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Historical and Biographical Lenses

Historical and Biographical Lenses. Liza Dee Eve Lee Sophie Marion. Definition . Historical approach to literary criticism… How does the work reflects the author’s time? Must be truly placed in historical context

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Historical and Biographical Lenses

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  1. Historical and Biographical Lenses Liza Dee Eve Lee Sophie Marion

  2. Definition • Historical approach to literary criticism… • How does the work reflects the author’s time? • Must be truly placed in historical context • Should consider various types of history (social, economic, political, intellectual, etc.) to understand the text • Biographical approach to literary criticism… • How does the work reflects the author’s life? • Should analyze the work against the author’s life for meaning • Should not take into account irrelevant facts

  3. Questions Considered • Historical approach: • What events concurrently occurred in history? • How did history affect the author’s views/opinions? • How did history affect content, style, language, and tone? • Did the author alter historical events? How? Why? • Biographical approach: • What biographical facts are included in the text? • Have any facts been changed? How? Why? • What does the text tell us about the author’s life? • Do these insights increase or diminish our understanding of his/her life? • Does the author consider his/her life as typical or significant?

  4. Advantages • Gives information about the author and the time period • The ability to make comparisons • May approach a text from numerous perspectives and schema • Culture • Discourse • Ideology

  5. Disadvantages • Equating the work's content with the author's life (or the character with the author • Less-than-credible sources of information, particularly works that tend to be highly speculative or controversial unless verified by several sources. • No history can be truly objective or comprehensive because history is constantly written and rewritten • Loss of the ability to be creative in analyzation

  6. Where/How to Apply This Lens In YOUR Life • Viewing Art • Analyzing Literature based on the Publication Date and/or Author • Reading Periodicals • English and History Classes • Screenwriting

  7. Examples • The Scarlet Letter • To Kill A Mockingbird • A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner • In television: Mad Men • The Diary of Anne Frank

  8. Uses • English class • My Pet Virus • Shawn Decker’s life • The Scarlett Letter • Historical context (1850) • History class • Lincoln’s Inaugural Address • Historical context of the time period (1861) • Lincoln’s point of view • Hammurabi’s Code • Historical context of the time period (1792 B.C.) • Hammurabi’s philosophy as a leader • CI (Social studies) • Columns • Point of view on the issue • Paul Krugman and the Bush tax cuts

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