AP English Lit - Advanced Critical Lenses

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Synecdoche vs. Metonymy

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Synecdoche uses a part to represent the whole (e.g., 'wheels' for car), while metonymy replaces a thing with a related concept (e.g., 'crown' for monarchy). In advanced analysis, metonymy often underpins ideological rhetoric by simplifying complex institutions into single objects.

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Objective Correlative

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T.S. Eliot's concept: a set of objects, situations, or events that evoke a specific emotion without the author naming it. Mastery of this device separates competent writing from literary mastery, ensuring emotional resonance is 'earned' through sensory accumulation rather than stated directly.

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The Intentional Fallacy

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The error of interpreting a work based on the author's supposed intent. New Criticism posits that once a text is published, it exists independently of its creator; analysis must focus on the text itself (the words on the page) rather than biography or psychology.

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Defamiliarization (Ostranenie)

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A Russian Formalist technique where common things are presented in an unfamiliar way to heighten perception. By forcing the reader to slow down and perceive the 'device' of the art, the work prevents the automatic, passive consumption of reality.

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Feminist Criticism scope

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Beyond 'images of women,' advanced feminist critique examines the patriarchal power dynamics inherent in language and narrative structure. It analyzes how phallogocentrality privileges masculine reasoning and whether the text reinforces or subverts the gender binary.