Question

Which school of criticism encouraged the students to concentrate on the words on the page:

• A. Reader Response Criticism
• B. Practical criticism
• C. Biographical Criticism
• D. New Historicism

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Practical criticism

Practical Criticism

• Definition: Practical criticism, also known as explication de texte, is a method of literary analysis that emphasizes close reading of the text itself, focusing on the words, imagery, syntax, and other formal elements.
• Key Figures: Associated with the New Criticism movement, particularly I.A. Richards and his book Practical Criticism (1929), which presented experiments with student responses to poems.
• Core Tenets:
• Textual Focus: The primary object of study is the literary work itself, stripped of external contexts like author's biography, historical background, or reader's emotional response.
• Close Reading: A meticulous examination of the text's language, structure, and form to understand its meaning and aesthetic qualities.
• Objectivity: Aims for an objective interpretation based on the evidence within the text.
• Rejection of Intentional Fallacy and Affective Fallacy: Argues against relying on the author's intended meaning (intentional fallacy) or the reader's subjective emotional response (affective fallacy).
• Influence: Highly influential in university English departments in the mid-20th century, shaping literary studies and the teaching of literature.
• Exam Relevance: Understanding practical criticism is crucial for analyzing literary texts in competitive exams that often require close textual interpretation and an understanding of formalist approaches to literature.