Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (Paperback)

by Charles E. Bressler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A core text for introductory courses in Literary Criticism or for first-year-graduate courses in Literary Theory; a supplementary text for introductory courses in Literature. This text is designed to make literary theory and criticism accessible to those with no previous knowledge of the subject. It presents the eleven basic schools of twentieth-century literary theory and criticism in their historical and philosophical contexts. Unlike other introductions, it explicitly presents the philosophical assumptions of each school of criticism, provides a clear methodology for writing essays according to each school's beliefs and tenets, and features accessible student-generated sample essays.

From the Publisher
This introduction to literary theory and criticism -- its historical development and the variety of theoretical positions or schools of criticism -- is designed to help students make conscious, informed, and intelligent choices concerning their own methods of literary interpretation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3rd edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130333972
• ISBN-13: 978-0130333971
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #217,345 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-Have for Anyone with an interest in Literary Criticism, May 17, 2001

By	"k_cchua" (Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Literary Criticism is one field of study that, no doubt, confuses most people with all the "-isms". Charles Bressler's book is a very useful tool in sorting out all these "-isms". This is a well-organized book: each chapter focuses on a different theory and discusses the theory's historical development, assumptions, methodology and even has questions for analysis (great help when writing a paper). The chapter culminates in two essays of application of that particular theory. This is the most popular and widely-circulated book among Lit Majors in my university. And this is one that you should definitely own.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for beginners., April 2, 2005

By	Hesper23 "Grad student" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

4 years of English studies, and I never once sat down to read literary theory until I had to take a course in it. Bressler's book helped me immensely to sort out the confusing mass that is theory. He lists a dozen or so major movements, such as formalism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, and post-structuralism, and also includes "additional" chapters on individual theorists such as Barthes, Levi-Strauss, etc. The explanations are concise. I also like how this professor turned author looks at theory from the student's perspective: he breaks down complicated ideas into manageable parts, without losing the essential point of the theory.

Another book that I found helpful was *Literary Theory: An Anthology* ed. Julie Rivkin. Unlike Bressler's book, this one is HUGE and very heavy, but nonetheless useful.

Actually, after reading more about literary theory, I'm no longer scared of it. So, if you're like me, a "newbie" to literary theory, you'd do well to start with this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinarily Useful Text On Theory, September 20, 2007

By	Martin Asiner "Adjunct College Instructor" (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (Paperback)

The number of user-friendly guides for introductory level literary theory is no more than three or four. LITERARY THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THEORY AND PRACTICE by Charles E. Bressler is happily one of them. For a text on theory designed for the novice, the author must include a number of basic concepts. First, the text must minimize the inevitable influx of dense jargon while maximizing a clear explication of that jargon. Second, the author must set his survey of theory in a meaningful context that allows the uninitiated to trace the evolution of theory from its starting point--usually with the Greeks--up to the present day. Third, the author must define the nature of theory--no easy task there--so that the reader can connect the various strands of allied disciplines like linguistics, psychology, and economics into a coherent whole. Fourth, the text must include close analyses and summaries of the major schools of theory--again no easy task since there is considerable disagreement even among those who are recognized experts as to which strands of the web of theory deserve inclusion. And finally, that author ought to show the reader how to make the transcendent leap from the abstruseness that is theory to the concretization of the use of that theory by providing real-life examples of writing that illustrate that theory in action. Bressler does all this and does so with a flair that puts most of his academic competitors to shame.

Part of the reason for his success is his simple yet not simplistic methodology that accompanies each school of theory. He begins each school with an introduction that foregrounds his analyses in a real-world application that makes sense even to the rank novice. He follows with an erudite historical development, which includes assumptions that proponents of that school hold. He then considers the methodology by which that proponent translates abstract assumption to concrete reality. What I found especially useful were his concluding questions for analyses and student-derived essays that examined a specific text under a designated literary lens.

There are other introductory guides that do much of the preceding but only Bressler does it all so well. This text has use beyond the introductory undergraduate course in theory. For those in graduate seminars who need a refresher in the basics or wish to see theory reflected in the reality of everyday literary texts, LITERARY THEORY is a work that ought to achieve frequent perusal during a lifetime of reading that extends far beyond the requirements of a college course.