Note: This paper provides literature students with an example of the biographical and mimetic approaches to literature. Elizabeth Evans, in her article “Early Years and Influences,” argues that life experience can influence a writer as powerfully as can other literature. She also mentions that Tyler spent her formative years living in Quaker communities (Evans 2). Not much has been written about Tyler’s Quaker background, although she has portrayed Quaker meetings in Morgan

Note: The following analysis is an example of the historical biographical approach to literature. In his article "Political Interpretations of Venice Preserv'd," Philip Harth argues that recent critical attempts to describe Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd as a "Tory 'political document,' either as allegory or as parallel," have been misguided (355). Indeed, the presence of so many conflicting opinions about what each component of the play represents might seem to lend support

Note: This is an academic exercise that takes a historical / biographical critical approach to Sandra Cisneros’s short story, "Never Marry a Mexican." This is not intended to be a well-developed critical paper, but it should prove a useful tool for examining one aspect of Cisneros’s work. It should also serve to help students learn more about the use of the historical / biographical critical approach to literature. Motivation in "Never Marry a Mexican" © Copyright 1999, Sky

The toolbox of literary criticism offers us a variety of ways to tinker with the text until we have a better understanding. We can use literary criticism to help us resolve a question in the reading, to choose the better of two conflicting readings, or to form judgments about literature. Here are seven critical approaches that will enable you to delve deeply into literature. (1) The Historical / Biographical Approach Critics who employ this lens see works as the reflection o