AP English: General Introduction to the Teaching of Critical Schools
What is literary theory (also known as “critical theory”)?
Literary theory is primarily a system for interpreting and assessing meaning in literature.
It is comprised of many schools, each with its own specific angle or lens, allowing for a
particularized approach to a text.
Why teach literary theory in high school?
“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Mark Twain
“Until lions tell their stories, tales of hunting will glorify the hunter.” African proverb
Both Twain’s comment and the African proverb provide clues as to the importance of
perspective. As individuals, we are used to viewing all texts through our biases. Those
biases depend on many factors, from family background to personal tastes. Critical
perspectives encourage us to step outside of our biases and view texts from a
perspective we may not have considered before.
At first blush, teaching literary theory to high school students may seem irrelevant. After
all, Education professor Deborah Appleman acknowledges that literary theory is often
“dismissed as a sort intellectual parlor game played by MLA types.” However, she goes
on to argue that in fact not only is it relevant, but it “will better prepare adolescent
readers to respond reflectively and analytically to literary texts.”
To explain the general concept of literary theory, Appleman uses the analogy of putting
on a pair of sunglasses that had lenses that were specially ground for driving. Once you
put on the glasses, the way you see the world is influenced by that lens. Such is the case
with literary theory. Consider another example, in the same vein: have you ever been to
a “3-D” movie? Think about the point when you put on the special “3-D glasses” – what
happens? Certain images emerge from the screen, images that without the glasses
would remain as flat as the rest of the images. This is, in a sense, how critical schools
function. They bring out certain aspects of a text. Aspects that, without the focus of
critical schools, would also stay “hidden” within the text. The purpose of studying critical
schools is NOT to convince students that any particular school has supremacy over other
schools. Rather, it is a means through which students can be introduced to the concept
of applying theory to text.
Some specific benefits:
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Using critical lenses allows new distinctions or categories for looking at a work. In
other words, it provides both the teacher and the student a wider range of
experiences with text.
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Using critical lenses allows students and teachers to explore a text in a manner
that encourages independence. That does not mean drifting into relativism,
where anything is right. What it does mean is greater flexibility to explore more
than one possibility with a text.
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Using critical lenses gives students new ways to respond to literature that do not
rely on whether they “like” a text or not.
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Using critical lenses is a higher order cognitive process, requiring students to not
only comprehend a text but to then funnel that comprehension through a
particular lens. This is the kind of thinking students will be doing on a regular
basis in college.
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Using critical lenses encourages students to look not only at literary texts but at
the world around them with a new perspective.
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Using critical lenses allows for the exploration of any writer in any time period
due to its flexibility.
Below is a sampling of critical schools. NOTE – these schools can intersect or overlap.
1. Formalist Theory
This critical perspective is perhaps the oldest and most traditional in that it primarily
investigates the style and structure (or “form”) of a text in order to find meaning.
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This is the lens we use the most in high school English classes, and it serves as
the basis for the AP Literature exam.
Considers a text on its own terms, focusing on how it “works.”
Any analysis you’ve written for my class has, for the most part, been formalist.
Generally does NOT look outside the text itself (as opposed to the many lenses
that do, making connections to culture, history, and biography that require
outside research).
2. Economic/Marxist Theory
This critical perspective views texts in terms of how the power structure is determined
or reinforced. Some basic assumptions:
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Focuses on material conditions (money, political power, class) and their
implications and meaning in a text.
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Considers the author’s comment or message regarding the role of economic
structures in a text as they relate to setting, plot, and characterization.
Argues that money is the driving motivator in a text.
Highlights transactional aspects of marriage and relationships.
Also considers the age and economy in which a text was written, focusing on its
commercial role and the economic status of the author.
3. Feminist/Gender Criticism/Queer Theory
This critical perspective views texts in terms of how gender and sexuality are
represented in texts. Some basic assumptions:
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Views women's personal experience as a valuable source of insight.
Points out that many of the “canonical” texts are written by and focus on the
male experience.
Notes that women in literature are often marginalized or ignored entirely.
Highlights ways that traditional criticism ignores women readers, and the way
women are portrayed in literature from a male-centered viewpoint.
Seeks to recover neglected women authors of the past and value female
experience.
Considers and challenges gender and sexual stereotyping.
Argues that sex and sexuality are the driving motivators in a text.
4. Psychological/Psychoanalytical/Freudian Theory
This critical perspective utilizes the principles of psychology to study literature. Some
basic assumptions:
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Considers psychoanalytical concepts that appear in the work, such as the psyche,
repression, the unconscious, the conflict between id, ego and superego, Oedipal
and Elektra complexes, etc.
Looks closely at character behavior and what motivates it both consciously and
unconsciously.
Focuses on psychic development and mental illness.
Also considers the psyche of the writer, and how the creative process itself is
affected by the psychological concepts listed above.
Can be based on any school in psychology (psychoanalytical, behavioral,
cognitive, etc).
5. Mythological/Archetypal Theory
This critical perspective emphasizes the role of common themes, characters, and
symbols that repeat through various cultures, eras, and genres (these are also known as
“tropes,” but in a more derogatory sense). Some basic assumptions:
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Seeks out archetypes (an archetype is a symbol or character that can be found in
a variety of cultures, e.g. the wise old woman or man, the trickster, the hero’s
quest, temptation by evil…)
As opposed to psychological theory, which considers the individual psyche, this
lens focuses on our “collective unconscious” and the archetypal symbols that we
share and draw meaning from.
Utilizes Joseph Campbell’s view of literature and myth as the manifestation of
our need to find meaning in human experience
Explores a literary work by considering it in relation to other works with similar
archetypical elements.
Finds great significance in symbols and religious and/or mythological allusions
6. Biographical Theory
This critical perspective considers the meaning of a text based on biographical research.
 Mines autobiographical and biographical materials, memoirs, letters, etc, in
order to arrive at a fuller understanding of what happens in a text.
 Works well in tandem with the psychological lens in that it invites a look at the
author’s background and motivations (again, conscious or unconscious).
 Looks at patterns across a body of work in relation to a given author’s life and
living conditions.
 Might potentially address the question: “Why did the author write this???”
7. Deconstructionist Theory
This critical perspective aims to “deconstruct” or dismantle a text in order to challenge
its apparent intended meaning(s).
 Argues that authors typically lose control of their texts, or force intended
meanings assumptively.
 Celebrates the vulnerabilty of binary oppositions in a text.
 Presents an argument that looks something like: “While the text purports itself
to be about A, it is really ultimately about B.”
 Can involve other lenses (for example, the gender lens to challenge what a text
might be trying to say about the sexes, or the economic lens to question a text’s
apparent assumptions about money, etc).