In the world of literature there is no one way to read a book. There are many different ways of approaching any piece of literature no matter what it may be. There are more than five different literary approaches. Depending on the approach you use, they offer a different look at whatever you are reading. It’s a different way of reading the literature other than simply for fun. These approaches require you to dig deep within the literature to discover a meaning. On piece of literature may not one specific meaning, or one specific story to tell. Literature isn’t one specific thing, there is different aspects that go into telling the audience something.
One type of literary approach is the Archetype approach. An archetype is a pattern or universal symbol, so this approach looks at the symbols within to determine the meaning of the piece of literature one is looking at. One of the most common archetypes are images. Images come in very different ways, and are used to express the theme or meaning of something specific. Some common images include water which is a sign of growth, fertility and creation as well as rebirth. In the novel “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin, the image of water in the book represents the main characters rebirth into a new thinking and personality. Colors are another important archetypal image. Colors can represent one specific idea or a set of ideas. The color red for example represent blood or evil while white is purity and truth.
Another archetype is the pattern, the same pattern used in different pieces of literature. One is the creation motif which investigates the meaning of how we came to be. It looks at the universe and possibly a religious aspect. Immorality is to represent escape. The escape from reality, escape from one’s troubles, escape from one’s enemy anything can be represented with the idea of immorality. Then there is the motif of the hero. The hero is going on a quest, making a sacrifice to find the bigger meaning to things. The hero could be one’s own desires to find meaning within a certain situation. The last thing the Archetypal approach looks at is the genre and how certain symbols represent a genre of literature. Different genres are sometimes represented by a season of the year. Spring represents comedy and laughter, romance and love shows up in summer, fall is tragedy and winter represents irony. Looking into genres is a more complex idea to investigate.
Another literary approach is the Formalist approach which is also known as the New Criticism approach. The formalist approach is a fairly new approach. IT looks at technique and how the work is written. I looks at the tone and style of writing, the patterns of words and even the grammar the author uses. It investigates how words are used such as alliteration and rhyme. The way an author uses words can give a certain sound or image the author wants. In Dover Beach, the constant use of “O”s give the sound of an ocean. Formalist approach takes a little bit from the Archetypal approach to find meaning within the words themselves instead of what they could possibly be representing.
Not every literary approach looks at some many different things. Some take one specific narrow idea into consideration. Biographical approach looks at the author biography. They look for similarities in the work and the author’s life. Some authors use experiences that they had to bring a more personal feel to their work. This approach looks at even the smallest aspect in the author’s life and work. Another approach that doesn’t look at a bunch of different things is the Historical approach. This approach compares the piece of literature and the history to determine a meaning in the work. There are a set of Shakespearean plays that are based on history and things that have happened.
There are many more approaches to reading literature. These are just a few of the most common ways. There are more and more approaches coming as scholars find new ways to find meaning within a certain piece of literature. Literature can do much more than give us a sense of relaxation. It can tell us about the author and the times that the work was written in.
