Marxist Criticism

Now that we've tried out Formalism and Reader Response criticism, it's time to try our hands at a new type of criticism entirely.  So.  This week, we're tackling the Marxists.  Unlike Reader-Response criticism, which considers the story of what was going on inside your head while you were reading a particular story, Marxist critics get obsessed with money and power, or the lack of money and power.  Based on the theories of Karl Marx, this school of criticism looks closely at class differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications and complications of the capitalist system.  Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experiences in life.


Here's a list of typical questions a Marxist might ask:

• Which characters in this story are rich or powerful and which ones are poor or powerless?
•  Is the hero poor or wealthy, educated or uneducated, powerful or helpless?  Is there a victim you feel sorry for?  Is the victim poor or wealthy?  What do you think this says about the work you have read? 
• How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?
• What values does the story champion?
• What values does it subvert?
• What is the social class of the author?
• Whom does it benefit in the real world if the work or effort is accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
• Does the theme encourage the powerless to overthrow the powerful?  How so?

Your assignment: create three paragraphs of Marxist criticism in reaction to one of the  stories you read for the short story unit. 

Your response should be at least 15-20 sentences long.  Remember that other people from the class will be reading and responding to what you write!

Reader Response: "The Metamorphosis"

This blog assignment is asking you to take a crack at Literary Criticism, going beyond the formalist responses you've been practicing for the past few years in order to work up a review in the style of a Reader Response critic.  Reader response critics--and I'll admit that this is a little odd, and philosophical, if you've never heard of it before, but bear with me--reader response critics believe that readers don't just passively read.  They believe that readers actively construct the meaning of a text as they read it, bringing all of their personal experiences with them and applying them to the text as they read.  For them, the author is irrelevant, once the story is published.  For them, literally, each reader creates the story as he or she reads it.

That means, for example, that a mother who has lost a son in a war will read the story of the Trojan War very differently from a young man who is planning to sign up for the army next week.  Each will look at the story differently, and whereas the mother might decide that the story is about the horrors of war, the soon-to-be soldier might decide that the whole story is about the glory of war, despite its ugliness.

Reader response critics tend to ask certain questions of themselves in their attempt to write their type of criticism, which mostly tells the story of three things: 1.)what they think the story they just read is about,  2.) what it is about themselves that makes them think what they think about the story, and 3.) what they experienced while they were reading the story.

Some typical questions include the following:

What was this story about for me?
Before I begin, how do I feel about reading this piece?  Am I eager to begin?  Curious about what I will find?  Am I dreading it?  Why?
Before I begin, what do I already know about this work, this author, the time, place, or characters involved in the story?
As I read it, do I find myself liking or hating the plot or the characters?  Why?
Are there personal experiences I have had that influence my opinion of this story?
Do the characters remind me of anyone?
Does the situation described remind me of anyone?
Is there anywhere where I don't understand the story?  What stumped me?

Your assignment: create three paragraphs of Reader-Response criticism in reaction to the latest story you read for the short story unit. 
Your response should be at least 15-20 sentences long.  Remember that other people from the class will be reading and responding to what you write!

Best of luck, not that you'll need it. ; )