North American Literature and New Criticism

NORTH AMERICAN
LITERATURE AND NEW

CRITICISM
WHAT I KNOW
Directions: Look closely on the list of British English words on the table and identify their
counterpart terms in American English Language. Choose your answers provided below. Use a
separate sheet of paper for your answer.
starter apartment candy chocolate
cellphone cookie counter clockwise
BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH
1. appetizer
2.sweet/ s
3.mobile phone
4.biscuit
5.anticlockwise
WHAT’S NEW
About the Author

Cædmon is the earliest known English poet. His most recognized poem,
"Caedmon's Hymn," was composed after he had a dream. Later on, he
became a monk and an inspirational poet.
Directions: Illustrate an image or a symbol on the box that represents
your interpretation of the poem by Caedmon below.
Caedmon's Hymn (Modern English Version)

By Caedmon
Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven's kingdom,

The might of the Creator, and his thought,
The work of the Father of glory, how each of wonders
The Eternal Lord established in the beginning.
He first created for the sons of men
Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator,
Then Middle-earth the keeper of mankind,
The Eternal Lord, afterwards made,
The earth for men, the Almighty Lord.
• What is the poem about?
• What is your image or symbol illustrated that
shows your interpretation of the poem? Why
do you choose such symbol or image?
North American Literature and New Criticism
• Anglo-American literature has some of the oldest
literature recorded in history.
• Anglo-Saxons were some of the first people who wrote
using Old English. This gave birth to two kinds of literature
back then: epic pagan poems and Christian literature.
• American literature has affected Filipinos because they
came to colonize the country more than 100 years ago.
Their literature shows how much of their culture the
Filipinos have assimilated as their own, including their own
sensibilities, beliefs, practices and values.
New criticism is sometimes known to be a science of
literature, for it looks at the technical aspects of the
vocabulary that is used in the selection, the sounds,
imagery, narrative, point of view, and others that are
used in a literary selection.
All these come together to determine how they affect
what the text is saying, how does this work in a
literary selection? For example, say that you read a
poem about love.
New criticism looks at this poem and how it is
written-its 14 iambic pentameter and rhyming
scheme (whether Shakespearean or Petrarchan
in nature and discover that its goal is expressed
in the subtlety and unity of the text itself.
It does not achieve its meaningfulness from the
author and his or her intention. The meaning
exists on the page itself.
iambic pentameter, in poetry, a line of verse • English sonnets are well known for their use of
composed of ten syllables arranged in five iambic pentameter, such as in the opening
metrical feet (iambs), each of which consists of lines of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 (1609):
an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. The line can be rhymed, as in sonnets • Let me not to the marriage of true minds
or heroic couplets (pairs of end-rhymed lines Admit impediments. Love is not love
found in epic or narrative poetry), or unrhymed, Which alters when it alteration finds,
as in blank verse. The term derives from the Or bends with the remover to remove.
Greek words iambos (“metrical foot”)
and pentametros (“having five metrical feet”).
New criticism is a literary concept
that places the emphasis on "close
reading” of the work or text itself.
The way a piece works may be
discovered through close focus on the
text and specific analysis, rather than
finding out about its author and
when, where, and why it was written.
European literature refers to the literature of
Europe. European literature includes literature in many
languages; among the most important of the modern
written works are those in English, Spanish, French,
Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech
and Russian and works by the Scandinavians and Irish.
Important classical and medieval traditions are those
in Ancient Greek, Latin, Old Norse , Medieval French
and the Italian Tuscan dialect of the renaissance.
European literature, also known
as Western literature, is the literature written in the
context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as
several geographically or historically related languages.
Diverse as they are, European literatures, like Indo-
European languages, are parts of a common heritage
belonging to a race of proud nations which boast the likes
of Homer who wrote Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil who wrote
the Aeneid, Dante who wrote Divine Comedy, Chaucer
who wrote Canterbury Tales. These, and other literary
masterpieces form part of what we call as Western Canon.
About the Author
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and
literary critic who was best known for his tales of mystery and
the macabre.
Directions: Read the summary of the short story by Edgar Allan

Poe and answer the activity that follows. Write your answer on
a separate sheet of paper.
Answer the following questions
below:
1. Who are the characters in the story? Describe the character telling the story.
2. What are the main symbols presented in the story? What do they denote?
3. What is the message of the story?

Directions: Read the statements below. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What does the narrator keep insisting?
a. He’s smarter than anyone c. He made a mistake
b. He’s not crazy d. The old man deserve it.
2. What finally causes the narrator to confess?
a. smell of rotting flesh c. his fear of going to jail
b. sound of the dead man’s heart d. sight of the dead man’s eye
3. He was the earliest known English poet and was tasked to take of animals of a monastery in Whitby Abbey.
c. Edgar Allan Poe c. Mark Twain
d. Walt Whitman d. Caedmon
4. He was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic who was best known for his tales of mystery and
the macabre.
e. Edgar Allan Poe c. Mark Twain
f. Walt Whitman d. Caedmon
5. It is sometimes known to be a science of literature, for it looks at the technical aspects of the vocabulary that
is used in the selection, the sounds, imagery, narrative, point of view, and others that are used in a literary
selection.
g. Formalism c. New Criticism
h. Romanticism d. Old Historicism
Read the short story “To God Belongs What He Has Taken” by Jensen Beach and
answer the questions below.
Answer the questions:

1. What does the phrase “To God belongs what He has taken”
mean?
2. What event serves as the take-off point in this story?
3. What is the relevance of the last scene when the man shushes
the crying baby and tells the infant that nothing’s wrong?
4. Have you ever imagined or assumed about someone you
don’t know? What motivated you to do so?

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NORTH AMERICAN

LITERATURE AND NEW

BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

About the Author

Caedmon's Hymn (Modern English Version)

Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven's kingdom,

Directions: Read the summary of the short story by Edgar Allan

3. What is the message of the story?

Answer the questions:

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