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Chapter 2: Traditional Approaches

Chapter 2: Traditional Approaches. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. A Note on Traditional Approaches. --the “old” historicism --New Criticism --New historicism and related approaches. Textual Scholarship.

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Chapter 2: Traditional Approaches

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  1. Chapter 2: Traditional Approaches A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

  2. A Note on Traditional Approaches --the “old” historicism --New Criticism --New historicism and related approaches

  3. Textual Scholarship • Textual critics research and edit a work in order to establish an accurate, authentic text for the reader: “what the writer intended” • These critics prepare a reliable text for multiple methods of literary dissection and provide information about the genesis of a text • Question: What is a “text”? • Example: Hamlet • Example: “To His Coy Mistress”

  4. Matters of Genre • Aristotle’s Poetics • Frye, Hirsch, Scholes • Genre Characteristics in Practice • Plot Elements: Opening Situation Generating Circumstance (e.g., something happens) Rising Action Climax Dénouement

  5. Source Study • How did earlier writings, other works of art influence the text? • The art of allusion • Example: Influences on “To His Coy Mistress”

  6. Historical-Biographical Approaches • Focus is on the life, times, and environment of the author and/or the literary characters • Nearly all literature is open to this approach • Examines how these external factors affect the literary work

  7. Moral-Philosophical Approaches • Examines the moral or philosophical issues within the literary text • Approach goes back to Plato, Horace, Samuel Johnson, but has stayed relevant to modern readers • Focuses on what is being taught

  8. Application of Traditional Approaches Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” • The Text of the Poem The textual critic examines the meaning of the words and their variations • The Genre of the Poem Critics determine the literary type or genre of a work to define its technical features and characteristics

  9. Historical-Biographical Considerations The historical-biographical critic examines the life and times of Marvell in order to help understand the context of the poem. • Moral-Philosophical Considerations The moral-philosophical critic explores what is being taught in the poem. The theme of carpediem (seize the day) is prominent.

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