Understanding Practical Criticism with examples
What is Practical Criticism? Practical criticism is a method of analyzing and interpreting a literary text without knowing anything about the author, historical background, or context. You read the text as it is and form your opinion based only on what is written in the text. This approach was developed by I.A. Richards in the 1920s to help students understand poetry better. He gave them anonymous poems (no author name, no background info) and asked them to analyze the poems just by reading and thinking about the words, tone, and style. ๐ข Key Features of Practical Criticism: Focus only on the words in the text . No need for author biography or historical knowledge. Look at the language, style, imagery, tone, and structure . You become a kind of detective, finding meaning in the text itself . ๐ฉ Example 1: A Short Poem Let’s take a simple 2-line poem: "So dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay." — Robert Frost Practical Criticism Approach: Theme ...