MEPX
Chapter 9 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Forms and genres
  2. 2Narrative and structure
  3. 3Voice and point of view
  4. 4Language and imagery
  5. 5Poetry
  6. 6Drama
  7. 7Movements
  8. 8World literature
  9. 9Reading critically
  10. 10Reading well

Chapter 9 of 10

Reading critically

Different lenses.

Approaches

Formalist reading stays with the text, historical reading places it in its moment, and feminist, postcolonial and Marxist criticism ask who is represented and who is not.

  • No single lens exhausts a good text.
  • The author's intention is evidence, not a verdict.

Building an argument

A strong reading makes a claim that could be disagreed with, and supports it with specific quotation. Summary is not interpretation.