some common examples of
archetypes include water, sun, moon,
colors, circles, the Great Mother, Wise Old
Man, etc. In terms of archetypal criticism,
the color white might be associated with
innocence or could signify death or the
supernatural.
 Forbidden fruit in Genesis and the poison
apple in Snow White
 Patterns between literature across the ages
and cultures
 Similar plot, characters, symbols, setting as
symbols
 Garden of Eden, chalice (holy grail), mass
ingest bread and wine as body and blood of
Christ, gold as it does not tarnish, diamonds
for their strength and lasting quality, eagle
flies high, fire as warmth and destruction,
water as source of life and ending of life
(drowning), white as innocence, shroud of
death, and sign of truce or peace
 Disney:
 -prince or knight rescues the
princess
 -damsel in distress (female
character is in need of rescuing
 -evil queen, evil stepmother /
stepsisters, dragon (mythological
character)
 -supernatural force / fairy God
mother
 -clothing is often symbolic (from
shabby to chic)
 Rapunzel must wait to be rescued, all she
can do is grow her hair long and then the
male figures climbs up her hair and recues
her.
 The Paper Bag Princess, Robert Munsch
switches up the female pattern and makes
the princess rescue the prince. Clothing
(paper bag) is symbolic of power or lack of
power.
 Willy and Biff are active and Linda is
passive and “waits”
DREAMS:
 Ever wonder why we still study and read
Shakespeare? Mythology? Bible?
 The reason good literature lasts in history is
because it draws on our sub-conscious
archetypes.
 What are some of your recurring dreams?
Ones that every so often repeat themselves
in part or whole?
 Why is it that Sally, Peter, Tom, and
Christine all have had recurring dreams
sequences? In fact, if polled many would
admit to having similar recurring dreams.
 For example:
 Teeth falling out
 Flying
 Cannot move fast enough (slow motion)
 A water’s edge with lots of fish, feeling of
falling in
 Falling
 Speaking but no words come out
 Wise old man offering you guidance and
advice
 Being naked
 Test dreams
 Chase dreams
DECODING YOUR DREAMS:
Your dreams become a constant source of
insight into your inner growth and healing
process.
So the meaning of a symbol will vary
depending on the context of the dream, your
unique personality, and the circumstances of
your life at the time of the dream.
Simple Exercise for Decoding Symbols
Ask yourself "What does _______ represent
to me?" and "How do I feel about _______?"
Explore the options until something clicks or
resonates inside you---until you feel like,
"Aha, that's it!"
 What is the emotion? What does it
represent?
The Hero’s Journey (cyclical)
This is a mixture of Joseph Campbell and
Northrup Frye’s Archetypes
1. The Golden Age
 innocence, childhood, age of dependency,
safety, security, protection
 there is a restlessness (a time to take risks
and challenge yourself)
 we are never happy in the garden of eden
 the individual character is protected and
dependent
 the perfect world doesn’t have to be
“perfect” it just has to be what the
character deems as having grown
accustomed to eg. Even victims of unjust
circumstances feel a sort of dependency
and security in what they know (all
trusting) White Oleander, The Handmaid’s
Tail, etc.
 Star Wars – Luke Skywalker, Pinochio
leaves to go to school
 sometimes forced to leave the perfect world
(war – 18 yrs old)
 can be adults who have never been
challenged in anything yet
 Kindergarten – primary colours and black
and white, no blended colours
 (protected and predictable) that’s why it’s
so sad when there is abuse because their
whole world is shaken and they are pushed
out of the garden and they are frightened
2. The God Teacher
 mentor must be aligned with “The Good”
 invites the hero on the journey and gets
them going
 often more than one god teacher (next god
teacher for the next stage)
 Pinochio – the blue fairy and Jiminy Cricket
invite Pinochio on the journey
 to become a “real” boy instead of a wooden
puppet.
3. Loss of Innocence or The End of Childhood
 the evil figures or forces present
themselves in this unprotected world
 you are now in the adult world with all its
obstacles
 you need to find your own inner strength
 evil forces must be confronted
 purpose is the character will succeed
because they “have to”
 does not apply to every novel
 you must tie to the author’s intentions
4. Helpers and Obstacles
 these helpers are inspired by the journey
(dwarfs in Snow White)
 often natural helpers and minor characters
Inner Obstacles
 negativity, despair, judging by
appearances, pride and arrogance
 thinking you’re ready before you are
makes for unwise risks which
 result in fear and doubt
 an obstacle is not trusting yourself
Outer Obstacles
 the impact of evil character
 also conflicts such as nature, disease, and
technology
 hero becomes involved in the hero’s plight
5. Metamorphosis and Rebirth
 the hero now finds his true identity
 hero aligns true self with all that is good
and gains new power
 lots of mistakes on the quest for good but
not selfish
 begins again at the start of the cycle
Carl GustavJung (1875-1961)
(Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical
Psychology)
 the unfolding of the soul
 disciple of Sigmund Freud
First Half of the Journey
 as infant children and then youth we
develop a separate ego identity
 this is a time when we get a sense of who
we are in this world
 we develop this sense through our
environment (parents, siblings, friends,
school, teachers, church, society and
culture, entire value systems)
 we also learn things that are not acceptable
and we then hide them, we put them in our
“hidden psychic basement” (repression)
Second Half of the Journey
 the formation of our adult ego identity –
around 30 yrs old
 at this time we start to feel an unease:
restlessness, sense of deficiency
 the “basement” demands more attention
and we should not ignore it because it could
get nasty
 to become a stable mature adult we must
deal with our hidden stuff and overcome
our “demons” – this is called “selfactualization”
Hero Journey
#1 Self – centre of your being (middle)
recognition and acceptance
#2 Shadow- our dark nature -everything we
have disowned, hidden winds up here in the
“basement”-seeds of creativity and strength
#3 Ego- centre of consciousness
“I”
-acts as referee
-if subconscious is too
#4 Persona (mask)+/-the face or mask we present
Active you become deaf and rigid because
you cannot hear other people
-always negotiating….when should I show
self or ego?
To the outside world everyday
-it is not your complete self
Danger!! You can start to believe it!
Story of Jim McCabe’s college student
 Top of the class, bright kid goes to
interview for Project Manager of one of
Trump’s buildings in New York
 He’s warned to cut his long hair, take out
the excessive earrings, dress professionally
but he refuses and subsequently doesn’t get
job
 His female classmate (who is less capable)
dresses the part and gets the “job”
 Teens and young adults must learn to
navigate the “real world” and put aside
their firm personal commitments when
looking for work as appearances “do”
matter and we are judged based on them
every day.
 In the 60s boys grew their hair to defy
authority and to gain power (this was a
physical manifestation of this assertion and
parents and authority figures were
outraged)
 Nowadays theres is a freedom as you look
around all hairstyles (short, shaved, long,
etc) are expressed freely and without
uniform prejudice.