The New Criticism

This week your writing assignment is to apply a New Critical Analysis to a work of your choosing.  Your paper should be 3-5 pages in length and include an introduction, body, and conclusion. There are a variety of ways you might organize this paper. I would suggest taking thorough notes on your story/ poem, and finding the most prevalent and/ or compelling elements.  Below are some reminders about the New Critical method and some potential questions you may want to ask yourself regarding the text you have chosen. Keep in mind that New Critics do not consider the cultural context or the author's biographical information (external information) to be of concern when analyzing a text. Do not attempt to answer all of these questions, but find what is most important to the work you are examining.  New Criticism is like putting together a complicated puzzle or going on a treasure hunt for hidden connections with a text. Read as if you are looking through a magnifying glass, and then write your paper about your discoveries!

Remember: Objective Correlative: refers to a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events, or reactions that can serve to awaken in the reader the emotional response that the author desires without being a direct statement of that emotion.

Heresy of Paraphrase: Do not summarize the story, dig deeper, by asking the following questions when applicable:

• If the Text has a title, what is the relationship of the title to the rest of the poem?
• What words, if any, need to be defined? (Consider the denotative vs. connotative meaning.)
• What relationships or patterns do you see among words in the text?
• What are the various connotative meanings words in the text may have? Do these various shades of meaning help establish relationships or patterns in the text?
• What allusions, if any, are found in the text? Trace these allusions to their appropriate sources and explore how the origins of the allusions help create meaning in this particular text.
• What symbols, images, and figures of speech are used? What is the relationship between any symbol or image? Between an image and another image? Between a figure of speech and an image? A symbol?
• What structural elements can you note or discuss? Look for rhyme, meter, and stanza patterns. 
• What is the tone of the work?
• From what point of view is the content of the text being told?
• What tensions, ambiguities, or paradoxes arise within the text?
• What do you believe is the chief paradox or irony in the text?
• How do all the elements of the text support and develop the text's chief paradox?