Analyzing Literature
Here you will learn a framework for analyzing and evaluating literature and an introduction to Literary Theory
Below, you will learn about a framework that can be used to analyze and discuss literature. This is a core component of all activities related to reading in English Language Arts, but can also apply to many other areas of academic study and life!
The information here is very closely related to understanding the elements of fiction, which you can read more about on this page.
Leveled Analysis: A Framework
🔎
Level One Analysis
Looking closely at a part of the text to reveal meaning
🔻
Readers using level one questions to analyze a text ask themselves...
What literary devices are present, and what is the effect?
What word choices or phrases are used to create a specific effect on the reader?
📖
Level Two Analysis
Thinking about the whole text
🔻
Readers using level two questions to analyze a text ask themselves...
What does a level one analysis, show about the text as a whole? Consider….
Character
Plot
Setting
Theme
Tone/Mood
🌍
Level Three Analysis
Thinking beyond the text itself
🔻
Readers using level three questions to analyze a text ask themselves...
What does analysis from level 1 and 2 tell us about the world?
What connections can be made between this text and events in the world?
How can this text be understood in relation to other texts or movements?
Literary Theory: Critical Lenses to Look at Literature and the World
What is Literary Theory
The interpretation of literature is often subjective; the meaning of the text is often understood differently by various readers. The study of literature is often done using what is called Literary Theory, which defines various perspectives or a “lens” that we can use to read and understand literature. There are many types of literary theory, and the subject can be complex! There are entire books written about each of these and more, you will find a link to the Purdue Online Writing lab page to learn more detailed information about each of these very deep subjects.
Marxism
Marxism argues that society advances through conflict between opposing forces, specifically the proletariat (the working class) and the bourgeois (the elite wealthy class). According to Marx, throughout history, class conflict has arisen as a result of one class's exploitation by another.
Marxism as a literary lens focuses on class representation and class conflict. If you would like to learn more about Marxism, check out this website.
A “Marxist Reading” of a text could ask questions like…
What classes, or socioeconomic statuses, are represented in the text?
Are all the segments of society accounted for, or does the text exclude a particular class?
Does class restrict or empower the characters in the text?
How does the text depict a struggle between classes, or how does class contribute to the conflict of the text?
How does the text depict the relationship between the individual and the state? Does the state view individuals as a means of production, or as ends in themselves?
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis, or psychoanalytic criticism, took off in popularity in the early decades of the twentieth century. It is based upon the now debunked psychological studies done by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis looks into unconscious thoughts and desires and the conflicts they create. Freud argued that three areas of the mind, the Id, the Ego, and the Superego create internal conflict as we move from adolescence to adulthood.
If you would like to explore psychoanalysis deeper, check out this website.
Foundational Questions of Psychoanalysis:
What motivates the speaker or protagonist? Does the speaker or protagonist appear to be consciously or unconsciously motivated?
How do desires and wishes manifest in the text? Do they remain largely fulfilled or unfilled? How does their fulfillment, or lack thereof, affect the character’s development?
Does the text chart the emotional development of a character? How?
How do the characters in the text evoke archetypal figures such as the Great or Nurturing Mother, the Wounded Child, the Whore, the Crone, the Lover, or the Destroying Angel?)
Feminism
Feminist theory can be traced to the theories of Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex (1929). Virginia Woolf also formed the foundation of feminist criticism in her seminal work, A Room of One’s Own. Feminist theory looks closely at how gender is portrayed in literature.
If you would like to learn more about Feminism as a literary lens, click here.
Foundational Questions of Feminist Criticism
Consider stereotypical representations of women as the beloved, mothers, virgins, whores, and/or goddesses. Does the text refer to, uphold, or resist any of these stereotypes? How?
What roles have been assigned to the men and women in the text? Are the roles stereotypical? Do gender roles conflict with personal desires?
Does the text paint a picture of gender relations? If so, how would you describe gender relations in the text? On what are they based? What sustains them? What causes conflict between men and women?
Are gender relations in the text celebrated? Denigrated? Mocked? Mystified? If so, how?
Post-Colonialism
Post-colonial literary criticism frequently focuses on relationships between colonizers and colonized people. Post-colonial criticism also analyzes whether a text upholds or subverts colonial ideals.
If you would like to learn more about Postcolonial criticism, click here.
Foundational Questions of Post-Colonial Criticism
Where and when is the work set—in a colony, a former colony, or a country that has gained its independence from Great Britain Spain, France, or another political power?
How does the text depict relations between the colonizer and the colonized?
What principles of colonialism operate in the text? Do colonial powers usurp land, exploit the economy or environment, or enslave the indigenous population?
How do the colonial conflicts and politics of the text affect its meaning?
