ENG 1B (Palsgrove)

Literary Criticism is not criticism the way we normally think about it. It's not a kind of writing that just communicates negative ideas.

Rather, literary criticism is the analysis, interpretation, and sometimes the evaluation of authors and their works.

Literary criticism is usually in the form of an essay; examples of typical subjects include

• an analysis of the structure of a work
• the use of symbolism
• techniques of characterization
• an exploration of key themes
• a connection between the work and some historical context or event
• a comparison between this work and another
• a placement of this work in the scope of the author's entire body of work, or within a literary movement

Often, writers incorporate other literary criticism into their own work to build on a theory or idea. 

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