Literary Criticism Trivia Quiz

Answer: Formalist critics

This approach to literature is now called "Formalism" because it is no longer as "new" as it once was. Formalism moved away from the historical/biographical approach that had previously dominated literary criticism, and focused on close reading of the text to consider it as a self-contained object.

Answer: Historical

A formalist approach specifically excludes the life and times of the author, and looks only at the text. It is not necessary (i.e. required) for a critic to know the author's background for a mimetic approach, though it may prove helpful.

Answer: The intentional fallacy

The affective fallacy is the belief that the meaning or value of a work may be determined by its effect on the reader. The pathetic fallacy is attributing human emotions to non-human objects, such as nature.

Answer: T.S. Eliot

The term refers to objects, situations, or events that instantly evoke a particular emotion. It was coined by poet and painter Washington Allston and popularized by T.S. Eliot in his 1919 article "Hamlet and His Problems".

Answer: Female symbols

Such images include ponds, cups, and caves. Objects that are longer than they are wide are often seen as phallic symbols.

Answer: Jung

Jung labeled three major archetypes: the shadow, or the darker, unconscious self (the villain); the persona, or a man's social personality (the hero); and the anima, or a man's "soul image" (the heroine).

Answer: Perfection

To the Greeks, it was the perfect number, and the Hebrews used seven frequently in their religious literature. God rested from creation on the seventh day, for instance.

Answer: Elaine Showalter

According to Showalter, the feminine stage involves "imitation of the prevailing modes of the dominant tradition" and "internalization of its standards." The feminist stage involves "protest against these standards and values and advocacy of minority rights." Finally, the female stage is the "phase of self-discovery, a turning inwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a search for identity."

Answer: Psychological approach

More specifically, the approach is Freudian. Such a critic might also argue that the fighting words Samson exchanges with Harapha constitute a reassertion of his manhood.

Answer: Billy Budd

Billy Budd in Herman Melville's book of the same name is the classic scapegoat; he is executed in order to prevent a mutiny.

Answer: Reader Response Criticism

Of these three, reader response is the most subjective form of criticism because it argues that meaning lies entirely with the reader. Indeed, in this view, the text itself has no meaning of its own apart from the reader's interpretation.

Answer: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Coleridge distinguished between fancy and imagination as follows: "The fancy brings together images which have no connection natural or moral, but are yoked together by the poet by means of some accidental coincidence." On the other hand, he said, "The imagination modifies images, and gives unity to variety; it sees all things in one."

Answer: Structuralism

Structuralists think of literature as a system of signs and they try to reveal the organizational codes that they believe regulate all literature.

Answer: Deconstructionism

Deconstructionists base their interpretations on the political and/or social implications of language and do not consider the author's intention. Jacques Derrida was the founder of this approach.

Answer: Formalist

Formalistic critics believe that the text alone is all that is necessary for an accurate interpretation. They do not bring in outside information about the author's life. Because they are interested in what the work itself has to say, formalistic critics (presumably) do not view works through the lens of feminism, psychology, mythology, or any other such standpoint, and they are not interested in the work's affect on the reader.

Answer: T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot made this point in his essay "Religion and Literature." But this, he argues, does not mean a religious reader should simply ignore secular literature: "So long as we are conscious of the gulf fixed between ourselves and the greater part of contemporary literature, we are more or less protected from being harmed by it, and are in a position to extract from it what good it has to offer us."

Answer: Historical

Historical critics try to find meaning in works by placing them in their biographical or cultural context. For a complete analysis of Otway's play from a historical perspective, you can read my paper at http://www.literatureclassics.com/ancientpaths/otway.html.

Answer: Matthew Arnold

This quote comes from Matthew Arnold. Plato similarly insisted that literature must exhibit moralism and utilitarianism, and Horace believed literature should be "delightful and instructive."

Answer: Mimetic

Mimetic critics also consider whether works show how people really act. The mimetic approach resembles the moral/philosophical approach in many ways. Since Pope in his "Essay" is attempting to vindicate the ways of God to man, a mimetic approach to the work may be the most useful.

Answer: Historical

Formalist critics argue that the historical / biographical approach tends to reduce art to the level of biography and to make it relative to its own time period rather than universal. On the other hand, it can be argued that one disadvantage of the formalist approach is that it fails to account for external allusions. Because it does not take into account information such as the life of the author, a formalist analysis of "Paradise Lost" could not explain the statement "what in me is dark / Illumine" in terms of Milton's own physical blindness. Yet this fact adds another layer of richness to the statement.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every critical approach; this is why it is good to be familiar with all of them and to combine them as needed.