English Made Easy with Royal Zenith

1. What is Reader-response criticism in literature?  Ans: The criticism that focuses on reader's responses to literary tesxts is called reader response criticism. It was focused in 1970s in reaction to the new critics. Reader's responses are important enough to become the focus of literary criticism. A reader assumes that “I can read the text and understand in my own way. My interpretation also can be one interpretation.” Readers decide the meaning of the text according to this criticism. It rejects the ideas that the author or the text only decides the meaning. Readers are at the center to determine the meaning. Reader-response criticism rejects idea of New Criticism. New criticism rejects idea of New Criticism. New critics believe that the text is objective and meaning is in the text. But the REader response critics believe that the meaning is the way understood by the reader. It also rejects psychological interpretation which focuses that the l...

1. What is new criticism?  Ans: The literary criticism that focuses on "objective" and "close reading" of a text is know as new criticism. New criticism was most dominant literary criticism from 1940s to 1960. It highlights the importance of 'textual criticism from evidence' to interpret a text. The use of concrete and specific examples from the text itself validate our interpretation. To make any meaning you need to quote some words or phrases as textual evidences. It challenges psychological interpretation model between the author and text. It highlights for close reading of the text alone. It is an structuralism in the sense that new criticism isolates and studies a literary work individually. Structuralism focuses on one text's relation to other texts of that time and type. The basic slogans and features of new criticism are as follow: 1. "The text itself"  2. Literary language 3. Organic unity 4. New criticism as intrinsic...

 1. What do you understand by Feminist Criticism? Ans: Feminism raises voices for the equal rights of women. Major problem that feminists see in the society is patriarchal (domination of father/males) system. Feminists expose that women are dominated and exploited by males in the society. The society is patriarchal, so women in patriarchal society have secondary position, Feminist criticism shows all the kind of exploitation in the name of gender and say that men and women are equal and should get equal status in political, social, educational and all aspects of society. Feminist criticism questions the traditional gender roles of male and female. Sex may be biological but gender is social construct. Biological essentialism should not guide the gender role. If you have a panis you must behave like a man and if you are born with vegina you have to be female is not justice. The traditional gender roles like a man should be strong, rational, brave and out going and a woman sho...

What  do you understand by Marxist Criticism? Analysis of human behavior in relation to struggle for economic power is known as Marxist criticism. Karl Marx propounded this theory. It is related to social realism. According to this theory every human activities is made for economic power. Power is with those who have economic control.  According Marxism, the society has been divided into two classes. The bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bourgeoisie are called haves (they have property) and the proletariats are called have-nots (they are labors) as well. The rich (bourgeoisie) are powerful and they exploit the poor (proletariat). The rich control all the economy while the proletariats have to struggle to get their rights from the bourgeoisie. History of human civilization is history of class struggle.  Economic motive is behind all the human activities like political, social, educational Economy is the base and political and social systems are superstructures. E...

1. What do you understand by Psychoanalytic criticism? Psychoanalytical criticism is the study of relation of conscious and unconscious state of mind. According to Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis human behaviors are guided by unconscious layer of mind. Literature is also creative reflection of our unconscious.  a. The origin of unconscious  Human beings have many desires for power, love, sex and so on. But all the desires cannot be easily fulfilled. Suppose, we are attracted to a friend sexually in college. But you have to repress your desires there. When our desires are not fulfilled, they are repressed. The repressed desires make a storehouse in our mind. The storehouse of unfulfilled desires makes our unconscious. The unconscious affects our conscious activities. "You can't get always what you consciously want, but you get what you unconsciously need." The desires try to come out again, but you control it and tell a joke, or write erotic poem or go...