AP%20Literature%20and%20Composition

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AP Literature and Composition
September 16, 2011 Mr. Houghteling Its a
Flex-day Friday, and because its Friday, you
know what that means...
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Its great to be alive!
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Agenda

• Analysis of The Giving Tree using the different
  Literary Criticism perspectives

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Literary Criticism some types

• Historical Criticism
• Archetypal Criticism
• Gender Criticism

• Marxist Criticism
• Eco-Criticism
• Reader Response Criticism

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Archetypal Criticism (1)

• Archetypal criticism argues that archetypes
  determine the form and function of literary
  works, that a text's meaning is shaped by
  cultural and psychological myths. Archetypes are
  the unknowable basic forms personified or
  solidified in recurring images, symbols, or
  patterns.

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Archetypal Criticism (2)

• These patterns may include motifs such as the
  quest or the heavenly ascent, recognizable
  character types such as the trickster or the
  hero, symbols such as the apple or snake, or
  images such as crucifixion (as in King Kong, or
  Bride of Frankenstein)all laden with meaning
  already when employed in a particular work.

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Historical Criticism (1)

• Historical Criticism insisted that to understand
  a literary piece, we need to understand the
  author's biography and social background, ideas
  circulating at the time, and the cultural
  environment.

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Historical Criticism (2)

• New Historicism seeks to find meaning in a text
  by considering the text within the framework of
  the prevailing ideas and assumptions of its
  historical era. New Historicists concern
  themselves with the political function of
  literature and with the concept of power, the
  intricate means by which cultures produce and
  reproduce themselves.

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Gender Critical Perspective

• Gender interpretation focuses on relationships
  between genders, including patterns of thought,
  behavior, and power in relations between and
  within the sexes.
• For example, a gender reading of Cinderella may
  take into account the idea of power relationships
  between the men and women of the novel.

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Eco-Criticism
Eco-criticism is a form of criticism based on an
ecological perspective. It investigates the
relationship between humans and the natural world
in literature, including how individuals in
society behave and react in relation to the
nature.
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Marxist Criticism
Marxist criticism asserts that economics provides
the foundation for all social, political, and
ideological reality. Examining social groups and
their influences is one of the most accessible
ways to use Marxist criticism. (the Haves vs.
Have-nots)
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Storytime

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

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Literary Criticism Circles

• Meet in groups of four.
• Review the criticism your group has been given.
  Solidify your understanding of the criticism.
• Reread The Giving Tree, analyzing the text
  through the perspective of your criticism.
• Write down at least five observations or
  conclusions that your group has made relative to
  your literary criticism perspective.
• On the paper provided, record your groups
  observations.

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Homework

• Which school of criticism interests you the most?
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• Write a short personal reflection about how the
  criticism affected your interpretation of the
  story.
• Which school of criticism did you find most
  applicable to The Giving Tree?

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The Giving Tree Gender Criticism

• The female tree can be interpreted as Mother
  Earth, or simply a mother, sustaining the
  dominant male first with enjoyment and food and
  later with the means to provide shelter and
  transportation.

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The Giving Tree Marxist Criticism

• When the boy is young, he is content simply to
  play with the tree climbing up her trunk,
  gathering her apples, and sleeping in her shade.
  However, as he grows older, he becomes
  increasingly demanding of the trees resources.
  He is no longer content to enjoy the trees
  company, but rather he seeks the tree for
  financial and materialistic gain.

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The Giving Tree Eco-Criticism

• Man is dependent on nature for survival the man
  systematically destroys the tree in order to get
  what he wants in order to be happy.

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The Giving Tree Archetypal Criticism

• The treewith her branches, her trunk, and her
  applesis the giver of life, reiterating the
  archetype of nature as provider for man.

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Homework

• Which school of criticism interests you the most?
  ?
• Write a short personal reflection about how the
  criticism affected your interpretation of the
  story.
• Which school of criticism did you find most
  applicable to The Giving Tree?