The Purpose of Writing about Fiction and Film

The purpose of writing about fiction and film is to argue for your idea of what a literary or cinematic work means--your interpretation. Generally such "literary criticism" is written to help the reader better understand the work. Criticism may also evaluate the effectiveness of the story based on criteria the student is expected to identify.

What Is Literary Criticism?

Literary criticism necessarily involves analysis of the work, breaking it down into its parts or literary elements to examine how they function, why they are there, how and what they contribute to the overall meaning(s) or impact of the literary work. Literary criticism can be offered as an explication of one or more techniques used in the work, or of a significant passage in a narrative, especially to explain how the key elements are important to the work as a whole and/or to its theme(s) . Literary criticism may concentrate on theme(s) in the work, and show how the theme(s) are developed or dramatized, and/or demonstrate how selected elements in the work support or illustrate the themes or central meaning(s) there. Comparative studies are also common in literary criticism: critics may choose to analyze and compare or contrast the function/significance of two or more characters within a story, for example; or examine the use of a single element, such as point of view or imagery, in two or more different works by the same or different authors.

Diversity of Opinion & the Persuasive Principle

Pluralistic interpretations are accepted in literary study--indeed, they cannot be avoided--and most readers enjoy this diversity of opinions. That is, there is no single "right" interpretation of a literary work. Readers of the same work may develop many different opinions of what it means and how it achieves its purposes. (The very fact that commonly accepted "great" works of literature have meant so many different things to so many different readers in different ages--have inspired so many different interpretations--is often cited as one important criterion for judging the value of a literary work.) Since literary study and interpretation does not yield universally agreed upon "right" or "wrong" answers, there is plenty of room for multiple approaches, emphases, opinions--and often sharp disagreement--in literary criticism of even a single work.

Nevertheless, some interpretations are more convincing to more readers, and therefore recognized as more valid, than other interpretations. The critic must be aware that other readers may favor very different interpretations or "readings" of a given work, may see a story very differently, and therefore must be persuaded--with relevant, well-selected evidence from the text, close and logical reasoning, original insight, and due attention to other parts of the work that seem to contradict or weaken the student's theory of the work's meaning. The audience must be carefully persuaded that the student's thesis--her interpretation or reading of the primary source--is plausible, convincing, and worthy of serious attention. This level of persuasion requires that you, the student, read the work several times closely and organize well-selected evidence from the literary work (and other secondary sources if required), together with sound reasoning and thoughtful interpretive commentary, to convince your readers that your interpretation is valid. The persuasiveness of your literary criticism can also be enhanced by your ability to use relevant literary terms and concepts--frequently introduced in class lecture or discussion, or in the text introductions--and by the quality and originality of your insights into the literary work.

Reading, Notetaking, and Developing an Interpretation

Developing an interpretation of a literary work begins with close reading, active thinking, and careful notetaking. Read and reread the work several times if possible, and take notes in the margins, in a reading journal, in your class notebook, and/or on notecards to capture your responses and to remember important, striking, puzzling passages which you may wish to come back to, re-examine later more closely, and perhaps cite in your essay. Careful attention to your responses, studying them to find the basis of your thinking about a literary work, will help you construct a meaning for the literary text and help shape your interpretation. Controversies and ideas brought out in class discussion or in other secondary sources (such as viewpoints from the "Commentaries" section of your text) may also influence your interpretation.

Never forget, however that the main work of literary criticism goes on in the interaction between you and the literary work; the emphasis remains on what YOU think, not what others think. Meaning is constructed through an interpretive process resulting from constant interplay between your evolving theory about what the work means and how it makes sense to you, and the accumulating specific evidence of the text itself--which may at times seem to support your developing theory, at other times to challenge it, even contradict it or blow it sky high so that you must begin anew considering new theories of meaning. The quality of your writing and the plausibility of your interpretation depend upon careful, close reading of the text, thoughtful attention to finding the best evidence in the work needed to support your thesis once you have constructed it, and thorough familiarity with the work so that you can find such evidence without overlooking or ignoring passages in the work that may contradict or seriously weaken your argument.

Literary Criticism & Plagiarism

Unless an assigned topic refers to secondary sources in your textbook, you are not permitted to do research outside of regular class materials and readings. However, you must be careful to avoid PLAGIARISM, a serious academic crime that may result in a grade of "F" for the assignment, the entire course, or academic probation. If you use either the ideas or the exact words of someone else, you must give your source credit through proper documentation and bibliographical references. Some topics cannot be developed without research: for example, a study of how the facts of the author's life or the age she lived in are reflected in or shape a literary work and/or help to explain its meaning, requires your going beyond your own knowledge and ideas and experience of the story. However, do NOT rely too heavily on your secondary source. Unless otherwise directed, your essay should focus on YOUR INTERPRETATION. While it is perfectly acceptable to use (with proper documentation) another critic's idea that you endorse in your own writing, you still bear the burden of demonstrating its validity with evidence from the primary source, the literary work in question. Do NOT put yourself in the position of offering another critic's opinion because it sounds good, but then finding yourself unable to explain or illustrate it!

When to Quote or Cite Another Critic

Quote verbatim when no one can say it better. Nevertheless, you can often save a lot of words by paraphrasing. Cite a critic when he supplies you with a good idea that you want to build on, illustrate and endorse. Cite a critic who agrees with your own interpretation or evaluation as an appeal to authority; this move will help convince your readers, because you are, in effect, signaling, "Hey, I'm not alone in this belief. After all, Professor Jones, a published critic and well-known expert, believes it too!" You may even wish to cite a critic's dissenting opinion that opposes your own viewpoint in order to answer the critic's opposition. Such a strategy is better than ignoring valid contradictory or opposing views altogether.

Using the Author's Biography and Commentaries

One final caution regarding the use of biographical information about your author. You may be tempted to repeat interesting information about the author's life without relating it to the work you are supposed to be interpreting or to your thesis. DON'T USE BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, however interesting or shocking it may be, UNLESS IT CAN BE RELATED TO YOUR THESIS AND TO YOUR PRIMARY TASK: to help the reader better understand the literary work.

In reading about the author, you may also come across comments about what the author herself thinks that she was trying to do in the literary work under discussion, or what she believes about the value of literature, etc. Certainly the author's own interpretation of the work is valuable and relevant, but it need NOT be THE SINGLE CORRECT VIEW. In the end, it's often best to treat the author's views just as you would any other persuasive critic's opinion: such views must be tested against your own experience of the work to see if they are convincing. So remember D. H. Lawrence's injunction to trust the art, not the artist.