To: Dr.

Michael DePalma
From: Carson Kent
Subject: Writing Literary Criticism: The Academic Study of Literature
Date: September 20, 2018

The purpose of this report is to present a genre analysis of a common type of writing done by
English Literature professors in the academic workplace, literary criticism.

Introduction and Objective

This report is a research study into the professional field of literary and English studies, namely,
the field of English higher education. The work done by professors is critical to creating a
successful academic environment not only for students, but for other members of their discourse
community. The goal of my research is to take a closer look at the types of writing English
professors undertake, and how that writing works within the larger context of the discourse
community surrounding higher education of literature. Specifically, however, I have chosen to
take a look at one genre that I have been interested in that is unique to the community, that being
literary criticism.

Literary criticism is a genre of academic writing in which a researcher studies a work of

literature, evaluating and analyzing the work for a chosen topic, interpreting the text, and
studying closely the intricacies of the work, attempting reveal concepts or meaning, and records
the findings in a scholarly paper. Literary criticism is foundational in the discourse community of
literary scholars, which is almost entirely composed of those with English doctorate degrees and
often work as professors, as it is the primary method of sharing their knowledge of literature and
literary works within the community. It is the community’s way of communicating complex
ideas about literature and circulating those ideas to others. Reading and responding to criticism is
the method by which scholars educate each other and themselves about important literary works
and publish knowledge that will be passed down to students and future scholars. I chose to take a
deeper look into this genre due to its uniqueness and importance to the field of higher literary
education. I believe that more so than any other genre, literary criticism is able to reflect the
values and beliefs of the community that are unique to them.

Through criticism, English professors are able to share new ideas and communicate their beliefs,
as well as form opinions and shape others’. Through literary criticism, professors are able to
grow in their knowledge of their craft, which in turn will help them become better educators to
students through an abundance of knowledge, as well as better authors of literary criticism
themselves, so that they may contribute to the never-ending conversation that is literary
criticism.

Research Methods

I utilized a number of methods to research the genre of literary criticism and its impact on the
discourse community of higher English education. First, I performed an in-depth genre analysis
of a piece of literary criticism on the topic of trauma in JD Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.” In
reading this piece, I observed the language used by the authors, and how the tone and general
writing style might reflect how the discourse community expects literary criticism to be written.
Then, I studied the formatting. Although literary criticism can appear in slightly different
formats, I was observing the larger goal of the formatting, and what ideas are communicated
where in the text, rather than a strict examination of this piece in particular. Finally, I considered
the overall goal of the piece, and what kind of information the or beliefs the piece was trying to
communicate. The goal behind this was to draw out important aspects of the criticism that would
reveal information about the discourse community for which it was written, such as values or
beliefs about how writing literary criticism should be undertaken.

I also utilized secondary research of the topic, finding an article, books, and an interview that
would help in learning about literary criticism and the community that writes them. I made sure
to find sources that would help me understand the community better, while also taking a deeper
look into the criticism that is written within it. In picking these articles, I selected those that felt
as if they would give me the most insight into literary criticism and the impact it had on members
of the community. I searched for information that would help me have a better understanding of
what literary criticism is, and how the genre has evolved and worked over the course of its
existence.

As a part of my primary research, I had the pleasure of interviewing a member of the scholarly
English discourse community. Luckily, I did not have to venture far from home, as I sat down
with Dr. Greg Garrett at Baylor University. Dr. Garrett is a professional writer who teaches a
variety of classes at Baylor University, including literature, writing, film, and theology. He has
authored over twenty books, ranging fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and translation, as well as
writing hundreds of articles and essays published in publications such as The Washington Post,
Christianity Today, Tablet, and many more. He is a distinguished member of the English faculty
at Baylor, and his skill in writing covers a vast expanse of experience, including that of literary
criticism. The goal of interviewing Dr. Garrett was to reveal firsthand information about literary
criticism and how it functions within the community he has contributed to.

Discussion of Findings

Through my research, I was able to discover a number of important aspects of literary criticism
and the community encompassing that criticism. My in-depth study of an example from the
genre led me to some important aspects of criticism. For starters, literary criticism will almost
always begin with an introduction to the text and topic of the criticism, and a thesis for which the
author will explore, similar to most academic papers. In my piece I studied, titled Salinger’s
Depiction of Trauma in” The Catcher in the Rye”, written by Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya and
Ruzbeh Babaee, the thesis is as follows; “... [The Catcher in the Rye] seems to be more about
what adulthood regards culture and political roles in a traumatized society for which adults feel
responsible [for].” This establishes the claim that the authors are creating for the text. Then, it
will proceed to assertions about the text and topic, followed by research of the text, sometimes
deviating into studies of topics that could be completely outside of the realm of literature to
better communicate and prove the thesis the author is working with. For example, in the
aforementioned criticism, the authors dedicate a short section of the criticism to discussing the
effects of trauma, quoting researchers on the topic and connecting that knowledge back to how
Salinger depicts Holden’s (The main character of his novel) trauma in the novel. This research
and explaining of the validity of the hypothesis will make up the majority of the criticism and is
normally divided into sections regarding the topic the author is covering at that time. In the
Salinger piece, it is divided into six sections titled Introduction, Salinger’s Personal Experience
of Trauma, Trauma, Holden’s World, Holden’s Trauma, and Conclusion. Finally, it ends with a
conclusion that reasserts the authors thesis, however, now has given proper and sufficient
evidence for that thesis to be proven. From the construction of the literary criticism, it is clear
that academic effort and integrity is key to the discourse community. This is demonstrated by the
careful and precise use of references, always making sure to give the proper citation to claims or
research that are not their own.

Literary criticism employs a recognizable formula in academic studies, following, for all intents
and purposes, the scientific method common in most academic research. This cements the
discourse community that writes literary criticism (a majority of the time professors, but almost
always someone with a PhD in English of some sort) as an academic community. The claims
must be backed up by proper research of the text and the topic one covers, just as any other field
of study. The legitimacy of these claims hinges on the proper research behind it. One can make
the ridiculous claim that John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” is secretly about space aliens, however,
this research will not get far before reaching a brick wall in that “space aliens” is not something
that can be properly studied (right now). It is not only the literary work that must be studied in
literary criticism, but the nature of the claims being made.

Literary criticism’s formatting, language, and goal of communicating new ideas and information
are all academic in nature and is written in such a way to solidify the author as a reliable source
on information, somebody who has done the proper research and can be trusted as a member of
the discourse community. This becomes paramount for the discourse community, as garnering
respect as a critic is key to having your work gain notoriety as a reliable source of information,
or even rising to higher levels of professional work at a university, as funding and publication of
work is a large part of gaining tenure at a university level. This trust is established in key ways
within literary criticism, the first being citation of other scholarly sources. Citation of other
literary scholars indicates proper research on the topic and indicates to other scholars that the
writer is a participating member of the discourse community. In my example piece I studied, the
writers achieve this in quoting other scholars that have studied not only trauma in Catcher in the
Rye, but also trauma in psychological research. The next is the general tone and language used in
literary criticism. Like most scholarly research, the construction of sentences within this writing
is generally designed to convey information in a clear and concise way while keeping a
‘scholarly tone,’ or, utilizing high level vocabulary to communicate to the reader than the writer
is, once again, a reliable source of information. This is no man off the streets spouting his ideas
about Catcher in the Rye, these are the ideas of literary scholars, and the language should reflect
as such.

My interview with Dr. Garrett was helpful in revealing some of the broader conventions of
literary criticism in the discourse community. For example, although Dr. Garrett enjoys creative
writing more than literary criticism, during his PhD and MA programs, he almost exclusively
wrote scholarly criticism. He informed me that literary criticism is the most common and widely
accepted form of academic writing within the English community, and that when working
toward his PhD, a proficiency in literary criticism is what was desired most heavily by his
professors. This indicates the importance of learning this skill for neophytes to the community,
as MA and PhD programs put such a large influence on criticism in their classes. Dr. Garrett also
informed me that once hired for Baylor, he wrote far more literary criticism at the beginning of
his career than he writes now, as literary criticism held more “tangible rewards,” the most
coveted of which being tenure. His peers encouraged writing literary criticism when he arrived at
Baylor. He informed me publishing well researched literary criticism is a great way of getting
one’s name out into the academic community, and therefore, can open doors to other types of
writing, as it did for Dr. Garrett, who now receives funding for his creative writing along with
literary criticism. However, Dr. Garrett has been a part of the community for thirty plus years
and informed me that working in the field of higher education in literature, one is expected and
encouraged to write literary criticism out of the gates of graduate school and continue to do so
throughout one’s career. Dr. Garrett also quickly spoke about his process of writing literary
criticism, describing how he selects a work, brainstorms topics for a few weeks, then dives into
research and studying the text and topic for anywhere from weeks to months before writing
anything down. He then sits down and works tirelessly to write the piece of criticism before
completing it and spending it to peers for editing before attempting to publish his work.

I also took an in depth look into my secondary research to reveal information about the discourse
community and literary criticism. Gary Day’s book, “Literary Criticism: A New History”
provided some excellent background into the history of the genre itself. It drew up some
interesting points involving the history of literary criticism that are worth mentioning. Literary
criticism is, at its core, a creative activity. Though it may not spew the creativity of poetry, the
idea of taking one’s own interpretation and ideas behind a text and writing it down in a scholarly
article is a creative act. Although criticism, like many other types of scholarly writing, can feel
formulaic, one must always remember that behind every piece of criticism is a writer that has his
or her own biases. Because of this, bias in literary criticism have long been a part of the craft. For
example, Dr. Stanley Fish, an American Literary Scholarly, historically has condemned literature
that condemns adultery, though the scholar Dr. E. Michael Jones claims this is due to his own
adulterous affairs. However, such bias has been better regulated by authors in more modern
criticism, as literary criticism has become more easily available to scholars through the rise of
internet databases, and therefore, more easily criticized by peers. Still, how one’s personal views
may possibly affect our own views of literature is something that literary critics must be aware of
when writing criticism, lest they fall into the trap of their own bias.

Another aspect of the history of criticism that gives deep insight into the community is the rise
of minority literature. Traditionally, literary criticism has been written over a specific literary
canon of “classical literature,” one that is predominantly white male authors. Recently, however,
the discourse community has taken strides in expanding the canon to include minority and
women writers. Although this development is fairly new in the long history of criticism (it has
only become a common practice over the half a century or so) it has signaled a positive shift in
the discourse community to be inclusive of all writers of literature. For example, Maya
Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is written by an African American woman, and yet
is widely regarded as one of the best works of literature in the twentieth century, and idea that
would’ve been underheard of just a century ago. This is likely due to the globalization and the
general shift of the perception of women and minorities in academic culture over the past
century. As more women and minorities are able to enter into academia, they bring with them a
new acceptance and fascination with literary works that have long been pushed to the side as the
traditional canon predominantly ruled. This is a positive shift in the discourse community and
reflects the canon in that as these works of literature enter into the community, more women and
minorities enter into the world of literary criticism as well, an area of study that has long been
dominated by white men.

I listened to an interview with Professor Dorothy M. Figueira about her own literary criticism.
Her interview was unique in the fact that it opened my eyes to genres within literary criticism,
namely, eastern and western types of criticism. Figueria herself writes an eastern style of
criticism. For the sake of time and the expanse of these literary criticism, I have decided a
comprehensive study on the differences of Eastern and Western criticism would not be wise to
be included in this paper, but the general difference is the roots of the criticism: Western finding
their first evidence of criticism in Western philosophers and critics such as Aristotle, and Eastern
in Eastern critics around the same time period, such as Bharata Muni. Though the kind of
criticism Figueira writes is not the kind that I am focusing on in my research, it was still helpful
in realizing the goals and values of the community in which I am studying. The primary purpose
of her interview was writing ethical criticism, which she believes that western criticism needs to
improve upon, as it is hasty to draw moral judgements about the text. The idea behind ethical
literary criticism is closely related to the idea of bias, in that it involves projecting one’s moral
beliefs onto a work of literature instead of truly drawing what the text says about the morality.
We build moral judgements off our own experience and teachings, so, when examining a text, it
is easy to accidently draw hasty conclusions about a moral standpoint the text faces simply
because we believe that it is moral or immoral. Instead, literary critics are expected to look
deeply at the text and truly discover what the work says about morality, not what they want it to
say. This ethical bias is again, something that writers of literary criticism must be aware of when
writing criticism.

Finally, I was able to read an article by Roger Craik entitled “From Literary Criticism to Creative
Writing: A Personal Perspective.” This article, more than any other, was able to give me an in
depth look into the discourse community surrounding literary criticism. The primary purpose of
this article was to share his personal journey with literary criticism and creative writing, two
important genres for English professors. Through his article, I found a unique take on the
purpose of literary criticism, that being that literary criticism is much like creative writing for the
academic community. It describes the way one feels when reading, what one thinks about and
how one’s mind works when engaging with a work of literature, much like creative writing can
describe the way one feels about ordinary worldly tasks. Literary criticism is able to give an in
depth look into the authors mind, giving the reader a chance to interact with the author without
interacting face to face.

Conclusion

Through this project, I was able to learn some great additional information about a type of
writing that is critical to the work I desire to enter into. Studying the genre conventions of
literary criticism and its value to the community, I have learned that I must prepare to write in
my career by studying other pieces of criticism and examining how great critics write their
studies of literary works.
This project has given me an all new appreciation for my English professors as well. As I studied
the intense and complex world of writing criticism, it is clear that writing criticism is no easy
task. It requires months of dedicated work of writing and research. This is a daunting task for an
inspiring undergraduate hoping to enter the world of academia, however, it nonetheless has given
me some type of excitement to go along with the nerves. Again, literary criticism is a creative
act, and I am anticipating the day when I will get to contribute my own ideas to the community
about works of literature. What will my impact be? How will other scholars and professors
respond? The future involves frightening tasks, but ones that I am eager to pursue. I must start
practicing even now to write literary criticism. As I write essays and papers for my English
classes, I must keep in mind the genre conventions for writing literary criticism as a way of
practicing. Am I using a scholarly tone? Have I done proper research? Am I prepared to speak on
this topic, and have my peers judge my work? This project has opened my eyes to the world of
criticism I will soon enter into, and I am excited to begin my work and contributions to the
academic English discourse community.

References

Craik, Roger. “From Literary Criticism to Creative Writing: A Personal Perspective.”

Confluente, Dec.2014, pp. 5-13

Day, Gary. Literary Criticism: A New History. Edinburgh University Press, 2008.

Jing, Li. “Ethical Literary Criticism and Comparative Literature: An Interview with Professor
Dorothy M. Figueira.” Forum for World Literature Studies, Sept. 2007.

Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya, and Ruzbeh Babaee. “Salinger's Depiction of Trauma in ‘The
Catcher in the Rye.’” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 4, no. 9, Sept. 2014.

Appendices

Interview Questions:
 How long have you been working as a professor?
 What is the most common type of writing you do?
 What kinds of writing were you expected to do early on in your career and in school?
 What were the benefits of writing literary criticism as opposed to creative writing early in
your career?
 What are some things about literary criticism and its impact on the community you would
like to share?
 What is your process to write criticism?
 What might a young student hoping to become an English professor need to know about
the writing they will be expected to do as they enter into their careers?