Foreshadowing, Symbolism,
Imagery, and Criticism
Foreshadowing
• These are clues that something is about to
happen.
• Music in Jaws…you know the shark is about to
come.
• The phone call in a scary movie…the murderer
is about to come in.
• Snow White?
Foreshadowing
• For your story, choose three examples of
foreshadowing and explain what the
foreshadowing predicts:
Mirror says Snow
White is fairest in
land
Evil Queen will kill Snow
White so she can be
most beautiful
Symbolism
love
hate
Peace
Symbolism
• For your story, choose at least three examples
of symbolism, and explain what those
represent.
Snow
White
Purity
Psychological Criticism
• Psychological criticism allows us to examine
the literature and the characters through a
psychological point of view.
• Look at the psychological motivations of the
characters, and sometimes the authors.
• There are many ways of examining stories
through the psychological approach.
Psychological Criticism
• Look for the following issues:
• Isolation: Understanding something that should be upsetting, but
failing to react to it. The person thus isolates an event or stimulus,
separating it from his or he feelings.
• Intellectualization: Analyzing and rationalizing rather than feeling
and reacting. The topic isn’t forgotten or ignored; it’s just turned
into an intellectual issue.
• Repression: Selectively forgetting about whatever is troubling.
• Projection: Denying thoughts and feeling by attributing them to
someone else.
• Displacement: Shifting an emotion from its real target to another
one. Usually, a threatening, powerful target is exchanged for a safer
one.
• Denial: Falsifying reality.
• Reversal: Asserting the opposite of the truth, turning an emotion
around.
• Reaction Formation: A pattern of behavior that repeatedly
reversed the truth; an obsessive kind of denial.
Psychological Criticism
• Struggles between Id, Ego and Superego:
– Id: Basic needs—Me! Me! Me! Not reality based.
Devil on the Shoulder.
– Ego: Reality based or alters reality to justify his
actions. Must negotiate between the angel and
the devil.
– Superego: Social programming—what is
acceptable for the character—Morality and
Conscience. Angel on the Shoulder.
Psychological Criticism
• denial
– arguing against an anxiety provoking stimuli by stating it doesn't
exist
– denying that your physician's diagnosis of cancer is correct and
seeking a second opinion
• displacement
– taking out impulses on a less threatening target
– slamming a door instead of hitting as person, yelling at your
spouse after an argument with your boss
• intellectualization
– avoiding unacceptable emotions by focusing on the intellectual
aspects
– focusing on the details of a funeral as opposed to the sadness
and grief
Psychological Criticism
• projection
– placing unacceptable impulses in yourself onto someone else
– when losing an argument, you state "You're just Stupid;"
homophobia
• rationalization
– supplying a logical or rational reason as opposed to the real
reason
– stating that you were fired because you didn't kiss up the the
boss, when the real reason was your poor performance
• reaction formation
– taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety
– having a bias against a particular race or culture and then
embracing that race or culture to the extreme
Psychological Criticism
• regression
– returning to a previous stage of development
– sitting in a corner and crying after hearing bad news; throwing a
temper tantrum when you don't get your way
• suppression
– pushing into the unconscious
– trying to forget something that causes you anxiety
• repression
– pulling into the unconscious
– forgetting sexual abuse from your childhood due to the trauma and
anxiety
• sublimation
– acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way
– sublimating your aggressive impulses toward a career as a boxer;
becoming a surgeon because of your desire to cut; lifting weights to
release 'pent up' energy
Psychological Criticism
Guiding Questions
• Which of the issues were present in the story? (isolation, etc.)
• Was the protagonist acting on the id, ego, or super id?
• What psychological themes were present? (denial,
sublimation, etc)
• What forces are motivating the character?
• Which behaviors are conscious behaviors and which are
subconscious?
• What conscious or subconscious conflicts are present within
the character?
• Given the background, how realistic is the character’s
behavior?
• What do the characters actions and emotions reveal about
their state of mind?
• How does the reader’s own psychology affect his or her
response to the character and to the story?