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Literary Criticism Of Literature And Literature

Decent Essays

Literature has no set definition, mainly because throughout history writers, as well as literary historians have failed to construct an agreeable definition (Bressler 12). When one thinks of literature, he or she should think of literary criticism—different critical perspectives. Literary criticism requires readers to analyze literary texts with knowledge of theories. Thus, the next time one reads a text, he or she should first identify the theory that he or she plans to use. The theories represent a set of critical lens that one will use to analyze the text critically. For instance, this paper will focus on the New Criticism theory; it is a theory that requires readers to focus entirely on the text itself. Readers do not need to focus on …show more content…

From a New Critic perspective, when analyzing a poem, it is pivotal for readers to pay close attention to the poem’s structure and form, especially since it can help him or her understand the poem’s overall meaning.
In life, human beings will encounter many challenging obstacles throughout his or her long and stressful journey here on earth, especially since success is the ultimate goal that he or she wishes to achieve. In the first quatrain of Angelou’s poem, a simile is depicted: “You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise” (3-4). Here, it is evident that Angelou wants readers to realize that life will step on he or she as if him or her is a pile of dirt; however, if he or she is determined to overcome his or her challenges, he or she will rise—just like dust. The simile depicted in quatrain one, forces readers, from a New Critic viewpoint, to realize that the essential meaning of Angelou’s poem lies within each line of the poem—objective meaning.
Furthermore, in life, human beings will encounter different individuals—exposure to diversity. Human beings learn from one another; however, certain people tend to encounter human beings who are miserable with his or her life. In fact, people who feel dejected tend to not motivate others to achieve his or her lifelong goals—this is portrayed in quatrain six of Angelou’s poem: “You may kill me with your hatefulness, / But still, like air, I’ll rise” (23-24). Here, Angelou uses a

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