Function of Criticism

Northrop Frye (1912-1991) read his Massey Lectures over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC radio) in 1962. First published by Indiana University Press in 1964, the six lectures present key concepts from Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (Princeton University Press, 1957).

The deconstruction school of literary criticism is different from the formalist and new critics, as well as the reader-response

This literary criticism is useful because it illustrates how the arts are connected, in this case, writing and painting. The arts are fluid and can translate between different mediums. The story is considered modern, but the painting is a classic. The character of Sammy is also meant to be relatable, even to future generations. The essay is well researched and soundly written; it is a good example of what a published literary criticism should look like.

During the 17th and early 18th centuries there was a roar of wittiness and logic that came to the forefront of literature in the form of multiple well known Horatian, Juvenalian and Menippean satires (wiseGEEK). The essayist often brought a profound examination and keen persuasive rhetoric that exposed insincere idiocies and outlined the moral and economic decay (wiseGEEK). Satirical works often highlight ideals of reason, order, and social awareness, and thus these works contain a persistent undertone of civility (Holmes). The author superficially uses a façade of conventional traditions, edicts, egotism, and moral codes to incite a new sense of moral and political superiority (Holmes). The satirical literary device was at its peak during the Neoclassical Period in which the enlightenment writer, Jonathan Swift, was exceptional at this writing style (Jokinen). He excelled at rebuking Britain’s flaws and pointed out the hypocrisy at the time by extensive ridicule of the conventual school of thought. Jonathan Swift’s, A Modest Proposal is an inspiration to many aspiring satirical authors, as he is admired as a rhetorical virtuoso that shed light on the profuse moral and political decay. He also exposed the corruption in society by using a sly, yet polished voice. An example of a modern work inspired by A Modest Proposal, is Dan Geddes, A Modest Proposal to Convert Shopping Malls into Prisons. Though this is seen obviously in the Dan Geddes’s title of his essay, he also uses

Mary Wollstonecraft’s epistolary essay “A Vindication of the Rights of Men” acts as a direct, scathing response to Edmund Burke’s opinionated piece regarding the French Revolution, “Reflections on the Revolution in France”. This essay will examine the use of satire as a mode in the opening sections of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication”, as well as comparing her lexical choices to those of her addressee, Edmund Burke. The Oxford English Dictionary states that “satire” is “… [A] work of art which uses humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize prevailing immorality or foolishness, esp. [sic] as a form of social or political commentary.” Humour is too exaggerated to relate to Wollstonecraft’s work, but ridicule as a

Sir Thomas Wyatt’s defence covered two major areas; the possible insulting of the king and conspiring with Catholics in a newly decided protestant country. His 1541 defence guards his actions on both parts, however due to the lack of historical evidence it is impossible to know if this defence was ever used, even if we do know he somehow did manage to get himself off the charges. Nevertheless, it offers great insight to the mind and feelings of an otherwise elusive and ambiguous historical figure. It is this, that being Wyatt writing about his own biography, that offers vital importance to his poetry, and more importantly his satires like ‘Myne Owne John Poyntz’. Through Wyatt’s own work we can examine the possible emotion, and tie it down to its own specific historical moment.

“A Satire against Reason and Mankind” is a poem written by John Wilmot the Second Earl of Rochester. Two things are argued against in this poem. First, mankind and its base nature that causes men to exploit each other for seemingly no reason. Second, mankind’s ability to reason which causes them to compare themselves to God. However, at the end of the poem Rochester offers a chance for himself to be proven wrong, but only if a just man can be found. This idea of a “just man” is not Rochester believing mankind can improve, but rather it is him supporting his own argument because he knows that this man does not exist. When this “just man” is described he directly contrasts with human nature and shines a light on man’s true baseness and shows

Gilbert, Sandra M. and Gubar, Susan. "The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends", 2nd ed. Boston : Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1998. Copied under Permission from Access Copyright. Further reproduction, distribution or transmission is prohibited, except as otherwise permitted by law.

In “An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory” Bennett and Royle, explore topics such as subjectivity and ideology. In the Chapters “Me” and Ideology”, Bennett and Royle are able to define the terms as well as suggest how they are interrelated or interconnected. Bennett and Royle contend that literature replicates structures of ideology while encouraging subjects to question personal idenitity. They believe “subjects – people – make their own ideology at the same time as ideology makes them subjects” (Bennett and Royle 202). Stevens exemplifies Bennett and Royles contentions by building his ideologies around his profession as a bulter at the risk of losing himself to the subjection of his ideologies in which he can never be alone and cannot exist without his profession or the justications of his profession.

Throughout the passage the style of writing comes across as quite argumentative and analytical, yet the content and his ideas, at the time of writing, would have been quite outrageous. He offers to `... analyse modesty...' (p. 131) giving the impression that he will go about the whole business in something of a scientific way. However, the extremeness of his ideas makes one wonder

Since New Historicists view an aesthetic work as a social production, a text's meaning resides for them in the cultural system, composed of the Demon Lover from New Historicist point of view, three area of concern should be investigated: (1) Elizabeth Bowen's life; (2) the social rules and dictates within the text; and (3) the reflection of this work's historical

Scholars use form criticism to deny Scripture and the form-critics have a bias against supernaturalism and believe that the miracles of Jesus were created. The German scholar Rudolf Bultmann believed that the Bible needed to be stripped of its miraculous accounts, and be “demythologized” in order to be accepted by modern society.

Americans have embraced debate since before we were a country. The idea that we would provide reasoned support for any position that we took is what made us different from the English king. Our love of debate came from the old country, and embedded itself in our culture as a defining value. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that the affinity for debate is still strong, and finds itself as a regular feature of the mainstream media. However, if Deborah Tannen of the New York Times is correct, our understanding of what it means to argue may be very different from what it once was; a “culture of critique” has developed within our media, and it relies on the exclusive opposition of two conflicting positions (Tannen). In her 1994 editorial,

Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed “model” for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful.

The word New Criticism was appearing on the book, "The New Criticism", written by John Crowe Ransom. In his book, "The New Criticism", Ransom came up with a new formalist current, which emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of literature functioned as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object. It soon became a dominated theory in the middle of 20th century in Anglo-America.( Tyson, 135)