Historical Criticism

1. Historical Criticism Aaron, Austin, Jess, and Jon

2. Definition Historical Criticism is the reflection of the author’s life through the author’s works.

3. Background Information • Dates back to the 19th century • Historical Criticism helps to understand historical determinants of meaning in a poem or other literary work Questions that it answers: • What was going on in the world during the author’s lifetime? • What time period does the literature relate to?

4. Pros Using this technique allows you to better comprehend the author’s life experiences and what inspired them to write a piece of literature. For example, by knowing that the poet Milton was blind, you can understand his poem “On His Blindness.”

5. Cons The interpretation is only based on the author, and so reflections tend to be more biographical as supposed to imaginative.

6. Criticism of “Passport” Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian political advocate against the Israelis. He was sent into exile in Lebanon by Israel. “Passport” shows his anger towards Israel for forcing him into exile. “On soil I nourished with my own hands?” (Darwish) “Stripped of my name and identity?” (Darwish) “That suck away my color in this Passport” (Darwish)

7. Works Cited McManus, Barbara F. "New Historicism." Notes. N.p., 1998. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. "Traditional Historicism." Approaches to Reading and Interpretation. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2010.