How to Write a New Critical Analysis
Writing the New Critical Analysis:
OH, THESIS, WHERE ART THOU?
BASICS OF NEW CRITICISM:
Response to “authorial intent” and “spirit of the age” sort of readings which deemphasized the text.
“The text itself!”
Each text is a timeless, unified , autonomous whole.
Therefore, a New Critical reading examines all the parts to see the whole, resolves all the tensions by their shared contribution to the complete meaning.
Focuses attention on the formal elements and on their relationship to the meaning (part of all literary criticism!)
Great texts will comment on universal human experience and significance (what does it mean to be human?).
THE NEW CRITICAL QUESTION:
“What single interpretation of the text best establishes its organic unity?” or
“How do the text’s formal elements, and the multiple meanings those elements produce, all work together to support the overall meaning of the work?”
( Critical Theory Today )
THESIS: HOW TO:
How to construct a thesis:
Use the devices to find the tension, then analyze them to figure out what the author is saying about that tension this is your thesis.
(Resolves, or pinpoints a lack of resolve, in the tension).
Your thesis is essentially an argument. Convince the reader that your interpretation is valid.
How to construct the New Critical thesis:
You start and end with the text.
No outside research.
New critics measure a good thesis by what % of the story you can work into thesis.
LOOK OUT FOR LITERARY DEVICES:
Character/narrator
Plot
Setting
Symbol
Metaphor/simile
Irony
Imagery
Tone
Dialogue
Repetition
Questions to ask yourself: How and Why.
Ex. Why this character? Why this tone? How is this imagery functioning?
Look for several most prominent devices.
THESIS SHOULD…
Interpret, not summarize .
Have depth .
Be specific .
Be accurate .
THE SEARCH BEGINS…
Virginia Woolf’s “The Lady in the Looking Glass:
A Reflection”
*Remember: Pay attention to literary devices—
How they are functioning and why they are there.
THOSE LITERARY DEVICES…
Which were the most prominent?
*setting *tone
*repeated ideas/images *symbolism
*narrator
Try to develop some foundational themes from these devices
DO YOU FEEL THE TENSION?
Find tension
Ideas…
*tension between reality that mirror reflects and reality outside mirror
*tension in Isabella (narrator creates inconsistencies in character)
*tension between knowing and not knowing
What is author saying about tension?
Be sure to differentiate from author and narrator
Here we build on thematic foundations established
WHAT’S WRONG?
“Virginia Woolf’s The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection examines a woman’s mysterious life through the eyes of an unknown narrator and a looking glass.”
elements of summary—doesn’t interpret!
“In The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection , Virginia Woolf examines the idea of different perspectives on reality.”
too vague (what perspectives?) and not enough depth!
“Virginia Woolf’s The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection talks about how people assume things about other people that often aren’t true.”
-not specific (what things? what people? what’s not true?)
“In The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection , Virginia Woolf suggests that humans tragically hoard the burden of unrequited love.”
not accurate!
Let’s Practice:
TRY TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN INTERPRETIVE,
DEEP, SPECIFIC, AND ACCURATE THESIS!
THE OUTLINE
STAY FOCUSED.
Your thesis is “your paper in a nutshell”
Don’t give the reader information that is tangential to your thesis.
PROVE IT. Clearly. Systematically. Authoritatively.
CHOOSING EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATION
Option 1 : A systematic walk through your argument
(works well if your thesis has multiple “steps” or
“layers”).
Prove a. Prove b. If a and b, then c. etc.
Option 2 : A walk through the literary devices which support your thesis.
Diction. Images. Symbols. Etc.
Option 3 : Combination of 1 & 2, by character, chronology, etc. Whatever most directly and logically supports your thesis!
THE PAPER
FINAL TIPS:
DON’T BE STUBBORN
Keep working on your thesis as you write. You might discover new things!
Support every claim
statement textual evidence connection to thesis
Don’t repeat yourself!
Weave in quotations applicably and seamlessly
Write a concise and striking conclusion
AND REMEMBER…
Write multiple rough drafts
Pay attention to sentence variety, precise wording, and parallel structure
Revise until your style becomes fluent and the paper cohesive
Edit to eliminate comma usage and grammatical errors (know your comma rules!)
COLLABORATE . *insert writing center plug here*
(bring multiple drafts to the writing center!)
