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Literary Theory

            Georg Lukas was a Marxist theorist who developed the literary theory of reflection. His main idea was that literature should be a reflection of reality. I believe this theory relates very well with the morals in the book Squids Will be Squids. Lukas said, "To "reflect" is to "frame a mental structure" transposed into words. People ordinarily posses a reflection of reality, a consciousness not merely of objects but of human nature and social relationships." Lukas could have understood the morals in Squids Will be Squids as reflections of reality. They are mental frameworks that we live our lives by.
             Alberto Eco was a reader-orientated theorist and his idea of open and closed text could be a useful tool in describing the morals of Squids Will be Squids. In an open text piece of literature there are many gaps for the reader to fill in. Closed text literature left no information for the reader to fill in. I believe that these morals are better suited to be viewed as open text. The last moral in Squids Will be Squids says "If you are planning to write fables, don't forget to change the people into animals and avoid places with high cliffs." This moral may mean exactly what it says (what the picture in the book depicts) or many other elaborations of meaning could be found. Don't be mean to others, they may become upset or if you are planning on being mean watch your back. .
             Wolfgang Iser was another reader-orientated theorist whose theory of concretization could be used to describe the morals of Squids Will be Squids. Iser said that concretization was the reader's way of giving the text meaning. He states that the text doesn't matter. What matters is the effect of the text on the reader. This theory could be used to see how the morals related to your own personal experiences. The moral "squids will be squids" had a major effect on me and I could directly relate it to my child hood experiences.


Essays Related to Literary Theory

1. Literary Theory and Teaching Literature

Keywords Twenty- first century education, poststructuralist literary theory, teaching of literature, critical pedagogy, social cognitive learning. ... It will argue that various schools of  poststructuralist literary theory such as Feminism, Marxism, New historicism, and Post-colonialism, etc., are reader –centered approaches of literary interpretation which actively involve the readers in meaning making. ... Poststructuralist Literary Theory Poststructuralist literary theory being the outcome of Derrida's theory of deconstruction has brought the reader and interpreter onto the ...

  • Word Count: 1829
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

2. Types of Literary Theories

Literary Theory Is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. ... The modern sense of "literary theory" dates only to approximately the 1950s, when the structuralist linguists Ferdinand de Saussure began strongly to influence English language criticism. ... New Criticism Was a formalist movement in literary theory that dominated literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. ... Formalism Formalism is a school of literary and critical theory which mainly deals with structural purposes of a text. ... One of the main i...

  • Word Count: 3373
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Reader Response Theory

Reader-response criticism consists of different theories and concepts formulated by several literary critics. These theories, along with the literary theorists behind them, are imperative to understand and recognize for their role as the foundation of this modern literary study. ... The main idea behind this theory is that, "the literary work is produced by the reader in response to the text"" (Harker 30). ... In other words, when critics assess the text, they are not actually looking at the literary work. ... Reader-Response Criticism is without a doubt a very complex and important litera...

  • Word Count: 1156
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Literary Genres

"It is not the quantity of observations but the logical coherence of a theory that finally matters."" ... He summarizes his study on genre as follows: (1) Every theory is based on a hypothesis concerning the nature of literary works (2) A preliminary choice must be made as to the level on which to locate literary structures (3) The concept of genre must be qualified. ... This is because there is no precise definition of what literature and/or literary is, even more so, accurate qualifications to be included in a literary genre. ... However, more current theories of meaning tak...

  • Word Count: 1508
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Identity Crisis Depicted in Two Literary Works

OBJECTIVES This study is aimed at achieving the following objectives: 1) In this study, the language and narrative technique in both text will be examined; 2) To examine the psychological effects of identity crisis on an individual as depicted in the literary works and 3) To examine the setting in the literary works that encourages identity crisis. ... THEORECTICAL FRAMEWORK The theoretical framework for this study is postcolonial theory. ... Post-colonialism is described as an intellectual direction (sometimes also called an "era" or the "post-colonial theory") that exi...

  • Word Count: 2395
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Viva Voce and Identity Crisis

While literary theory may seem divorced from reality, I believe it can illuminate our tangible struggles with identity. Through my major work, I wish to demonstrate the value of literary theory in articulating this postmodern phenomenon. ... This mode is appropriate for relating literary theories to real-life experiences in my quest to subvert the popular assumption that literary theory is an esoteric pursuit that is irrelevant to our lives. ... The highly conceptual nature of Auster's writing compelled me to research literary theory which digressed into the investigation of post-stru...

  • Word Count: 889
  • Approx Pages: 4
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7. Research Methods for English and Literary Studies

The result of the analysis is then used to build or construct a theory. From the theory that is built, a new hypothesis emerges to explain the concept. ... Functions of Linguistic and Literary Research Linguistic and literary research exists to achieve the following 1. ... Improvement of knowledge: The present knowledge in linguistic and literary studies is very far removed from what it used to be in the past. ... It means that the fewer the statement, the better the theory principle of occamism must be applied in research. ...

  • Word Count: 10367
  • Approx Pages: 41

8. The Development of Naturalism

This theory suggested that the sole purpose was based on scientific beliefs and reasoning. ... The publication of his literary work, On the Origin of Species, made the rest of the naturalistic world pause and consider the superlative points that were brought up through this literary masterpiece. ... His work offered extensive evidence supporting his theory and, ultimately, his beliefs. ... This also supported Darwin's theory of natural selection and "survival of the fittest.... Naturalism in the 1800s was the most influential literary movement of the time. ...

  • Word Count: 910
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. The History and Theory of Anglo-American Literature

What is literary study? ... On the other hand, literary study is knowledge about literature itself. ... But these efforts only make literature and literary study come to a very complicated relation. ... But this effort replaced the pure literary criteria. ... Traditional literary works fulfill this nature. ...

  • Word Count: 5585
  • Approx Pages: 22
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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