Preface 1. Getting Started: The Precritical Response I. Setting II. Plot III. Character IV. Structure V. Style VI. Atmosphere VII. Theme 2. Traditional Approaches I. Nature and Scope of the Traditional Approaches A. Textual Scholarship: A Prerequisite to Criticism B. Types of Traditional Approaches 1. Historical-Biographical 2. Moral- Philosophical II. The Traditional Approaches in Practice A. Traditional Approaches to Marvell''s "To His Coy Mistress" 1. The Text of the Poem 2. The Genre of the Poem 3. Historical- Biographical Considerations 4. Moral- Philosophical Considerations B. Traditional Approaches to Hamlet 1. The Text of the Play 2. A Summary of the Play 3. Historical- Biographical Considerations 4. Moral - Philosophical Considerations C. Traditional Approaches to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1. Dialect and Textual Matters 2. The Genre and the Plot of the Novel 3. Historical- Biographical Considerations 4. Moral- Philosophical Considerations D. Traditional Approaches to "Young Goodman Brown" 1. The Text of the Story 2. The Genre and the Plot of the Story 3. Historical- Biographical Considerations 4. Moral- Philosophical Considerations E. Traditional Approaches to "Everyday Use: for your grandmama" 1. The Plot of the Story 2. Historical- Biographical Considerations 3. Moral- Philosophical Considerations 3. The Formalistic Approach I. Reading a Poem: An Introduction to the Formalistic Approach II. The Process of Formalistic Analysis: Making the Close Reader III. A Brief History of Formalistic Criticism A. The Course of a Half Century B. Backgrounds of Formalistic Theory C. The New Criticism IV. Constants of the Formalistic Approach: Some Key Concepts, Terms, and Devices A. Form and Organic Form B. Texture, Image, Symbol C. Fallacies D. Point of View E. The Speaker''s Voice F. Tension, Irony, Paradox V. The Formalistic Approach in Practice A. Word, Image, and Theme: Space- Time Metaphors in "to His Coy Mistress" B. The Dark, the Light, and the Pink: Ambiguity as Form in "Yound Goodman Brown" 1. Virtues and Vices 2. Symbol or Allegory? 3. Loss upon Loss C. Romance and Reality, Land and River: The Journey as Repetitive Form in Huckleberry Finn D. Dialectic as Form: The Trap Metaphor in Hamlet 1. The Trap Imagery 2. The Cosmological Trap 3. "Seeming" and "Being" 4. "Seeing" and "Knowing" E. Irony and Narrative Voice: A Formalistic Approach to "everyday Use: for your grandmama" VI. Limitations of the Formalistic Approach 4. The Psychological Approach: Freud I. Aims and Principles A. Abuses and Misunderstandings of the Psychological Approach B. Freud''s Theories II. The Psychological Approach in Practice A. Hamlet: The Oedipus Complex B. Rebellion against the Father in Huckleberry Finn C. "Young Goodman Brown": Id versus Superego D. The Turn of the Screw: The Consequences of Sexual Repression E. Death Wish in Poe''s Fiction F. Love and Death in Blake''s "Sick Rose" G. Sexual Imagery in "To His Coy Mistress" H. Morality over the Pleasure Principle in "Everyday Use" III. Other Possibilities and Limitations of the Psychological Approach 5. Mythological and Archetypal Approaches I. Definitions and Misconceptions II. Some Examples of Archetypes A. Images B. Archetypal Motifs or Patterns C. Archetypes as Genres III. Myth Criticism in Practice A. Anthropology and Its Uses 1. The Sacrificial Hero: Hamlet 2. Archetypes of Time and Immortality: "To His Coy Mistress" B. Jungian Psychology and Its Archetypal Insights 1. Some Special Archetypes: Shadow, Persona, and Anima 2. "Young Goodman Brown": A Failure of Individuation 3. Syntheses of Jung and Anthropology C. Myth Criticism and the American Dream: Huckleberry Finn as the American Adam D. "everyday Use": The Great [Grand] Mother IV. Limitations of Myth Criticism 6. Feminist Approaches I. Feminism and Feminist Literary Criticism: Definitions II. Historical Overview and Major Themes in Feminist Criticism III. Four Significant Current Practices A. Gender Studies B. Marxist Feminism C. Psychoanalytic Feminism D. Minority Feminist Criticism IV. The Future of Feminist Literary Studies: Some Problems and Limitations V. Five Feminist Approaches A. The Marble Vault: The Mistress in "To His Coy Mistress" B. Frailty, Thy Name Is Hamlet: Hamlet and Women C. Men, Women, and the Loss of Faith in "Young Goodman Brown" D. Women and "Sivilization" in Huckleberry Finn E. "In Real Life": Recovering the Feminine Past in "Everyday Use" 7. Cultural Studies I. What Is "Cultural Studies"? II. Three Ways to Study Culture A. British Cultural Materialism B. The New Historicism C. American Multiculturalism 1. African American Writers 2. Latian / o Writers 3. American Indian Literature 4. Asian American Writers III. Cultural Studies in Practice A. Two Characters in Hamlet: Marginalization with a Vengeance B. "To His Coy Mistress": Implied Culture versus Historical Fact C. "The Lore of Fiends": Hawthorne and His Market D. Telling the Truth, "Mainly": Tricksterism in Huckleberry Finn E. Cultures in Conflict: A Story Looks at Cultural Change 8. Additional Approaches I. Aristotelian Criticism (Including the Chicago School) II. Genre Criticism III. Source Study and Related Approaches (Genetic Criticism) IV. The History of Ideas V. Rhetoric, Linguistics, and Stylistics VI. The Marxist Approach VII. Structuralism and Poststructuralism, Including Deconstruction A. Structuralism: Context and Defintion B. The Linguistic Model C. Russian Formalism: Extending Saussure D. Structuralism, Levi- Strauss, and Semiotics E. French Structuralism: Codes and Decoding F. British and American Interpreters G. Poststructuralism: Deconstruction VIII. Phenomenological Criticism (The Criticism of Consciousness) IX. Dialogics X. Reader- Response Criticism Epilogue Appendixes Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress" Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Yound Goodman Brown" Alice Walker, "Everyday Use: for your grandmama" Index