ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

LITERATURE QUESTIONS

LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Which of the following statements best describes Cleanth Brooks’s attitude towards studying literature?
A
Critics should examine historical information surrounding a literary work.
B
Critics should develop universal readings of texts.
C
Critics should attempt to paraphrase texts in order to find out what they mean.
D
Critics should look at the biographical information of authors.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -D. Critics should look at the biographical information of authors.

Detailed explanation-2: -Cleanth Brooks, an active member of the New Critical movement, outlines the use of reading poems through paradox as a method of critical interpretation. Paradox in poetry means that tension at the surface of a verse can lead to apparent contradictions and hypocrisies.

Detailed explanation-3: -“Irony as a principle of structure” is an important critical theory by cleanth brooks. In this essay he says that metaphor allows poet to show particular thing to give a more general level of meaning. According to him theme of poem is a result of coherent structure of elements used in poetry.

Detailed explanation-4: -Like Formalist critics, New Critics focused their attention on the variety and degree of certain literary devices, specifically metaphor, irony, tension, and paradox. The New Critics emphasized “close reading” as a way to engage with a text, and paid close attention to the interactions between form and meaning.

Detailed explanation-5: -Answer. Explanation: In literary theory, formalism refers to critical approaches that analyze, interpret, or evaluate the inherent features of a text.

There is 1 question to complete.