Literary Criticism 2022 2023

2
022-2023
LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

Dr. Donna Grace I. Cotejo
University of San Jose Recoletos
UNIVERSITY OF SAN JOSE RECOLETOS
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City
LITERARY CRITICISM
2nd Semester 2022-2023
Table of Contents
Unit 1. Review of Literature

Unit 2. Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
Unit 3. Four Major Literary Theories
Lesson 1. Formalism
Lesson 2. Mimesis
Lesson 3. Expressivism
Lesson 4. Affective Reader-Response
Unit 4. Modern Criticisms

Lesson 1. Feminism
Lesson 2. Ecocriticism
Lesson 3. Marxism
Lesson 4. Psychological Criticism
Unit 5. Literary Analysis of Select Literary Works
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Preface
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LITERARY CRITICISM
INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO
I. Module Number and Title: 1. Review of Literature

II. Overview/Introduction.
Literature is a collection of written works that represents the language, culture, tradition, beliefs, mores,
and aspirations of the people. Yet, very few people take time to read and delve into it because they are lengthy
and at times, they are hard to comprehend.
Before you analyze the literature pieces using critical theories, this section will review you first with the
important elements of short story, poetry, play, essays, and novels as these elements are very important in
understanding the pieces little by little.
Ultimately, you may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author writes or says and how
he or she says it. You may interpret and debate an author's message by examining the words he or she chooses
in a given novel or work or observing which character or voice serves as the connection to the reader.
But for now, just enjoy reviewing the elements of the literary pieces.
III. Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:
1. Distinguish varieties of elements of literature ;

2. Enhance knowledge on the elements of literature through giving examples of Literary
pieces that contain complete elements; and
3. Demonstrate understanding of the Introduction to Literature through a summative
examination.
IV. Learning Activities:
Activity 1. In the Beginning.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
genres and define
them all.
play.google.com
The following images are sample literary works. Identify the poetry4kids.com
a. b.
slideshare.net washingtonpost.com
c. d.
pinterest.com mediapost.com
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LITERARY CRITICISM
e. f.
Activity 2. To the looking back of the ‘Literature’
Go to the discussions in canvass and read the file on Introduction to Literature and its Genres. Engage
in lecture-group class with the teacher via Google Meet. Follow the directions in canvass.
Activity 3. In the Middle of ‘Asking’ ( CHOOSE A PAIR AND THEN AGREE BETWEEN YOU AS TO WHOSE
GONNA ANSWER NUMBERS 1-6 AND 7-11
1. What element of the story is the most important? Why?
2. In what way does a setting and atmosphere contribute to the entirety of the story?
3. What are the types of point of view? What is most commonly used by the authors? If you were
the reader, what do you think is the most effective point of view to be used to reach out to you?
4. How do spectacles help in the total package of a play?
5. Differentiate the tragedy and comedy in theaters.
6. What is the ingredient of a non-fiction? Compare it to the creative non-fiction.
7. What are the common parts of the essay? What part of the essay is hard to create as a writer?
Why?
8. What is the purpose of poetry in literature?
9. Differentiate figures of sound and figures of speech? What are their roles in poetry?
10. Why are there too many themes in the novels?
11. Which type of novels that is not familiar to you? Which type of novel that is difficult for you?
Activity 4. In Enhancing Literature ( DO THIS)
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LITERARY CRITICISM
These are the following tasks that you are going to perform to enhance your knowledge on example literary
pieces. Choose one title of the short story, poem, essay, play, and novel from the Philippines. Give the
background plot and theme of the literary piece in three paragraphs per literary piece. Use the guide questions
below. Each literary sample is worth ten (10) points each. If you have any questions, feel free to comment in the
announcements of the canvass or message your teacher privately on Facebook or canvass.
For Short Story, Novel, and Play

● Write the title, the author, the short plot summary, and the most dominant element in the piece
that controls the major theme.
For Poetry
● Write the title, the author, and the persona-vision-addressee transaction. Secure a copy of the
poem because it is short only.
For Essay
● Write the title, the author, the purpose, the structure, and the summary content of the essay.
V. Assessments:
Summative Assessment: Answer a Diagnostic Test as posted in the Google Classroom. ( DO THIS)
VI. Optional Activities/Resources
file:///D:/ADVERTISEMENTS%20%20LITERARY%20CRITS/LET/JULY%2019%202020/INTRO
DUCTION-TO-LITERATURE.pdf
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END OF UNIT 1
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LITERARY CRITICISM
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LITERARY CRITICISM
I. Module Number and Title: UNIT 2. Introduction to Literary Theory and Criticism
II. Overview/Introduction
When analyzing literature, it is very important that in this section you will know first the definition and
the difference between literary theories and literary criticism. Literary theory is infamous for being
complicated, boring or simply self-satisfying. However, people who argue along those lines seem to
forget that essentially, there is no reading of and no thinking about texts without theory.
On the other hand, literary criticism is the study, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of literature. In
other words, it judges the value of a work. In literary criticism, a particular work or a body
of work is evaluated according to its aesthetic value, historical/cultural/social significance of the work, use of
language, and insights and insights of the work. These qualities are often mutually dependent or inflective.
Literary criticism has a long history and can be traced back to the times of Pluto. Literary criticisms are
often published in essay or book format.
Well, this unit just simply gives you an overview of the list of literary theories that you will be used
so that you will know what to expect in the latter units in the manner of criticizing literary works.
III.Learning Outcomes
1. Differentiate a literary theory and literary criticism through a venn diagram;

2. Share thoughts and insights on the literary theories and criticisms’ concepts; and
3. Demonstrate understanding of literary theory and criticism through a game quiz.
Activity 1. In the Beginning
Look at the pictures and ask yourself. “ What comes into your mind when you hear these
words?
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LITERARY CRITICISM
a. Theory b. Criticism
Activity 2. To the looking back of the ‘Literature’ ( WATCH THESE)
Go to the discussions in canvass and watch the links in the youtube about Literary Theories and
Literary Criticism . You may also read the notes uploaded in the discussion. Here are the youtube links:
b.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXLm3zZYhc0
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy_jbdXfPiA
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT8qwjflOsw
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaVKFOac7E
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr17iHXFn-8
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ScmrdS068&t=41s
Activity 3. In the Middle of ‘Asking and Answering’ ( ONE LINER) ONLY PREPARE THIS FOR SYNCHRONOUS
SESSION)
After watching all the vides in the youtube links given to you and reading all the files being
sent to you, please do write your answers in the spaces provided in the discussions and prepare for
question and answer forum on the following questions:
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LITERARY CRITICISM
● What are your thoughts and insights on the definitions of literary theories?
● What are your thoughts and insights on the definitions of literary criticism?
● Enumerate the types of literary theories and at least, give one sentence definition for each.
● Enumerate the types of literary criticism and at least, give one sentence definition for each.
Activity 4. In Comparing and Contrasting ( FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS AND PREPARE FOR SYNCHRONOUS
SESSIONS)
In a nutshell, write at least two-five “adjectives or noun phrases that show the similarities and
differences of the literary theories and literary criticism.
Literary Theory Literary Criticism
V. Assessments:
Summative Assessment: Answer a Multiple Choice Game Quiz in Canvass as posted

in the Quiz, entitled “Literary Theory and Literary Criticism.” Follow the
instructions in there carefully.
( do not include)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXLm3zZYhc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy_jbdXfPiA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT8qwjflOsw
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaVKFOac7E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr17iHXFn-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ScmrdS068&t=41s
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LITERARY CRITICISM
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1200&context=honorsprojects
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_cri
ticism/index.html
https://pediaa.com/difference-between-literary-criticism-and-literary-theory/
https://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Theory01.htm
https://englishsummary.com/lesson/literary-theory-criticism-difference/
The Critical Tradition: Classical Texts and Contemporary Trends, 1998, edited by David
H. Richter
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, 1999, by Lois Tyson Beginning Theory,
2002, by Peter Barry
STOP HERE… I WILL GIVE SEPARATE NOTES FOR FORMALISM
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LITERARY CRITICISM
END OF UNIT 2.
I. Module Number and Title: UNIT 3. Four Major Literary Criticism

Lesson 1. Formalism
This sections is perhaps the ones that you always do but you are not aware that it is
already a major literary theory. You will be exposed with the what’s and how’s of the
formalism. Formalists disagreed about what specific elements make a literary work "good"
or "bad"; but generally, Formalism maintains that a literary work contains certain intrinsic
features, and the theory "...defined and addressed the specifically literary qualities in the text"
(Richter 699). Therefore, it's easy to see Formalism's relation to Aristotle's theories of dramatic
construction.
Formalism attempts to treat each work as its own distinct piece, free from its
environment, era, and even author. This point of view developed in reaction to "...forms
of 'extrinsic' criticism that viewed the text as either the product of social and historical forces
or a document making an ethical statement" (699). Formalists assume that the k eys to understanding a
text exist is within "the text itself."
In this section, I will try to simplify the form as this just simply talks about the “structures”
of a literary text. For example in short stories and the novels, you look at the elements
of the plot, the point of view, and the symbolism and imagery used. That is their
structure. In plays, the convention focuses on the staging, theatrical atmosphere, and the
production. In poetry, the other predictable features form the figures of sound, figures of speech,
imagery, and the fixed or free verse structure.
In here, you will be taught on how to be keen on analyzing a text in an Aristotelian

manner- The Formalist Perspective.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
1. Critique literary works through formalistic lens;

2. Share thoughts and insights on formalistic perspectives; and
3. Demonstrate understanding of formalism through a quiz.
Activity 1. Seeing the Pictures
Look at the pictures 1 and 2. What form can you see from the two?
worldstories.org.uk. wyborgs.org
Activity 2. Looking at Perspectives
Click this link and read the story of the Three Little Pigs.
https://americanliterature.com/childrens-stories/the-three-little-pigs . This is posted in the
Discussion Unit 3, Activity 1. Three Little Pigs
After reading the story in the link, try to watch the story of the little pigs in the youtube as told by
A.Wolf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75aEhm-BYw
Let’s explore the notion of perspective. Much contemporary fiction violates traditional narrative
expectations by telling the story from the perspective of different characters, rather than from the
perspective of a single protagonist. So, what is the difference between the story told in the first link
and story told in the second link? What is the style of narration of the first? How about the second?
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Activity 3. Studying the Formalism Perspective
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Download and read the files and powerpoint presentations as posted in the
Discussion of the Canvass: Unit 3, Lesson 1. Formalism. Your teacher is going to explain the concept and
the process of formalism via google meet at a specific time agreed by the class. If you cannot attend
the class, the google meet is recorded so you can still catch up what you will miss.
Activity 4. Guiding Questions for “Formalistic Lens”
These are the following questions for analyzing formalism. Choose a short story of your own
and analyze it using these questions. Write your output in a Microsoft word using the last name
as your filename. Submit this in a folder of the canvass entitled, “Formalism” output. You present your work
once it is done. This is an oral presentation via google meet at a specific time agreed by the class. This
activity is equivalent to (50) fifty points.
1. How is the work structured or organized? How does it begin? Where does it go next? How does it
end? What is the work’s plot? How is its plot related to its structure?
2. What is the relationship of each part of the work to the work as a whole? How are the
parts related to one another?
3. Who is narrating or telling what happens in the work? How is the narrator, speaker, or character
revealed to the readers? How do we come to know and understand this figure?
4. Who are the major and minor characters, what do they represent, and how do they relate to one
another?
5. What are the time and place of the work- its setting? How is the setting related to what we know
of the characters and their actions?
6. What kind of language does the author use to describe, narrate, explain, or otherwise create the
world of the literary work?
7. More specifically, what images, similes, metaphors, symbols appear in the work? What is their
function? What meanings do they convey? ( For poetry)
8. . How does the work use imagery to develop its own symbols? (i.e. making a certain road stand
for death by constant association)
9. What is the quality of the work's organic unity "...the working together of all the parts to make an
inseparable whole..." (Tyson 121)? In other words, does how the work is put together reflect
what it is?
10. How are the various parts of the work interconnected?
11. How do paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension work in the text?
12. How do these parts and their collective whole contribute to or not contribute to the aesthetic
quality of the work?
13. How does the author resolve apparent contradictions within the work?
14. What does the form of the work say about its content?
15. Is there a central or focal passage that can be said to sum up the entirety of the work?
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16. How do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a poem contribute to the meaning or effect of the piece?
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LITERARY CRITICISM
nd
2 Semester 2022-2023
V. Assessments:
Formative Assessment: You will have a formalistic analysis of Shakespearean sonnet 116. It
has fourteen lines, consisting of three groups of four lines each, followed by a single rhyming couplet.
The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. Every (or nearly every) line will have ten syllables, divided
into five feet of two syllables each. Each "foot" is called an iamb and consists of one unaccented
syllable ( ̆)followed by one accented syllable,(̷ ) like this: My mis | tress' eyes | are no | thing like | the
sun. Each accented syllable is in bold, and the vertical lines mark the divisions between feet. This
meter, consisting of the rhythm of the feet and the number of feet per line, is called iambic
pentameter. "Iambic" refers to the rhythm of unaccented and accented syllables (each foot is called
an iamb), and pentameter means that there are five feet (penta-) per line.
Try to divide the Sonnet 116 into one | (line) by using iambic pentameter. The first one is
done for you. ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷
Let me | not to | the ma | rriage of | true minds (a) - rhyme (
It is composed of five divisions so it is pentameter)
Continue to do like to this to the other thirteen lines of Sonnet 116.
Sonnet 116
By William Shakespeare
. ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷ ̆ ̷
Let me /not to/ the ma/rriage of/ true minds (a)
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to
remove: O no; it is an ever-fixed
mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never
shaken; It is the star to every wandering
bark,
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Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and
weeks, But bears it out even to the edge
of doom.
If this be error and upon me
proved, I never writ, nor no man
ever loved.
● This is an example of formalistic analysis studying the poetry’s structure. In order for you to love Sonnet
116, study the lines and unearth the meaning of this poem through persona-vision-addressee
transaction. (Persona- voice/speaker of the poem; Addressee- receiver of the poem; Vision- message of
the poem; and its tone and mood. Add this into your analysis in at least three to six sentences. If you
have confusion and questions, ask me. You may put your answers in the canvass via word file using your
last name.
Summative Assessment: Answer a Multiple Choice Game Quiz in Canvass as posted

in the Quiz, entitled “Literary Theory and Literary Criticism.” Follow the
instructions in there carefully.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXLm3zZYhc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy_jbdXfPiA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT8qwjflOsw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEaVKFOac7E
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LITERARY CRITICISM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr17iHXFn-8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=f7ScmrdS068&t=41s
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1200&context=honorsprojects
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_cri
ticism/index.html
https://pediaa.com/difference-between-literary-criticism-and-literary-theory/
https://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/Theory01.htm
https://englishsummary.com/lesson/literary-theory-criticism-difference/
The Critical Tradition: Classical Texts and Contemporary Trends, 1998, edited by David
H. Richter
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, 1999, by Lois Tyson Beginning Theory,
2002, by Peter Barry
https://schoolworkhelper.net/formalism-literary-perspective/
--------------------------- END OF UNIT 3, Lesson

1.------------------------
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LITERARY CRITICISM

Lesson 2. Mimesis
This section is all about Mimesis. Mimetic representation often appears more suited to
the understanding of the phenomena of human reality than other more abstract forms of
knowledge. It is often the case that a precise description of a certain human behavior, illustrated
both by examples and anecdotes, constitutes an act of autonomous understanding that is
not only an essential addition to any attempts at conceptual definition, but may also stand in its
stead.
According to the resource, Aristotle agrees with Plato in calling the poet an imitator and
creative art, imitation. He imitates one of the three objects – things as they were/are, things
as they are said/thought to be or things as they ought to be. In other words, he imitates what is past
or present, what is commonly believed and what is ideal. Aristotle believes that there is natural
pleasure in imitation which is an in-born instinct in men. It is this pleasure in imitation that
enables the child to learn his earliest lessons in speech and conduct from those around him, because
there is a pleasure in doing so. In a grown-up child – a poet, there is another instinct, helping him
to make him a poet – the instinct for harmony and rhythm.
In this section, you will learn the Mimetic theory in its real sense. For instance, you will identify
in the literary genres the signifiers and signified of the texts as well as the archetypal images of the
texts. You will also study the social issues affecting the story and that makes it sociological mimesis.
So simply, the reader looks for the antecedent of the verbal structure of the literary works as
a copy and a copy of the reality.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
1. Critique literary work through mimetic perspectives;

2. Discuss thoughts and insights on mimetic questions; and
3. Write a Mimetic Essay.
Activity 1. Seeing the Pictures. Look at the series of pictures and write the names of these series of
novels and the author.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Activity 2. Looking at these Stories: Click on the summary links of the stories above and
answer the following questions:
a. http://www.wikisummaries.org/wiki/Harry_Potter
b. https://readingpower.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/the-mortal-instruments-%E2%80%93-
chronological-plot-summary/
c. https://rickriordan.com/series/percy-jackson-and-the- olympians/#:~:text=Twelve%2Dyear
%2Dold%20Percy%20Jackson,destruction%20%E2%80%94%2 0Zeus'%20master%20bolt.
Activity3. Studying Mimetic Perspective. Download and read the files and powerpoint presentations
as posted in the Discussion of the Canvass: Unit 3, Lesson 2. Mimesis. Your teacher is going to
explain the concept and the process of mimesis via google meet at a specific time agreed by the class. If
you cannot attend the class, the google meet is recorded so you can still catch up what you will miss.
Mimetic-Criticism.pptx
Structuralism and semiotics.ppt
https://sites.google.com/site/nmeictproject/home/aristotle-s-reply-to-plato-s-objection
Note: There are three types of mimesis: the Archetypes, the Semiosis, and the Sociological.
Activity 4. Guiding Questions for Mimesis”
These are the following questions for analyzing mimesis. Study these questions. Take note that
these questions are applicable to some literary work but not all.
● What are the similarities and differences of this literary work to that literary work?
● What is the concept of signifier and signified?
● What are the social constructs involving the work? What are the characters’
statuses? What kind of society do they live in?
● And yet, the literary theory of mimesis says that artists copy constantly, as a matter
of necessity. Does this make sense?
● Explain Aristotle's concept of mimesis. In what way is poetry imitative? Why,
according to Aristotle are we naturally disposed toward imitation? Do you agree
with his arguments?
● What sort of accuracy does the mimesis seek?
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V. Assessments:
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Formative Assessment: You will make a mimetic analysis. Read the story,
“To Build a Fire by Jack London.” Analyze it using the questions below. You may choose to analyze it by
paragraph. In the first paragraph is the thesis statement, second paragraph is the sociological touch, and
then the second is the semiotic mimesis. Submit this in a folder of the canvass entitled, “Mimesis” output. You
present your work once it is done. This is an oral presentation via google meet at a specific time
agreed by the class. This activity is equivalent to (50) fifty points. Do not worry because your teacher will
guide you in the analysis. https://americanliterature.com/author/jack-london/short-
story/to-build-a-fire
FOR THE STORY TO BUILD A FIRE QUESTIONS: Take note to only choose to answer these questions that
mimetic in nature. These are just guide questions for you to know what to write in your paragraphs. ( oral
recitation)
1. Why do you think the protagonist is referred to as “the man” as opposed to being given a name?
2. What is the weather like at day break when the story begins? What do you think this foreshadows for the
rest of the story?
3. London writes, “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the
significances” (498). What does this tell us about the man? What is his character like?
4. How are the man and the dog similar? How are they different?
5. Why doesn’t the man worry more about the cold? What is alarming/absurd about his reaction to the
frostbite?
6. Why do you think London continues to emphasize the coldness, and how the man had never felt such cold
before?
7. Why does the man “shy like a horse” from certain parts of the road?
8. Do you agree or disagree with the man when he sends the dog ahead of himself to aid in his own safety?
What would you do?
9. Why does London point out that the dog acts from instinct?
10. While eating, what startles the man? Why is this important?
11. After deciding not to eat his lunch, how does the man’s outlook of his situation drastically, albeit briefly,
change?
12. What do you think London means when he says, “This man did not know cold”?
13. When he falls in the river, the man curses his bad luck. Do you agree with where he places his blame? Why
or why not?
14. In the paragraph where the man reflects on “old-timers” and “men who are men” what do you think of his
mentality and beliefs?
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Summative Assessment: Read the poem To Helen. Write a semiotic or archetypal mimesis on the
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LITERARY CRITICISM
poem To Helen. Write the thesis statement in the first paragraph containing motifs that
collectively signify the realities contributing to the main theme or poetic vision. Develop an
elaborative discussion to prove your thesis statement and explain the meanings of the semiosis or archetypal
mimesis.End your essay with conclusion by summarizing the main points of your discussion on the archetypes
or semiotic mimesis based on your thesis statement. Do not forget your title. You will be graded based on the
rubrics posted in the canvass entitled Rubrics for Mimesis Unit 3. Lesson 2.
To Helen
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That Gently, o’er perfumed sea
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to roam,

Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face
Thy Naiad airs, have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece
And the grandeur that was Rome.
Lo! In yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee stand!
The agate lamp within thy hand,
Ah! Psyche, from the regions which
Are Holy land!
-Edgar Allan Poe
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-what-is-mimesis-mimesis-definition-with-
examples
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LITERARY CRITICISM
--------------------------- END OF UNIT 3, Lesson

2.------------------------

Lesson 3. Expressivism
Expressivism at its roots means just what the name suggests, a theory that embraces the idea
that emotions matter. Most scholars would agree that any piece of literary work composed by
an individual has the capacity to illicit feelings from its audience-made up of each individual
reader.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
The theory tends to judge the work by its sincerity to the poets’ vision or the state of mind.
Such views were developed mainly by the Romantic critics and remain current in our time
too. Wordsworth’s definition of poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings
recollected in tranquility” is taken as the ground idea of the expressive theory of art.
The most powerful impetus in expressive critical thought was the Romantic Movement that
began in late eighteenth century. This movement has deeply affected our modern
consciousness and the common sense discourse of literary commentary. The three key
concepts associated with this movement are: imagination, genius and emotion. Expressive
theorists firmly stick to these three key terms.
So, this lesson focuses on how the literary works are connected to the authors themselves.

1. Critique literary work through expressive perspectives;
2. Discuss thoughts and insights on mimetic questions; and
3. Analyze Expressivists’ views through popular artists’ song analysis.
Activity 1. Swift Songs. Listen to Taylor’s Swift Songs’ like Blank Space, Love Story, You belong with me, and Me.
This is a sample of lyrics. Sing these lyrics.
So it's gonna be forever

Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over, mm
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
Activity 2. Understand Swift. Answer the questions that pertain to Taylor Swift’s lyrics.
1. What do these lyrics mean?

2. How do these lyrics relate to Taylor Swift?
3. What do you mean from an Expressivist point of view then?
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Activity 3. Study Expressivism. Download and read the files and powerpoint presentations
as posted in the Discussion of the Canvass: Unit 2, Lesson 3.
Expressivism. Your teacher is going to explain the concept and the process of expressivism via google meet at
a specific time agreed by the class. If you cannot attend the class, the google meet is recorded so you can still
catch up what you will miss.
Activity 4. Ask and Answer.
These are the following questions for analyzing expressivism. Study these questions. Take note that
these questions are applicable to some literary works only.
•When was the work written? When was it published? How was it received by the critics and public
and why?
•What does the work’s reception reveal about the standards of taste and value during the time it was
published and reviewed?
• What influences—people, ideas, movements, events—evident in the writer’s life does the work
reflect?
• To what extent are the events described in the word a direct transfer of what happened in the
writer’s actual life?
•What modifications of the actual events has the writer made in the literary work? For what possibly
purposes?
•What has the author revealed in the work about his/her characteristic modes of thought, perception,
or emotion? What place does this work have in the artist’s literary development and career?
*What are the significant events of the literary works to the WRITER?
V.Assessments:
Activity 5. Formative Assessment: Read the poem How my light is spent by John Milton and try to ask
questions from Activity 4 to analyze the work and most importanty, write the significant events of the writer
that relate and signify himself to the poem like the question: What is light? How did the speaker use it? Why
did John write this?
How my Life is Spent

John Milton
WHEN I consider how my light is spent
E’re half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg’d with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, least he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light deny’d,
=======================================================
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
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LITERARY CRITICISM
Either man’s work or his own gifts, who best

Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’re Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and waite.
Activity 6. Summative Assessment: Read the lyrics of the songs or watch the youtube collections of
Lady Gaga. Write an expressivist analysis of her works focusing on persona-vision-addressee, imagery, rhymes,
and rhythm of the songs and how the songs are significant to her real life biography.
Berlin, J. A. (1988). Rhetoric and ideology in the writing class. College English, 50(5), 477-494.
Fulkerson, R. (2005). Composition at the turn of the twenty-first century. College Composition and Communication,
56(4), 654-687.
Gradin, S. L. (1995). Romancing rhetorics: Social expressivist perspectives on the teaching of writing. Portsmouth,
NH: Boynton/Cook.
Johnson-Sheehan, R., & Paine, C. (2010). Teaching with genre: Cure for the common writing course. Retrieved
from Pearson Online Professional Development Web site:
http://www.englishinstructorexchange.com/2012/03/15/ teaching-with-genre-cure-for-the-common-writing-
course-by-richard-johnson-sheehan-charles-paine-created-october-2010/
Kent, T. (1989). Paralogic hermeneutics and the possibilities of rhetoric. Rhetoric Review, 8(1), 24-42. Sosnoski,
J. J. (2002).
https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/criticaltheories/about-expressive-theory.html#.X21gdWgzbIU
https://medium.com/poem-of-the-day/john-milton-on-his-blindness-50afea5bd9c
END OF UNIT 2, Lesson 3.
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LITERARY CRITICISM
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM

Lesson 4. Reader-Response Theory
Reader-response theory is a theory, which gained prominence in the late 1960s, that focuses on
the reader or audience reaction to a particular text, perhaps more than the text itself. Reader-
response criticism can be connected to poststructuralism’s emphasis on the role of the reader in
actively constructing texts rather than passively consuming them. Unlike text-based approaches
such as New Criticism, which are grounded upon some objective meaning already present in the
work being examined, reader-response criticism argues that a text has no meaning before a reader
experiences—reads—it. The reader-response critic’s job is to examine the scope and variety of
reader reactions and analyze the ways in which different readers, sometimes called “interpretive
communities,” make meaning out of both purely personal reactions and inherited or culturally
conditioned ways of reading. The theory is popular in both the United States and Germany; its main
theorists include Stanley Fish, David Bleich, and Wolfgang Iser.
Reader-response theory is a very used kind of criticism because it very opinionated and your
opinion is highly respected as a literary critic as long as it is really supported with evidence.
Reader Response is a critical theory that stresses the importance of the role of the reader in
constructing the meaning of a work of literature. Lois Tyson offers this definition: “Reader-
response theory…maintains that what a text is cannot be separated from what it does…reader-
response theorists share two beliefs: (1) that the role of the reader cannot be omitted from our
understanding of literature and (2) that readers do not passively consume the meaning presented
to them by an objective literary text” (170). Reader-response theorists recognize that texts do not
interpret themselves. Even if all of our evidence for a certain interpretation comes from the work
itself, and even if everyone who reads the text interprets it in the same (as improbable as that
might be) it is still we, the readers, who do the interpreting, assigning meaning to the text. Reader
response criticism not only allows for, but even interests itself in how these meanings to change
from reader to reader and from time to time.

1. Critique literary work through affectivism;
2. Discuss thoughts and insights on affective responses; and
3. Use reader-response theory in analyzing a movie.
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM
nd
2 Semester 2022-2023
Activity 1. Say Emoticons. Study the pictures of different emotions and say what kind of emoticons if you
experience the following situations.
a. Deadline of a submission
b. Watching horror movies
c. Getting teased by a stranger
d. Winning a lottery
Activity 2. Understand Emotions. Answer the questions that pertain to different emotions.
1. What are the purpose of emotions?

2. Why do we have different reactions to different emotions?
3. How are these different reactions relevant to reader-response theory?
4. What is your own idea of reader-response theory?
Activity 3. Read and Response. Download and read the files and powerpoint presentations as posted in the
Discussion of the Canvass: Unit 2, Lesson 4. Reader-Response Criticism Your teacher is going to explain the
concept and the process of reader-response criticism via google meet at a specific time agreed by the class. If
you cannot attend the class, the google meet is recorded so you can still catch up what you will miss. You are
asked to response as well on what can you say about this criticism.
Activity 4. Ask and Answer. Show a sample of The Affective Essay: To Misread or to Rebel: A Woman’s Reading
of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” Go to the Affective Essay posted in the Canvass:
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM
Also these are the questions for affectivism.
 What does the text have to do with you, personally, and with your life (past, present or future)? It is not
acceptable to write that the text has NOTHING to do with you, since just about everything humans can
write has to do in some way with every other human.
 How much does the text agree or clash with your view of the world, and what you consider right and
wrong? Use several quotes as examples of how it agrees with and supports what you think about the
world, about right and wrong, and about what you think it is to be human. Use quotes and examples to
discuss how the text disagrees with what you think about the world and about right and wrong.
 What did you learn, and how much were your views and opinions challenged or changed by this text, if at
all? Did the text communicate with you? Why or why not? Give examples of how your views might have
changed or been strengthened (or perhaps, of why the text failed to convince you, the way it is). Please
do not write “I agree with everything the author wrote,” since everybody disagrees about something,
even if it is a tiny point. Use quotes to illustrate your points of challenge, or where you were persuaded,
or where it left you cold.
 How well does the text address things that you, personally, care about and consider important to the
world? How does it address things that are important to your family, your community, your ethnic
group, to people of your economic or social class or background, or your faith tradition? If not, who does
or did the text serve? Did it pass the “Who cares?” test? Use quotes from the text to illustrate.
 What can you praise about the text? What problems did you have with it? Reading and writing “critically”
does not mean the same thing as “criticizing,” in everyday language (complaining or griping, fault-
finding, nit-picking). Your “critique” can and should be positive and praise the text if possible, as well as
pointing out problems, disagreements and shortcomings.
 How well did you enjoy the text (or not) as entertainment or as a work of art? Use quotes or examples to
illustrate the quality of the text as art or entertainment. Of course, be aware that some texts are not
meant to be entertainment or art: a news report or textbook, for instance, may be neither entertaining
or artistic, but may still be important and successful.
IV.Assessments:
Activity 5. Formative Assessment: Read the poem, Desiderata by Anonymous Author. It is an advice
giving to someone. Just choose lines for you to react on and choose questions from the activity 4 for you to
use and interpret the lines with.
=======================================================
Activity 6. Summative Assessment: Watch the movie of your own choice and pose your
interpretations and affective responses using the questions above.
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM
VI.Optional Activities/Resources
Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Elias, Robert H. “James Thurber: The Primitive, the Innocent, and the
Individual.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 5. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1980. 431–32. Print.
Fetterley, Judith. The Resisting Reader. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1978. Print.
Hasley, Louis. “James Thurber: Artist in Humor.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol.
11. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. 532–34. Print.
Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins UP, 1981. Print.
Lindner, Carl M. “Thurber’s Walter Mitty—The Underground American Hero.”

Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 5. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980.
440–41. Print.
Rosenblatt, Louise M. Literature as Exploration. New York: MLA, 1976. Print.
Thurber, James. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Literature: An Introduction to Critical
Reading. Ed. William Vesterman. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1993. 286–89. Print.
Tompkins, Jane P. “An Introduction to Reader-Response Criticism.” Reader Response

Criticism: From Formalism to Post-Structuralism. Ed. Jane P. Tompkins. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins UP, 1980. ix-xxvi. Print.
https://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz114239d16290.html
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/reader-response-theory
https://www.slideshare.net/leniebelandres/readers-response-cticism?from_action=save
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introliterature/chapter/reader-response-criticism-suggested-replacement/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-americanlit1/chapter/putting-it-together-4/
END OF UNIT 2, Lesson 4.
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM
Unit 4. Modern Criticisms

Lesson 1. Feminism
Lesson 2. Ecocriticism
Lesson 3. Marxism
Lesson 4. Psychological Criticism
( Remaining Tasks and Analysis for This Subject) and then Literary Works
=======================================================
LITERARY CRITICISM
=======================================================

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2

LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

Unit 1. Review of Literature

Unit 4. Modern Criticisms

Unit 5. Literary Analysis of Select Literary Works

INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO

I. Module Number and Title: 1. Review of Literature

III. Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

1. Distinguish varieties of elements of literature ;

IV. Learning Activities:

Activity 1. In the Beginning.

Activity 2. To the looking back of the ‘Literature’

Activity 4. In Enhancing Literature ( DO THIS)

For Short Story, Novel, and Play

VI. Optional Activities/Resources

INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

1. Differentiate a literary theory and literary criticism through a venn diagram;

IV. Learning Activities:

Activity 1. In the Beginning

Literary Theory Literary Criticism

Summative Assessment: Answer a Multiple Choice Game Quiz in Canvass as posted

VI. Optional Activities/Resources

STOP HERE… I WILL GIVE SEPARATE NOTES FOR FORMALISM

INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO

I. Module Number and Title: UNIT 3. Four Major Literary Criticism

In here, you will be taught on how to be keen on analyzing a text in an Aristotelian

III. Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

1. Critique literary works through formalistic lens;

IV. Learning Activities:

Activity 1. Seeing the Pictures

Activity 2. Looking at Perspectives

Activity 4. Guiding Questions for “Formalistic Lens”

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to

remove: O no; it is an ever-fixed

That looks on tempests, and is never

shaken; It is the star to every wandering

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and

weeks, But bears it out even to the edge

If this be error and upon me

proved, I never writ, nor no man

Summative Assessment: Answer a Multiple Choice Game Quiz in Canvass as posted

VI. Optional Activities/Resources

--------------------------- END OF UNIT 3, Lesson

INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO

I. Module Number and Title: UNIT 3. Four Major Literary Criticism

III. Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit, the students are expected to:

1. Critique literary work through mimetic perspectives;

IV. Learning Activities:

Activity 4. Guiding Questions for Mimesis”

● What is the concept of signifier and signified?

On desperate seas long wont to roam,

VI. Optional Activities/Resources

--------------------------- END OF UNIT 3, Lesson

INSTRUCTOR: DR. DONNA GRACE I. COTEJO

I. Module Number and Title: UNIT 3. Four Major Literary Criticism