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ENC 1102 - Steinhardt (Dale Mabry): Critical lenses

Resources and tips to help you complete your assignments for Professor Steinhardt's course.

What is literary criticism? How do critical lenses inform literary criticism?

Literary criticism can be defined as analysis and interpretation of literary works by scholars who are writing for an academic audience.

Literary scholars often examine works through certain critical lenses. which means according to particular theories. Scholars Tim Nance and Matt Alberhasky explain critical lenses in great detail in their videos linked below.

Tim Nance on YouTube

Topics covered

  • What is literary criticism?
  • New criticism
  • Reader response
  • Deconstruction
  • Psychological criticism
  • Feminist criticism
  • Historical criticism
  • The Hero's Journey

Matt Alberhasky on YouTube

Topics covered

  • Race Ethnicity analysis
  • Formalism
  • New historical analysis
  • Feminist criticism
  • Psychoanalytic theory
  • Structuralism
  • Queer theory
  • Deconstruction theory

A detailed review of literary theories, also known as critical lenses