Practical Criticism: by I. A. Richards

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🌟 What is Practical Criticism?

Practical criticism is a way of reading and understanding poems by focusing only on the words in the poem, without knowing anything about the poet or the background. It started in the 1920s by I.A. Richards, a professor at Cambridge University. He gave his students poems without telling them who wrote them and asked them to write what they understood.

🎯 Main Aims of the Book

Richards wrote this book to:

  1. Help readers understand poems in a new way.
  2. Teach people how to decide why they like or dislike a poem.
  3. Create better ways of judging literature, different from traditional methods.

📘 Structure of the Book

The book has four parts:

  1. Introduction – Richards explains why he wrote the book.
  2. Documentation – Thirteen poems are given for analysis.
  3. Analysis – This part explains how to study poems. It has eight chapters.
  4. Summary and Recommendations – Richards gives final advice.

🧠 Four Types of Meaning in a Poem

Richards says that every word in a poem has four meanings:

  1. Sense – The actual meaning of the word or sentence.
  2. Feeling – The emotion or mood of the writer.
  3. Tone – How the writer feels about the reader (formal, casual, serious).
  4. Intention – What the writer wants to achieve (inform, persuade, entertain).

All four work together to give a poem its full meaning.

🎭 Figurative Language

Poets often use figures of speech like metaphors to give more depth and beauty to their writing. A metaphor is when you describe something using another idea, like “Time is a thief.”

There are two kinds of metaphors:

  • Sense metaphor – based on similarity of things.
  • Emotive metaphor – based on similarity of feelings.

💬 Common Mistakes in Reading Poetry

Richards found that students made many mistakes while reading poems. Here are 10 reasons people misunderstand poetry:

  1. They don’t understand the basic meaning.
  2. They miss the rhythm or sound.
  3. They misunderstand images in the poem.
  4. Personal memories interfere.
  5. They give automatic responses (stock reactions).
  6. They are overly emotional.
  7. They have mental blocks or fears.
  8. Their beliefs get in the way.
  9. They expect poems to follow fixed rules.
  10. They follow ready-made ideas about what poetry should be.

🧠 Richards’ Psychological View

Richards believed that poetry helps people organize their thoughts and emotions. It brings mental peace and helps readers connect with their own feelings. Poetry becomes a kind of therapy.

He also believed that we can’t fully trust outside help to judge poems—we must learn to judge them ourselves, using our own minds.

✍️ William Empson and New Criticism

William Empson, one of Richards’ students, wrote Seven Types of Ambiguity and helped develop New Criticism. This method focuses on close reading of the text without thinking about the author’s life or historical background.

✅ Summary in Simple Words

I.A. Richards started practical criticism to help readers focus on the poem itself. He believed in understanding the emotions, meanings, and style of the poem without any external influence. His work influenced a new way of criticism called New Criticism, which became popular in Britain and America.


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