Literary Criticisms
...to understand the examined work (Gioia and Kennedy 2198). Asserting that both male and female writings focus on almost completely opposite ideals is another key aspect of gender criticism. It is suspected that male writings for the most part concerns itself with themes whereby the male figure overthrows the father or master character in the story (Pollard). On the other side of this figurative coin, the average female writings attempt to join and connect individuals together while at the same time is concerned with all of the collective and supportive issues. While the origins of gender criticism can be found in the feminist perspective, in recent years it has drastically expanded. Critics have explored the impact of different sexual orientations on literary creation and reception. Also very recently a men’s movement has emerged in response to the feminist movement seeking not to reject feminism, but to rediscover masculine identity in both an authentic and contemporary way. Most likely because the leader of this new men’s movement is a male the movement has paid special attention to interpreting poetry and fables as myths of both psychic growth and sexual identity (Gioia and Kennedy 2198). Formalist criticism one of the other most common forms of literary critical thinking addresses the ingredients of a story, play or poem and how well they work together to present a unified whole (Pollard). Critics who focus on this must understand the significance of the history of the particular genre which they are viewing however they must care little for the history for which it is written. In other words to analyze a poem or story the formalist critic focuses on the words of the text rather then any facts about the author’s life or the time in history in which the piece was written. One must also pay special attention for the formal features of the text such as the style, structure, imagery, tone and genre. Although these elements are not usually examined by themselves a critic using the formalist point of view understands how and why all of the elements work together to create the readers total experience (Gioia and Kennedy 2169). Psychological criticism is a truly diverse category, however it often embodies three various approaches. To begin it investigates the creative process of the arts such as the nature of literature and how it relates to normal mental functions. These viewpoints also focus on literature effects on the reader. The second approach to psychological criticism involves employing psychology to understand a subject matters motivation and behavior. The third common approach to the employment of psychological criticism is the analysis of f...